MESOPOTAMIA.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 May 1916, Page 5

MESOPOTAMIA.

THE SIEGE OF KUT. GENERAL TOWNSIIENDS RESISTANCE. A PICTURESQUE NARRATIVE. Received May 15, 8.10 ip.m. London, May 15. Mr. 'Edmund Candler, the British war correspondent in Mesopotamia, sends the first connected narrative of the siege of Kut-el-Amara. He says:— When General Townshend arrived at Kut on. December 3, four Turkish divisions and some thousand tribesmen were within ten miles. The British were holding a peninsula, 0200 yards by 1700 yards, while two British battalions fortified a garrison in a liquorice factory at a village on the right bank of the Tigris, INVESTMENT BEGINS. The troops" were worn out by long fighting and the march, and the enemy immediately commenced an investment. By December 7 a Turkish division moved around General Tovvnshend's flank, four miles, to the south, and two divisions took up a position west of Kut. General Townshend refused to surrender on the 9th, and this was followed by a heavy bombardment. The attacks were pressed severely all day on the 10th and 11th. We lost" 120 men on the 10th and 202 on the 11th. The enemy dug in within six hundred yards, strengthening his work with sandbags and timber. Our casualties dropped to 82 on the 15th, the Turks becoming tired at their ineffectual attacks, and they had lost at least a thousand men.

BRITISH SORTIE 3. General Townßhend throughout made repeated sorties. A small f orce from the liquorice factory drove out the enemy from their trenches, hut the increased 'boldness of an attack on the 24th indicated that the enemy had been reinforced. The famous 52nd Division arrived from the Caucasus and the fort was heavily shelled, large breaches being made in the walls. The garrison were driven out from the first line of defence, though the enemy, in reply, repulsed a oounter-attack. There was another fierce attack at midnight, and the Turks carried the northern bastion, but they were again driven out. Our casualties on that night were 315.

FAMOUS TURK DIVISION WIPED OUT.

One prisoner said that our fort was a cemetery of Turkish dead. The 52nd Division had been annihilated. The enemy, on December 29, asked for an armistice to bury their dead. Our casualties for the month were 1840 killed and wounded, and the enemy's were 4000.

A NEW ENEMY, HUNGER.

The failure of the Christmas Day attack, and. the approach. of a relieving force, introduced a new phase into the siege, the enemy shelling the garrisonnightly with big guns. General Tawnshend had to fight hunger. Horse meat was at first plentiful and large quantities of grain were discovered, 'but on January 24 it was impossible to utilise -these, owing to the difficulty of grinding, but millstones were dropped by our Aeroplanes. Scurvy set in on February 5, though vegetables that General Townshend had planted bore welcome fruit just before the capitulation.' RATIONS GROWING SHORT. The British soldiers on FebruaTy 5 were receiving a 12oz loaf, a pound of meat, a few groceries and dates; the Indian rations were a pound of flour, half rations of tea, chillies, ginger, and. dates. The .rations lasted on this scale until March 5, when the British loaf and Indian flour were reduced to 10 ounces. The ration was again reduced on March 31, and on April 6 the British and Indians had only four ounces of flour each. SUPPLIES BY AEROPLANE.

During the last phase, salt, flour and tea were dropped by aeroplanes, which had previously dropped light articles, including rifle cleaners, spare parts of wireless, fishing nets, cigarettes, and tobacco. As it was impossible to supply these luxuries to all, General Townshend refused further tobacco. He personally shared in every privation. ARABS ESCAPE. After April 20, many Arabs, feeling the pinch of hunger, attempted to escape by swimming. Two got through to the British lines by the help of the current, one, supported by skin bladders, making the journey by night in eight hours. Another, who was a survivor of a party, on the 18th came aboard a raft with a bullet in one of his legs. The Arabs emphasised the cheerfulness of the garrison, and said they looked thin, but well and strong. Their admiration of General Townshend almost amounted to superstition. Cigarettes were selling at eightpencc each. The. only member of the Kut garrison that has yet arrived at Basra is "Spot,'' General Townshend's fox terrier. RUSSIANS GET A "STEADIER. Received May 15, 9.30 p.m. Petrograd, May 15. A communique says: A very large Turkish farce at Erzingjan, in a furious battle, drove back our advanced pests, but their extremely severe losses forbade them to follow up their success. The enemy in Mesopotamia precipitately retreated in the Mossull vicinity, abandoning their guns and munitions. BRITISH PRISONERS AT DAMASCUS. London, May 14. Colonel Coventry, 20 officers and 230 prisoners have reached Damascus.