The Daily News. TUESDAY, MAY 2, 1916. WHY TOWNSHEND FAILED.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 May 1916, Page 4

The Daily News. TUESDAY, MAY 2, 1916. WHY TOWNSHEND FAILED.

The more the facts concerning the perilous position in which General Townshend was placed are realised, the easier it will be to understood how it was that surrender became inevitable if the enemy exercised sufficient pressure." After his. retreat to Kut-el-Amara it must have been evident to the General that unless adequate and timely help an'ved his force was doomed. There is every reason to believe that General Lake did his best to reach Kut, but having failed in his attempt against the Sannaiyat position, owing to being hampered by the floods, there was hardly a vestige of hope that he could be of service to General Townshend. To grasp the true inwardness of the situation it is necessary to bear the character of the seasons in mind. They are just at thi end of the rainy season in Mesopotamia, but, only at the beginning of the flood stason, consequent on the melting of th? snows on the Caucasian mountains by the summer heat. Under ordinary circumstances it would be at least four months, and probably considerably more, before the situation became favorable for military operations. General Townshend had been surrounded for more than four months, and must, therefore, have made large inroads into his supplies, and the surrender clearly shows that he had come to the end of his resources. The boat despatched with supplies for his relief failed to arrive and so his last hope vanished. It may have been a tactical error on the part of General 'fownshend not to have retreated further down the i river, instead of allowing himself to bo shut in at Kut-el-Amara, but it is extremely probable lie had no choice in the matter. At the same time events have proved that it was a disastrous step, though probably the -only course open for him to take. The disaster which loomed ahead has materialised, but, as we have already pointed out, the blame for sending out such an inadequate, illsupplied «\nd woefully unsupported expedition has yet to be sheeted home. There is naturally considerable anxiety as to the forces under Generals Lake and Gorringe, the latter of whom is operating between the Tigris and the Sinvekie marshes, which extend with the floods, but we must hope,for the best.