Page 20 - Sylvia Malt - Side by Side v1

British and Indian troops were immediately sent to the area in early November to protect British oil
interests and made rapid progress inland against weak Turkish resistance. Despite the unforgiving
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climate, British forces continued to march steadily up the River Tigris in 1915 and by 28 September,
under the leadership of General Charles Townshend, they had taken the town of Kut-al-Amara, just
120 miles south of Mesopotamia’s major city, Baghdad.

British estimates of Turkish fighting capabilities were at first grossly underestimated, giving them a
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false sense of security. The tide turned quickly at the Battle of Ctesiphon (22 -26 November 1915)
which was thought by the military would be a trouble-free prelude to the final march on Baghdad.
Unfortunately, it was yet another a disastrous affair, in which Turkish troops withstood heavy
casualties to defeat General Townshend’s attacking forces. More than half of the 8,500 British and
Indian troops who fought in the battle were either killed or wounded.

The siege at Kut-al-Amara lasted 147 days before the 11,800 British and Indian troops inside the
garrison town finally surrendered on 29th April 1916. The conditions during the siege were appalling.
In bitterly cold weather and with little medical treatment, many of the soldiers did not survive the
winter.

The surrender of Townshend’s army shocked people in Britain and questions were asked in Parliament
who decided to order an enquiry.

Gen. Townshend was exonerated, but this did little to help his beleaguered soldiers. Of the 2,500 British
soldiers who had been captured at Kut, 1,750 died during the march northwards, or in the appalling
conditions of the prisoner-of-war camps in Anatolia.

Marjery Swynnerton, a nurse at the British General Hospital, Basra, Mesopotamia stated: “Kut,
under General Townshend, had fallen in April 1916, and we still had some who had been through that hell,
and had been sent down as totally unfit. However ill they were, they were the lucky ones. Of the 13,000
odd men made to walk into captivity, 70 per cent had died or were to die. With no medical attention, hardly
any food or water, they had to struggle through burning hot deserts, terrible mud when it rained, flies,
sand, mosquitoes with dysentery, malaria and sunstroke.” (Henry James Johnson/Richard
Thwaites)

1917 - The 91st Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery, was one of the Battalions which took part in the
Passchendael offensive, officially known as the Third Battle of Ypres. Passchendael became
infamous not only for the enormous number of casualties, but also because of the appalling mud. Rain
had fallen constantly for a number of months and the day-by- day battles had eliminated any
semblance of trees or vegetation, reducing the land to nothing but mile after mile of muddy fields.

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On 16 August, the 91 Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery was heavily involved as the attack resumed, to
little effect. Eventually, General Haig gave way to a new commander who devised a more constructive
strategy that took into account the awful conditions. General Plummer recognised that the idea of a
decisive breakthrough was impractical, so he launched a succession of limited offensives that had
relatively modest objectives. (Geoffrey Vesey-Holt)

1918 - Both sides began 1918 with a measure of optimism. Germany was shackled to a number of
failing allies and could see the United States of America looming in the near distance but it did have a
chance to strike in the West with strength much increased due to the end of the war in Russia.