FROM BAGDAD

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 50, 22 November 1917, Page 6

FROM BAGDAD

HOW DOGGED WINS

NEW ZEALAND OFFICER'S STORY

OF THE RELIEF OF KUT AND BAGDAD

Visiting Wellington at the present is probably the first, officer (certainly the first. New Zealand officer) to reach New Zealand who was actually a participant in the great Mesopotamian advance, which was crowned by the capture of Kut and Bagdad (in March of this year). In the course of a highlyinteresting chat he gave a representative of Tub Dominion a running outline of the operations, which ended with such entire success. It was this officer's lot to go out to Mesopotamia from France with the Indian Corps in December of 1915, a force which assembled with others, at a place called Ali Gharbi, about 200 miles up the Tigris River. Journeying up the river, one passes such interesting old landmarks as Ezra's Tomb and Ainara. They were to try and relieve Kut by January 15, and set out oil the march to do so on January 4, trekking along the ancient desert highway, whilst the naval monitors and supply boats kept with them on the river. It was a very trying march, though it was the middle of the Mesopotamian winter, on account of the wide range of temperatures experienced during the twenty-four hours. The difference was as much as 50 degrees. At noon it was blazing hot, and at night it was cold enough at times for ice to form on the water. This was rather rough on the health of the troops, but had to be put up with, of course. Nothing of a combatant character happened at first except a little sniping at night by nomad Arabs, who shoot'at. Turk or Briton nliko simpiv as a diversion or perhaps with tho faint hope of gaining a little loot.

Clash With the Turks. It was at Sheik Goad where the relieving force met the Turks in strength. There" was a three (lavs' battle there in which the reliefs won through, and two days later at Wadi there was another pitched battle. It was at Hanna, reached on January 16, that the force was seriously held up. At that point there vas only a mile of ground between the river and on immense marsh (too bis; to marcli round), and as the relief forces had been seviouslv depleted in tlie engagements fought and also hv sickness the Turks were able to hold them until reinforcement.? arrived up the river. Then, instead of pushing on through the well-defended country* on their (tlie left) sulc of the river they crossed over the lirrns to Dniailali. and from there attempted to <ro forward. Tint wa< the memorable affair of Ma*ch R. about, which a scandal. was raised. Whilst they were fighting on that awful dav thov could see Kut 111 tlie distance, 'only some seven miles away— bo nodr nnd vet fo far. As the resuit of this set-back the force had to recross tho river to Hanna, and there await further reinforcements.

Summer at Sannalyet. In April they attacked from Hanna, tho enemy retiring to Sannaiyet, some four miles away. Thoro they squatted for tho whole of the summer (of last year), the trench lines separated by a hundred yards only. It was a hellish experience. Tho temperature in the trenches of a day-time was anything from 120 to 1'25 degrees, and tho men in tho trenches ivero without any shado or head-protection. That was to say that there was no timber of any kind to build any sort of bomb-proof shelters, and therefore there was no protection from the bombs, rifta grenades, and minnenwerfers, with which the Turks were well supplied. Under such conditions it was no wonder that tho men suffered considerably from diseaso and the effects of the torrid heat.

Carrison of Starving Cats. Toward the end of the year reinforcements came up the river, and in December the wintor operations were commenced. When all was ready one section of tho British Forces crossed the river to attack Kut from the river side, and tlie other advanced from Sannaiyet—an attack from front and behind. This movement was entirely successful. The Turks who had been in the trenches round the place retired altogether from Kut, and all the relief force had to do was to walk in. Kut, which is only a village, was found to be entirely deserted. All that was left in the ivay of life was some thousands of starving cats. The town had suffered pretty severely,from the two bombardments it had undergone during General Townshend's _ operations, and not a scrap of anything had been left in the place; As a matter of fact iT; seemed as though the Turks had not occupied the place itself, but had kept to the outer defences. An Unveiled Monument. One of tlie curious objects which attracted everyono's attention on entering Kut was a monument which, had been erected by the Turks to mark the surrender of tiie place and the capture of General Townshend and his men. The best of it was that the monument was still unveiled —it still had its wrappings round it, evidently waiting the arrival of somo Turkish big-wig to perform tho august ceremony. At the base of the monument were two of the naval guns which had been destroyed by General Townshend and thrown in the river before the capitulation. These had been dug out and exhibited as a tribute to Turkish prowess. The monument is still there —the British sense of humour would not allow it to be destroyed, as tho ioke was on the Turk. At Kut the iorce saw the first trees —some palms—tlie.v had seen for a year. One had to bear in mind that wood of any kind wa-s the scarcest commodity in Mesopotamia. Even the firewood used to cook the men's rations had to be brought all the way from India by steamer, then up the river by the riverboats. There is a good railway now up the valley, but tlttre was none then.

At Bagdad. The chase of the Turk was kept, up without any delay. From luit to Bagdad is 200 miles by river, but only 90 miles h.v road, and the only place of particular interest on route was Ctesiplion, where still may be seen . the great arches of the Royal Palace destroyed when the Mohammedans drove the Persians out of tho ancient seat of aive and majesty. They had entered Kut ori" February 24, and after two days' fighting on tho road, during which they could see by the smoke of the fires away ahead that the Turk was retiring from the city, thej entered Bagdad without any opposition, and were clamantly welcomed by the populace, which v numbered between 00.000 and 70,000, made up mostlv of Arabs, Persians, Armenians. Chaldeans, and Jews. The Tigris at Bagdad is a lordly river from 300 to 400 yards m width, very slow moving, for though the place is COO miles from the sea. its altitude is only 100 feet above sea level. The place is rather picturesoue. On file right bank is tho squalid Arab quarters, and on tho left bank is sitiHitfltl the more modern part of the citv. wlieio the European population reside and the British and German Consulates are, or were, established. The Turks had destroyed the famous bridge of boats across the river, but otherwise the city had not been subject to spoliation by tho retreating

Turks. They had looted a few of the big shops, and tho Arabs had joined in tho fun, but furthor than that the city stood whero it did. There woro tlio long narrow Btreets of ages—old bazaars, with their tenants observing customs of living as old as the Pharaohs, working away at their silk and copper and brass. Hero and there could be seen tlio evidonco of tlio modern idea in an up-to-date sewing niachino in a silk merchant's bazaar. There was a beautiful date palm groVo at Khazi Main, just a mile and a half out of the 'city, where stands a magnificent mosque guarding the tombs of the CalipliSj but 110 British soldier was allowed to enter the Mosque. The authorities were always strict in the matter of showing a proper respect to everything appertaining to a people's religion. That was why the natives welcomed the coming of tho British force to Bagdad. All round Bagdad could be seen evidences of the old irrigation canals which watered the arable land round about the eitv, and there our informant saw, for the first time, the old Biblical method of irrigation in operation—the goatskin water-bag, which is lowered into the river and is pulled up full bv the action of a horse or ox descending an inclined track. The water is spilled into the canal, and the horse returns up the track, allowing the goatskin to get its fill once more. Then" as though to illustrate the growth of the new idea, was the Persian water wheel, with its fringe of cans, and, more modern still, was seen in dose proximity a little oil engine pumping up the water from the placid river to the thirsty plain. Complete order was soon restored in the citv by General Sir Stanley Maude, who was held in the very highest respect hy everyone. "Krupp, 1914." It says a great deal for the control when it is known that within a week of the occupation the rolling stock had been repaired, and trains were running in Samarra. The British advance had not given the Germans time to destroy that railway—the latest 60-mile extension of the Constantinople-Bagdad line beyond the last-named city and the Germanic highway to tho East. This well-built line has steel sleepers, some of them of such recent delivery that they were stamped "Krupp, 1914." At Samarra lie the remains of the Emperor Julian, who was shot by (in arrow, when conducting a campaign against the Persians, whose capital was then Ctesiphon on the Tigris.

A Ruse That Failed. In order to check the advance of the British, the Turko-German forces attempted ft feat which would have caused a good deal of trouble had it been dono hi time. This was 110 less a plan than to cut through the banks of the Euphrates River, which flows at a slightlv higher levol to the Tigris and the plains surrounding Bagdad, and so flood the whole of the country from a point about 50 milos away from Bagdad. Roughlv, the railway lino runs parallel to and about, a mile away from the Tigris, hut it is on an embankment about 20ft. high, so when somo of the British airmen saw what the enemy was up to tho culverts through tho railwav embankment, -were closed up. This turned 'the embankment into an effective dyke, and preserved a mile of territory nions; tho Tigris for traffic. On the other side of the embankment, however, was an immense lake, some seventeen miles in length and from three to four feet deep.

What Was Found at Samarra. When the British troops reached Samarra it was found that a good deal of excavation had been going on there for some time past, and that German archaeologists had picked some wonderfully interesting relics of a former age. These were actually all ready packed for sending away, presumably to Germany, when flisht became necessary, so by the first train which ran from Samarra to Bagdad were sent these treasures, consigned to the British Museum. All In Good Order. When our informant left Baedad in July everything was going well. Excellent order prevailed, and tho hospital accommodation was good and the service adequate. As lie passed through Basra, on the way out, there -was a heat -wave in progress, the thermometer registering as high as 127 degrees in tho sliade. People were dropping dead, and no -work could be done by whites that entailed any exercise. The labour employed by tho Army was now dono by Chinese, Hindus, Arabs, and natives of Mauritius.