The Daily News. MONDAY, MAY 1, 1916. THE KUT DISASTER.

Taranaki Daily News, 1 May 1916, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, MAY 1, 1916. THE KUT DISASTER.

The surrender of General Townshend at Knt-el-Amara will cause a great shock throughout the British Empire, and when the facts relating to this great, but unjustified, adventure come to be realised there will certainly be an outburst of indignation at the gross blunders committed by the British War Office since the war began. It is inevitable that a military calamity of the magnitude of that which has overtaken General Townshend should bring to mind such colossal instances of unpardonable blundering and ineptitude on the part of the responsible military authorities as the Gallipoli campaign, the failure to help Serbia and the rebellion in Ireland. The official announcement of the great disaster at Kut is so phrased that it might refer to some temporary check instead of to a complete surrender by a force of 9000 troops whose gallantry against tremendous odds has more than «nce been exhibited. The reason of the surrender is set down as "exhaustion of supplies," so that these thousands of British and Indian troops have been taken prisoner, like rats in a trap, because starvation stared them in the face. What words can adequately express the feeling of the Empire at large when it is known th:-.. these troops, led by one of the most talented of our generals, have been sent to perform an impossible task, and no proper care taken to ensure adequate supplies and reinforcements being available when needed. The enormous distance from the base, the nature of the country, with its bare plains in summer, and in winter its swampy river flats, the rains and floods which convert them and into deep quagmires should all have been taken into consideration before the expedition to Bagdad was sanctioned, yet no heed seems to have been given to these well-known difficulties. Apparently the War Office, Army Council, or whoever is responsible, considered that all General Townshend had to do was to make a quick march to Bagdad and the work would be accomplished, but, as in the case of the Dardanelles campaign, there seems to have been no just appreciation of the power of the enemy. Judging by the woefully inadequate nature of the strength of tile farces entrusted with the formidable task of taking possession of Bagdad, it would seem that there was a total lack of ability on the part of the responsible authorities to grasp the nature of the work, or there was a calleusness that should be sheeted home and the culprits made to answer for their crime. In the prosecution of this war we cannot afford to hr.ve a single life recklessly sacrificed or a single effective put out of action, yet at one fell swoop the Turks have captured 9(100 of our bravest troops, whose exploits at Ctesiphon set an imperisherable seal on their valor. Ar. interesting article on this expedition appears in another column and should be studied with care, Tor it clearly shows that the adventure had only one chance of success out of a thousand probabilities of failure, mainly because it was left to its fate, the relieving force being too late. It is only too probable that General Aylmer's forces will be also compelled to surrender. General Townshend did all that was in his poweh He knew from the first that the performance of the ttsk was impossible, and so did his officers and men, but they attempted it in the hope of winning by a masterstroke, an.l their failure was merely because they could not perform a miracle. The utmost sympathy must be evoked on their behalf. They are the unwilling viei-nm of the ineptitude of the supreme military autocrats who sent them to their fate with utter indifference. The tragedy W one that calls for condign punishment of those who so signally failed in the rudiments of military knowledge. It is marvellous that General Townshend had got so near his destination —only :i few days march away—and to have success snatched from his grasp just when , it was almost within reach, must add to the bitterness of the blow. All honor to him and his brave band for what they had accomplished, but there must be a day of reckoning for those who are primarily responsible for this terrible blot on the amials of British military operations.