LAST DAYS AT KUT

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2776, 20 May 1916, Page 5

LAST DAYS AT KUT

TOLD BY WOUNDED OFFICERS By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Rec. May 19, 8.30 p.m.) London, May 18. Mr. Candler, the British war correspondent in Mesopotamia, writes:—The wounded officers from Kut have arrived at Headquarters. They narrato that their real privations commenced in , the middle of February, when the milk gave out, and the hospital diet was confined to cornflour and rice-water. Prior to tho capitaulation, the regiments which were holding the front line were not relieved for a fortnight, and were too wcak tn carry their kit back. All the artillery, cavalry, and transport animals were eaten beforo the end. Tho last mule to bo slaughtered had tho ribbons of.threo frontier campaigns around his neck. The butcher twice sent him back, but the eud came at kist. Mule flesh is better than horse; mule dripping is good, and also supplies a 'substitute---for lamp-oil. After .the tobacco had been consumed the men'smoked limo leaves, ginger, .and baked tea leaves. ~ jEhglish. tobacco' - -in January sold at 48 rupees the half-pound, n lios of cheap Indian cheroots at 204 rupees, and a tin of condensed milk at 34 rupees (a rupee is valued at Is.. 4d.) Just beforo the investment a large consignment of warm clothing arrived from the British-Bed Cross, and this saved many lives, as the men had only their summer-kit.

In the early days of the siego the Turk, ish shells, machine-guns, and rifles swept tho entire camp dny and night. The troops only left their dug-outs for the most important work. The fire slackened Inter, but the men had no strength for unnecessary -walking: games for exercise were impossible. Tho battalions in die liquorice factory were better' off. Their cricket and hockey ground- wns fiftv yards'by twenty. The men used pick-lmndles and a rag ball. They also fished. * .

_ A hospital shin with one hundred British and 983 Indians lias arrived. Turks being sent in exchange. The Turkish officers gave every British soldier a linndM of cigarettes when they left ivnt. The officers go to Constantinople and the men to Aleppo.