OCCUPATION OF BAGHDAD.
The 5th of March, however glorious, had been a heavy day for the
Thirteenth, and their ranks were sadly thinned.
But the Thirteenth formed only one unit of a pursuing army, and the
Cavalry had to push on without delay to follow up the retreating Turks.
At dawn on the 6th, therefore, the Regiment was again on the march.
One squadron, the one which had been commanded by Eve, remained for
some hours with the transport in Lajj, to bury the dead and make
further search for any wounded who might still be lying on the field.
While they did so their Colonel, and all the wounded officers and
men who had been brought in, were embarked and sent down the river
to hospitals in rear of the army. The dead were buried together in a
nullah on the field.
The rest of the Regiment, under command of Captain Steele, marched
out weak in numbers, but still fit for further efforts, and proud of
themselves. Their goal, Baghdad, now lay only thirty or forty miles
ahead of them, and in common with the whole army they were eager to see
the hard fighting of the past three months crowned by the capture of
the famous city.
They had not long to wait, for only five days later the British flag
was flying on the citadel of the Turks; but before that happened the
brave enemy was to make one more stand, and take a further toll of
British lives.
[Illustration: ONE OF THE ENTRANCES TO THE MOSQUE AT KHAZIMAIN]
[Illustration: CTESIPHON]
On the first day of the advance the Cavalry met with no serious
opposition. They were tormented by another dust-storm and shelled by
the retreating enemy, but they suffered little loss and made some
prisoners. The line of march lay over the battlefield of Ctesiphon.
This position, says General Maude, though strongly intrenched, was
found unoccupied. “There was evidence that the enemy had intended to
hold it, but the rapidity of our advance had evidently prevented him
from doing so.” The Cavalry believed that their swift and resolute
attack at Lajj had accelerated the Turkish retreat and spared the army
a possibly serious rearguard action there or at Ctesiphon, and it seems
not unlikely that they were right. At all events Ctesiphon was not
held, and the Cavalry bivouacked that night some miles beyond it, at
Bawi.
[Illustration: _BAGHDAD AND FIELD OF OPERATIONS_
_1917-1918_
SCALE ABOUT 50 MILES TO THE INCH]
But, however this may be, the next day showed that the Turks still
meant to fight. About eight miles below Baghdad a considerable river,
the Diala, runs into the Tigris from the north, and bars advance up
the left bank, along which lies the road to Baghdad. The Turks had
destroyed the bridge over the Diala, and as the river was at that time
about 120 yards broad, with a strong current, it was a formidable
obstacle. The enemy was not apparently in great strength, but he had
more than once shown that he could conceal his troops with effect;
and whether his Infantry was in strength or not, the farther bank was
“defended by numerous guns and machine-guns, skilfully sited,” while
the ground in front of them was absolutely flat, with no cover. To
force a passage was therefore no easy matter, and no attempt to do so
was made that day.
The fighting that followed during the next three nights and days
was desperate, and there is no incident in the whole campaign more
creditable to the British Infantry than the repeated attempts to
establish a footing on the right bank of the Diala. How attempt after
attempt was foiled with heavy loss, the Turks destroying our pontoons
and slaying the brave men who manned them, and how seventy of the Loyal
North Lancashire got across in spite of all, and held their ground for
twenty-two hours, and were at last relieved, has been told by others.
It is a fine story. But not until the 10th of March was the Diala in
British hands. The Turk had made a gallant stand in defence of the City
of the Khalifs.
In this fighting the Cavalry had no direct share; but their work
meanwhile had been hard and useful. When the advance along the left
hand of the Tigris was held up by the Turks, it was decided to send a
force across the Tigris with the view of turning the Diala position and
getting at Baghdad from the south and west. Accordingly on the 8th of
March a bridge was thrown across the Tigris, and the Cavalry, followed
by an Infantry force, passed over to the right bank.
[Illustration: Capt. J. V. DAWSON
(_Very severely wounded at Lajj, 5th March 1917_)]
[Illustration: Lieut. G. L. M. WELSTEAD
(_Wounded at Lajj, 5th March 1917_)]
[Illustration: 2nd Lieut. J. O. P. CLARKSON
(_Killed near Jager’s Tomb, 10th March 1917_)]
[Illustration: L. Cpl. G. W. BOWIE, D.C.M.]
[Illustration: The Rev. H. COOKE, C.F., M.C.]
During that night the force marched in a north-westerly direction
towards a place called Shawa Khan, which the Turks were reported to
be holding. The march was much impeded by ravines and water-cuts, and
was necessarily slow; but the Turks offered no serious opposition, and
during the morning of the 9th Shawa Khan was occupied, the enemy
retiring to another position a mile or two farther back. This also was
approached and attacked, but was still in Turkish hands at sunset.
The Cavalry during the earlier part of the day had been operating on
the left flank of the force, away from the Tigris, but the horses being
in distress for want of water, it was temporarily withdrawn to the
river bank in the afternoon. In spite of some shelling and rifle-fire
the Cavalry had suffered little loss, and the Thirteenth had till then
had no casualties; but while watering their horses they were annoyed by
some sniping from the opposite bank, and a promising young officer, 2nd
Lieutenant Clarkson, was unfortunately killed--shot through the heart.
He was the fifth officer of the Regiment who had been killed since the
campaign began.
That night the enemy evacuated their position and the force pushed on.
“On the morning of the 10th,” says General Maude, “our troops were
again engaged with the Turkish rearguard within three miles of Baghdad,
and our Cavalry patrols reached a point two miles west of Baghdad
railway station, where they were checked by the enemy’s fire. A gale
and blinding dust-storm limited vision to a few yards, and under
these conditions reconnaissance and co-ordination of movements became
difficult. The dry wind and dust and the absence of water away from the
river added greatly to the discomfort of the troops and animals. About
midnight patrols reported the enemy to be retiring. The dust-storm
was still raging, but following the Decanville Railway as a guide our
troops occupied Baghdad railway station at 5.55 A.M., and it
was ascertained that the enemy on the right bank had retired up-stream
of Baghdad. Troops detailed in advance occupied the city, and the
Cavalry moved on Kadhimain, some four miles west of Baghdad, where they
secured some prisoners.”
Meanwhile the force on the left bank of the Tigris, having forced
the Diala, had also pushed on, and on this same morning, the 11th of
March, they also entered Baghdad. The British flag was hoisted over the
citadel; and the town, which was being looted and set on fire by Arabs
and Kurds, was rapidly reduced to order. In the afternoon the gunboat
flotilla with General Maude on board came up the river in line-ahead
formation, and anchored off the British Residency. The capture of
Baghdad was complete.
Thus ended, in triumphant success, General Maude’s advance upon the
capital of Mesopotamia. It had meant three months of severe and at
times desperate fighting, during which the British force had lost
heavily. But it had meant also the utter defeat of the Turks on their
central front in Asia, and the restoration of British prestige in the
East.
Indeed, it meant much more; and in writing this history of the
Thirteenth it seems desirable to point out the full effect and
significance of the victory in which they shared.
The recapture of Kut a fortnight earlier had already produced a
striking effect. The ‘Times History of the War’ referred to this in
strong terms:--
“Nor,” it said, “was the effect confined to the Middle East. The
Commander of the French armies telegraphed his warm and sincere
congratulations on ‘this splendid feat of arms,’ and the defeat of the
Turks made a great impression everywhere. Of its immediate practical
result upon the course of the War in Asia there could be no question.
Within a week the Turkish forces which had invaded Northern Persia
were in full retreat for their own border, and the projected Turkish
movements on the Euphrates were given up. In fact, the ambitious
offensive of the enemy upon this central front in Asia had collapsed
like a pricked bladder. The principle of a concentrated advance on the
Tigris had already been justified.”
Now Baghdad had followed Kut, and the immediate result of the second
capture is thus described in the same ‘History’:--
[Illustration: B SQUADRON ON THE WAY TO THE DIALA]
[Illustration: CROSSING THE DIALA]
[Illustration: WATERING IN THE DIALA]
“So fell Baghdad, the immediate base of Turkish warfare in Persia and
Mesopotamia, and one of the most famous cities in all the East. If the
recapture of Kut had produced a great effect, it need hardly be said
that the fall of Baghdad made an impression vastly greater. In Germany
it was described with unusual frankness as ‘a deplorable event,’ and
on the Bosphorus the news of it was received with something like
consternation; while among the Allies and all who sympathised with
them it was hailed as a striking victory and an auspicious opening to
the campaigns of 1917. Indeed, considering that the Asiatic theatre
of war was after all a secondary one, and that the capture of an
Asiatic city could hardly have any material bearing on the issue of the
European conflict, the weight attached to the British success seemed
almost disproportionate. But it must be remembered that the conception
of a great advance eastward by way of Turkey in Asia was a fundamental
part of the German scheme of world-politics, and that the seizure by
Great Britain of the eastern end of the Constantinople-Baghdad railway
meant a heavy blow to this scheme.”
These words were written in 1917, within a few months of General
Maude’s entry into Baghdad. The subsequent course of the war was to
show that far from having over-estimated the value of that success, the
writer might have said more. Now that the war has come to an end, there
can be no doubt that the blow struck by the British in Mesopotamia,
together with the almost concurrent victory of General Allenby in
Palestine, had a material effect upon the whole issue of the war. By
themselves they could not have brought about the complete triumph of
the Allied cause. Nothing but the defeat of the Germans in the west
of Europe could do that. But they meant, if duly followed up, the
collapse of the Turkish military power, and the striking out of the
Turkish Empire from the great confederacy. That meant the maiming of
the German scheme of world-conquest. Without the aid of Turkey as a
vassal, the Kaiser’s dream of a vast Eastern dominion could never be
fulfilled. And dominion in the East was no small part, some even think
it was the more important part, of his scheme of world-conquest. This,
however, is perhaps to say too much, and in any case, great as was the
effect of the fall of Baghdad, much fighting had yet to be done, even
in Mesopotamia, before the Turks finally recognised that they were
not strong enough to stand alone against the British Empire. They had
received a heavy blow, but they were not yet conquered.
To return to the Thirteenth Hussars and their share in the work of the
Baghdad campaign, the following extracts from letters and diaries may
be of interest.
The Regimental Diary shows that on the 6th March, the day after the
fight at Lajj, the Thirteenth marched off at 6 A.M. with the
Cavalry Division, and marched “without incident to Bawi (four miles
north of Ctesiphon),” where they bivouacked. The next day the Cavalry
“moved in direction of Diala river” and “came under shell-fire,” but
apparently suffered no casualties. “Retired and bivouacked near Bawi.”
On the 8th the Cavalry Division marched “with object of turning right
flank of Turkish position.” At 5 P.M. the Division was all
across the Tigris and “march continued all throughout night.” On the
9th, at 8.15, “shelled near Khair-el-Kharabeh,” and at ten o’clock
“took up position on left flank of Infantry.” There the Regiment
remained two hours, when they “withdrew and retired to water,” on
the banks of the Tigris at 1.50 P.M. “Sniping by enemy
from opposite bank.” In the afternoon the Cavalry returned to their
former position and bivouacked. “Transport shelled during the day,
but no damage done.” On the 10th some of the Cavalry advanced towards
Kadhimain, to the north-west of Baghdad; but there appears to have been
no incident to report except “wind very high during the day.” Finally,
on the 11th, the Diary has the following entries:--
“4 A.M. Stood to.
“8 A.M. Marched with Division to Khair-el-Kharabeh, where the
Regiment received orders to proceed to Baghdad.
“12.45. Entered Baghdad. Proceeded to bridge across Tigris, which had
been destroyed by enemy prior to evacuation.[46]
“2 P.M. Returned to a palm bagh[47] on outskirts of town,
where ‘A’ and ‘C’ Squadrons bivouacked. ‘B’ and ‘D’ Squadrons proceed
to Kazimain.”
“The Regiment was attached to the 35th Infantry Brigade for garrison
duty.”
In these curt and unemotional words the Diary describes the march from
Lajj and the entry into Baghdad. It would not appear from this that the
Thirteenth had any fighting during these six days, or was much excited
by the capture of the city. But Regimental Diaries are not given to
unnecessary eloquence. As a matter of fact we know that the Regiment
lost an officer killed, and it believed that it had been specially
selected, as a reward for its conduct at Lajj, to be the first Cavalry
Regiment to enter Baghdad, and to form part of the garrison. The
compliment was evidently appreciated.
[Illustration: THE GRAVES IN BAGHDAD CEMETERY]
One young officer of the Regiment, 2nd Lieutenant Payne, speaks as if
the work had been hard, and not free from fighting, even after Lajj.
He had passed some years in Canada, and had perhaps learnt there to be
more outspoken than the very reserved British officer generally is.
“Since that date” (3rd March), he writes on the 13th, “we have been
fighting day and night without any rest or sleep, till men and horses
dropped with exhaustion, and had Baghdad not fallen the day before
yesterday there would have been few of the Thirteenth left to tell the
tale.” His letter goes on to describe various incidents of the past
week. The following are extracts:--
“Next morning, 4 A.M.,[48] the Division had to move on, and
our squadron was left as escort to the transport, which didn’t leave
till the afternoon, so we took our men back to the awful battlefield to
see if we could pick up any men alive, and to bury the dead. We buried
sixteen men and three officers in the same grave, but got nothing in
personal effects, as they had been stripped, some of them naked. All
the time we were working we had to keep a Hotchkiss gun going to keep
off the Arabs, who were coming in fast to pick up loot, of which there
was tons in the way of arms and saddlery.[49]...
“That same night we passed through another strong point at Ctesiphon
that they had not stopped to defend, and in the moonlight I rode over
to see the great arch of Ctesiphon that is supposed to have been
built in the time of Nebuchadnezzar or one of those birds. It has a
great façade of about 200 feet high that opens into a courtyard, and
alongside is this wonderful arched roof that looks as though it had
been a banqueting-hall.”
The writer is a little out in his dates, but the majority of his
countrymen knew not much more about the matter than he did.
“The enemy had gone back to their last and strongest position above
Diala, where there is a fork in the river. We weren’t successful in
smashing that place, so our Division and half the Infantry crossed the
river with the intention of striking the railway north of the city,
and we were out three days and nights without any rest, trying to
force a way round, and the farther we went the farther we had to come
for water, as it was death for men and horses to be cut off from the
river. In forcing our way down to water on the morning of the 12th[50]
we lost an officer and man, being sniped from the other side of the
river. We were all done up, no sleep, little food, and the horses
dropping under us after three weeks’ fierce fighting, and slowly making
our way to carry on the attack on the flank of the Infantry, which
always necessitated the enemy widening his front and weakening his
strength, when news came that the Black Watch entered Baghdad at 5.30
A.M.
“It was too good to believe, but then orders were passed down, ‘The
Thirteenth Hussars will report at once to G.H.Q. at railway station
for orders _re_ garrisoning town.’ There was new life in all of us
at once; we hadn’t had a sight of Baghdad and didn’t think we were
likely to for an age, but the next minute we were hoofing it at a trot
along the highroad that had been used for hundreds of centuries, over
trenches that the Turks had held the night before, and over dead bodies
of both attackers and attacked. But we got into the city. One seething
mass of Arabs greeted us; the same scum that the day before would have
delivered up any of our wounded to the Turks now brazenly brought out
wounded Turks to us that were not able to get away in the rush, dirty
devils always ready to join in with the winning side, but always with
an eye to scrupper the unfortunate of either if they can catch him
unprotected.
[Illustration: TURKISH BARRACKS]
[Illustration: ARMY COMMANDER’S HOUSE]
[Illustration: BRITISH, AMERICAN, AND FRENCH CONSULATES]
BAGHDAD
“After standing by for an hour or so Jeffrey was told to take two
squadrons and one squadron of machine-gunners to protect Kazimain,
three miles up to (?) the river. So I found myself in command of ‘D’
Squadron, and here we are in the lap of luxury (Eastern). Kazimain
is where all the pilgrims come to the great mosque, and is entirely
composed of caravanserai sort of hotel quarters: there are 5000 of
these buildings. We are quartered in the biggest, and even the men
are able to have a wooden bedstead to lie on each. It is a big square
building with a courtyard in the middle, in which we have picketed over
250 horses comfortably. Jeffrey and I and the Intelligence Officer
have a large stone-floored room with four bedsteads in it; there are
no windows, of course, but you let down great heavy wooden shutters
when the sun is too hot. The Sheikh (elder of the town) brought in
beautiful carpets and bedding for us, and the women and children in
hordes followed us in the street, all making a tinkly sort of yodelling
song. They are in terror of the Turks coming in, and sacking the place,
and taking their women. We weren’t looking our best by any means: no
change of clothes, unshaven, and unwashed for five days, the dust from
the storms begrimed into our skins, and our clothes in rags. But to-day
we are all happy and clean. The men, who haven’t had a bath or change
since January 24th,[51] can now be seen having their boots polished
by Arab children, and strutting about like lords; they do so love to
have something to order about. You would laugh to see them when we take
prisoners: they make them hold their stirrup-irons while they mount
their horses, and hand them their coats to put on--anything for the
sake of exercising power....
“However, it was all too good to be true--to go to sleep and not get
up till daylight, and have your sleep out, was too good to last more
than two days, and we have orders to turn the job over to an Infantry
battalion, and rejoin the remainder of the Regiment in Baghdad, where
we go into the Cavalry barracks, which no doubt will be just as nice:
but the heavenly paradise of it all here, with the river alongside,
and all the water you like, fresh good green stuff, and milk. This
is buffalo milk, but quite good, and we get lettuces, onions, and
mutton--in fact, we don’t have to open a tin of any sort. Our bread is
_chupatti_, the round flat things which the Jews make....”
War certainly teaches a man to be content with the essential things of
life.
“The Mosque here is most beautiful--that is, the outside, for no
infidel is allowed inside the gate.[52] It is simply enormous, and
faced with silver till it reaches the roof and four towers, which are
gold.
“I went down the Bazaar yesterday afternoon, and bought a pair of
saddle-bags for five rupees. They are made of the very finest carpet of
true colours, bound with leather; it’s a shame to use them on a horse,
but my other ones are in rags from carrying so many tinned foods.... I
have never carried anything in the way of loot about with me, nor let
my men do so, because it is such an incentive for the Turk to put a
bullet through you if you are wounded, and he finds them on you; but
now the Mesopotamia War is over so far as we are concerned, and we
shall live like human beings again under cover from the sun and cold
nights, and be able to think of such things. The rest of the Cavalry
Division are getting three days’ rest before pursuing the enemy farther
up. We, as far as we know, are to be in Baghdad for a while at least....
“Late evening. I have just been taking a stroll round the town in case
we don’t see it again. The officers are allowed to go in pairs armed,
but we haven’t dared to let the men out yet; they have been in trouble
already, climbing their way on the roof to the quarters of the Sheikh
and pinching bedding; also there are intermittent shots fired now and
again from mysterious spots, and there has to be a house-to-house
search for any stray Turks in hiding. We went through endless streets
with the houses almost touching across to each other. Every window is
glassless, but securely barred, and great wooden shutters slide down
to shut out the hot sun. Down by the river the Eastern picturesqueness
is very novel,--to see the Arabs lifting water by appliances that have
been used as long as the world was peopled; the coracles (round boats)
spinning round and round as they in time get across the stream: they
are allowed to spin, as it lessens the resistance to the current. To
get alongside the water and amongst the palms with their green crop
underneath is wonderful after weeks of the desert. I don’t know of
anything more depressing and hopeless than to--as we often and often
had to--be going all day in the broiling sun and dust and wind, and
find it hopeless to try and get to the river, and must camp where we
are, the horses unwatered, and every one finished their water-bottles,
and knowing that you’ve got to be on the move at 4 A.M. again,
with the expectation of meeting the enemy.”
Surely the soldier on service earns his pay.
[Illustration: A TYPICAL WATER LIFT]
[Illustration: A PERSIAN WATER WHEEL NEAR BAGHDAD]
_March 14._--“We turned out of our delightful quarters at Kazimain
this morning, and have now taken over the Cavalry barracks in
Baghdad--a horrible, flyey, and hot place that is nothing more than
bare mud walls and filth, since the outside Arabs have stripped it of
everything. These brutes got in and looted the Bazaar clean; the
civil population always expect that to happen on such occasions, and
just sit calmly by and watch them wreck their shops.... I am writing
this in agony from the flies. There are five other chaps in this bare
stone-floored room with me who have their heads buried under their
blankets, having given up any attempt at reading or writing....
“We found absolutely nothing in the town. The Bazaar, as the multitude
of dusty and smelly arcades are called, are rows and rows of little
cubby holes with the meanest supplies of merchandise, and as they
were all ransacked when the Turks left, we could buy nothing at all.
The whole town is most disappointing, even were it not half in ruins:
everywhere is dilapidation and dirt....
“Gowan, whose father was a member for Vancouver, is in charge of the
armoured cars we have attached to the Cavalry; he is an extraordinary
daring chap, and when in France with the 7th Battalion had the back of
his skull blown away--which he carries in his pocket--had a bayonet
through his stomach, and was discharged from the Canadian Army as
no further use--is now the admiration of every one for his daring
exploits!”
Lance-Corporal Bowie’s diary, from which quotations have already been
made in earlier chapters, tells the story of the advance from Lajj to
Baghdad in very concise terms.
“On the following day, the 6th,[53] we carried the pursuit of the Turks
past Ctesiphon. A very bad sand-storm raged during this day, making
our progress very difficult. We bivouacked that night near Bawi, and
the next day was spent in a well-earned rest, while a pontoon bridge
was being thrown across the Tigris, which, during the day, Turkish
airmen tried very hard to destroy by bombing, but only succeeded
in hitting one of our ammunition waggons, killing the entire team,
drivers, and everything within a radius of 300 yards. The following day
we crossed the Tigris without opposition, whilst the Infantry fought
their way across the Diala river some miles farther up. We at once
made a long night-march to get at the enemy’s left flank, which we
attacked, forcing him back a distance of some two miles, bivouacking
that night on the ground from which we had driven the enemy. During
the same [day?] one of our officers was killed while we were watering
our horses in the face of the enemy’s fire. The following morning we
started to blow up a railway bridge, but had to abandon this enterprise
owing to a terrific sand-storm which overtook us. After a few more
hours’ rest we proceeded on our way to Baghdad, where we encountered
no opposition, our Infantry having driven out the last of the enemy’s
rearguard during the earlier part of the morning, the Thirteenth
Hussars being the first of the Cavalry to enter the city, which we did
about 11 A.M. on the 11th March. The following morning the
pursuing Cavalry took Khasmain, whilst the Thirteenth Hussars remained
bivouacked in a large orchard. Having been selected to garrison the
city, we crossed the Tigris on the morning of the 14th, and took up our
quarters in the old Turkish Cavalry barracks, which were situated just
outside the citadel. These we found to be in a filthy condition, and
infested with vermin. Happily our stay here was very brief....”
Captain Newton’s diary is also very concise, but as an example of a
day’s work during the advance, the following entry of the 10th March
may be quoted. After noting on the 9th “horses and men done,” the diary
goes on:--
_Saturday, 10th._--“Saddled up at 5.30. Brigade off to water Jaffer’s
Tomb. Left with ‘A’ and ‘B’ (right wing) to escort Divisional troops.
Two troops sent off on search for some missing R.E.’s and wireless.
Sent with remainder to escort 6th Brigade second line down river
to refill. Awful dust. Found dead R.E.’s in pontoon, and punished
Arabs. Went back to where we had left Division leaving 4.30. Found
Division 9.15. Awful trek in dust. Then moved to Hilawiyni in gale and
dust-storm. Reached bivouac 12.30. To bed 2.30. Orders to be saddled up
by 6.”
_Sunday, 11th._--“Réveillé, 4. Gale still blowing....”
In a letter written from Baghdad the same writer gives a summary of the
whole march from Lajj.
“We had a longish trek next day (the 6th), but saw nothing of the
enemy, and we bivouacked about 6, but had no transport, so not much
food. Transport came in about midnight, but I’d got my blankets with
me and was fast asleep by 9 o’clock. We marched at 6 A.M.,
a bitter cold morning, but our mess-boxes had turned up with the
transport, so we started with our tummies good and full.
[Illustration: TURKISH CAVALRY BARRACKS OUTSIDE BAGHDAD USED AS A
HOSPITAL]
[Illustration: VIEW OF BAGHDAD FROM ROOF]
“We spent an idle day, sitting about a good deal while reconnaissances
went out; but it was a long day, and we didn’t get in till 9.30 in the
evening, to find a grand dinner waiting for us. It was midnight again
before I got to bed, as there were a lot of things to do. Next morning
we were up at 4.30 and ready to move at 6, but then heard we shouldn’t
move till about 1, and then cross to the other side of the river again.
We lunched at 11.30, but didn’t move off till 2.30, and it was about 6
before we were across the bridge. We trekked about all next day, and
in the evening heard we were to go on, and we did, but came up against
the Turk positions and couldn’t get on, so came back to bivouac, thank
goodness, as men and horses were nearly done in. It was while we were
watering in the afternoon that poor young Clarkson was shot dead by a
sniper, the only casualty we had that day, and most awfully hard luck.”
Such is too often the lot of the soldier on service--long, dreary,
uneventful days with no excitement, nothing but discomfort and fatigue;
and then, suddenly, the call to show what his training has done for
him, and perhaps to give up his life for his country. That is what
sets apart and ennobles the profession of the soldier and sailor--the
constant readiness to face death. Women with their quick perceptions
understand and are grateful, nor do they alone understand. In spite of
all prejudices and jealousies, men too know in their hearts that the
first honour is due to those among them whose choice and pride it is to
guard the nation with their lives.
“We were up at 4 A.M. and ready to move at 5.30. We didn’t
move till about 8, and then I was sent with two squadrons to escort
transport to refilling-point. It was not a particularly hard day’s
work, but it was another long day. It was 9 P.M. before I
found the Division again with my transport, and then we trekked on in
an awful dust-storm, and eventually reached our bivouac about 12.30. I
got to bed at 2.30, was called at 4.30, and we trekked at 8. We crawled
along, every one, men and horses, dead to the world, did a bit of Arab
strafing, and at 10.30 received the news that the Infantry were going
into Baghdad, and that the Regiment was to march in to form part of
the garrison. My word, we were proud and pleased, and every one just
brightened up, and we were as cheery as anything. We entered the town
on the side of the river, but couldn’t cross till a bridge had been
built. However, ‘B’ and ‘D’ were sent off to occupy Khazimain, a town
about six miles away and a great religious centre, and ‘A’ and ‘C’
were told to camp in a delightful garden, all green and shady with
date-palms and orange-trees. It was just like coming into fairyland
after the time we have been in the desert, and we felt so peaceful and
happy. Directly after we had fed I went to bed, and slept and slept and
slept till 7.30! It was grand.”
Private Massey, of ‘D’ Squadron, has also left an account of the march
from Lajj from the point of view of the trooper. He describes how the
Regiment marched nearly to the Diala river, and how on the 8th March
the Cavalry crossed to the right bank of the Tigris.
“It was now beginning to get dusk. All that night, and during the early
hours of the 9th, we continued marching, going in a north-westerly
direction. We crossed many big nullahs, which we found great difficulty
in crossing. When daylight broke we found ourselves within a few miles
of Baghdad, and according to rumour we were to attempt to cut the
railway above Baghdad, to prevent the Turks getting their rolling-stock
away. We were heavily shelled during the day, but our Regiment escaped
without casualties. We proceeded to water late in the afternoon, and
it took us a long time to reach it as the river was a long way off.
We were sniped at on our way, and on reaching the river we had to go
down to get water in buckets under the fire of a sniper on the left
bank of the river. Lieutenant Clarkson, of the M.G. Brigade, brought a
machine-gun into position on the bank, and stood up trying to find the
sniper with his glasses. He was instantly shot through the heart and
fell down dead.
“When we had finished watering, we moved into a big garden with a large
wind-wall round it. Here we had something to eat, a piece of biscuit
and a bit of bully. The horses were very badly done up, but we soon
moved on again. Where we camped that night is more than I can say, as
for the next few days I lost all sense of our position, as we seemed to
be all over the show, here, there, and everywhere. Anyway, we camped
somewhere in the desert that night, close up to the firing line.
[Illustration: THE REGIMENT ENTERING INTO OCCUPATION OF THE TURKISH
CAVALRY BARRACKS AT BAGHDAD. 13TH MARCH 1917]
“The transport was shelled coming in, and suffered several casualties
amongst native drivers. We had six hours in bed.”
_March 10._--“Réveillé on the 10th was at 4 A.M. We fed the
horses and had breakfast, and afterwards saddled up and went to water.
Two troops were put to guard a signalling-post all day which was on
the top of a high mound, close to where the Turks had had trenches
the previous day, and from where we had been fired on. It was pitch
dark when we moved off, very late at night, and the worst sand-storm
in which it has ever been my luck to be in came on. It was a terrible
experience, and I never want to experience such a storm again. How we
reached camp, or who led us in, I couldn’t say, but it ceased when we
reached camp. Got in after midnight, with nothing to eat and drink, and
réveillé ordered at 3.30 A.M. next morning. Transport late at
arriving in. Lay down in our clothes and one blanket for a few hours,
and slept like the war-worn soldiers we undoubtedly were.”
_March 11._--“On the 11th we started off again early in the direction
of Baghdad, and met several parties of Arabs who were fleeing from
the city on entry of the British that morning.... After proceeding
a little farther, word was passed down the line that we were going
to be the first Cavalry Regiment to enter Baghdad. As we neared the
entrance other regiments stood aside, and we passed on and at last
met a battalion of the Black Watch, who had been the first Regiment
to enter Baghdad. After proceeding a bit farther, we came to Baghdad
station, and here we halted for half an hour. We then mounted again,
and proceeded round the end of the railway.... We were now entering
the city, but with the exception of a few snipers all was quiet. White
flags were everywhere, and after riding through several streets we
called a halt close to some Cavalry barracks, which we entered soon
after. Only two squadrons went in, however, as there was not enough
room for the Regiment. The barrack rooms above the stables were roomy
and airy, but filthy.... On the 14th the Regiment moved into fresh
barracks on the left bank of the river.”
There for the present we may leave the Thirteenth to get a little rest,
and to regain as far as possible the cleanness and smartness which had
suffered during the rough work of the march. Their goal was reached,
and they were part of the force which had occupied the enemy’s famous
citadel.