Anonymous

“ Constant and unexpected checks break the swing that counts so much for comfort on a long march; hurrying on to make up for lost ground, stumbling in rough places, belated units pushing past to the front, whispered but heated arguments with staff officers, all threaten the calm of a peaceful evening and also that of a well-balanced mind. Many a soldier sadly misses his pipe, which, of course, may not be lit on a night march ”

“ A group of machine guns from further up the Dujail swept the crest of the hard-won parapet, and men less experienced in war had suffered more than did those who bore the Red Haeckle. But no experience of war could save men from the high explosive shell which burst throughout the day among the trenches, destroying indiscriminately parapet and defenders. These 5.9 shell the Highlanders had known all too well in France, and the number of bursts reminded our men rather of a bombardment in the trenches of Flanders than the shell fire ordinary to Mesopotamia. ”

“ Whatever the strength of the Battalion, the duties had to be performed. Again and again men left their turn of sentry duty only to take part in one of the innumerable but essential working parties. Over and over again men had to work throughout the cooler hours of the twenty-four, and pick up what rest they might in the heat and glare, amid the dust and flies, of midday. But if there was much sickness there was no grumbling, and the energy and thoroughness with which all duties were performed will remain for all time a lasting credit to the men of the Regiment. ”

“ Every race through every age, Aryan and Turanian, Babylonian and Assyrian, Median and Persian, armies from Greece and armies from Rome, have, during the past thousands of years, slaughtered each other with extraordinary thoroughness below these mud bastions; and more recently, but with the same seeming futility, Turk has murdered Arab and Arab Turk, the destruction of villages, mosques and canals marking, as of old, the soldiers sacrifice to the God of War. ”

“ The bond of sentiment holds when other bonds fail. To all to whom regimental feeling appeals there is no sight like the swing of the kilt, no sound like the sound of the pipes. Men of both regiments might often recall how they had charged forward in France, the pipers leading the way, and no body of men had themselves shewn greater gallantry or inspired others with their spirit more than the regimental pipers. ”

“ No jealousy marred the good feeling between officers and men; there was nothing but goodwill. We all had absolute trust in Colonel Thompson, and Colonel Wauchope has often said he always found the same spirit, the same wholehearted readiness to perform every duty equally amongst both units. In some ways the Platoon, in some ways the Division is the tactical unit of the British Army, but by tradition, custom and wholesome practise the living organism is the Battalion, and the Commander who ignores that fact loses a source of strength that no other factor fills. ”

“ I have told the story of these thirty hours of continuous marching and fighting from the point of view of a regimental officer. This is in battle, some say always, very limited in outlook. But certain things are shown clear. Waste of energy brings waste of life and victory thrown away. A regimental leader has, with his many other burdens, to endure the intolerable toil of taking thought, and of transmitting thought without pause into action. ”

“ THE MOSQUES OF BAGHDAD.
What is the secret, whence comes this spirit, of the wave of bravery that seizes soldiers at these great moments? Many of the very men who charged forward had, but ten minutes before, been driven back, many of their comrades lay dead beside them, they had lost their accustomed leaders, shrapnel and heavy shell were bursting among them, and when the cry for (p. 095) bombs and bombers was given, it must have seemed to many to be but the prelude to disaster, the vain cry for further and useless sacrifice. ”

“ The very flies are scarce in the hottest months, only the sandflies torment one at night, and so the day gradually passes, and as one goes the round to see everything is in order and one sees the men stretched out in their dug-outs, reading, trying to sleep, very few talking and all suffering, one remembers with what irritation one had read in a famous London daily paper, a query—why the Mesopotamian Campaign had come to an end during the summer, why no advance was heard of. ”

“ The mirage in Mesopotamia does not so much hide as distort the truth. The enemy are seldom altogether hidden from view, the trouble is rather to tell whether one is observing a cavalry patrol or an infantry regiment, or if the object moving forward is not in reality a sandhill or a bunch of reeds. ”

“ The valour, devotion to duty and determination which have defeated a stubborn enemy and culminated in the capture of Baghdad evoke our highest admiration."
"March 14th.—All ranks of the forces in Mesopotamia thank Your Excellency most warmly for your most kind message. It is a particular source of satisfaction to us to feel that our efforts are appreciated so thoroughly by our comrades in India. British and Indian troops have vied with each other in valour and endurance and difficulties met with have only stimulated our determination to surmount them." ”

“ Orders were given to renew the attack at dawn on the third day of the battle, but as day broke the patrols of Highlanders sent back word that the enemy had evacuated his forward positions, and we advanced in attack formation straight on Samarrah. The Highlanders were leading, and passed through the ancient ruins and the several lines of enemy trenches; those trenches held so stubbornly by the Turk, empty now, save for groups of dead bodies and a few of unhappy wounded who had not been moved during the night. Surely the world offers no scene more pitiful than that of a battlefield after action. ”

“ The gallantry of those who lie dead, whether British, or Indian, or Turk cannot be told, but one incident that was witnessed by several is worthy of record. The Redoubt measured several hundred yards on its front and side faces, and the attackers were few in number. One of these, Private Melvin had by some chance so damaged his bayonet that he could not fix it on his rifle. Throwing that weapon aside, he rushed forward where his comrades were scarce, and the enemy in plenty, and encountered a group of Turks single handed. ”

“ It was difficult to imagine before one came within sound of rifle fire that a grim struggle was being enacted a mile or so in front, everything was still quiet and peaceful, there were no villages to pass through on our way up, it was simply open flat country with a river on one side and a marsh on the other, a long dusty road leading from the Rest Camps to the rear (p. 040) of the trenches. A light was burning in Brigade Headquarters and a sentry on duty and we silently filed up the long communication trench which was deep in dust as rain had not fallen for months. ”

“ To the Regimental Officers, N.C.Os. and men, a special word is due for their matchless heroism and fighting spirit, and for their grit and determination so fully in accord with the best traditions of British and Indian Regiments. Whilst regretting deeply the casualties necessarily incurred in the attainment of our object, the series of stinging blows dealt to the enemy, his severe losses which are out of all proportion to the size of his force and his obviously faltering spirit afford ample proof to all ranks that their sacrifices have not been made in vain. ”

“ But of the gallant help given by the Gurkhas I have spoken and, after some experience of war both in France and in Mesopotamia, I add my testimony to the value of the loyal services rendered by so many of our Indian Regiments; it will stand to their honour for all time that they have fought throughout these years so bravely and so faithfully. War is a noble comradeship, and the ties that now bind the Indian and British troops will not easily be severed.
The relationship between British and Indian officers is invariably happy ”

“ For that vision has drawn many thousands from Basrah and Amarah—many who are now here in the hour of victory, many who now lie where they fell on the field of battle, and many who are still prisoners and captives. ”

“ It was necessarily a slow business moving up unknown trenches at night, and the battalion on our left met with considerable resistance. However, if progress was slow it was sure, our patrols pushed steadily forward, the enemy's snipers were forced back and before dawn the whole San-i-yat position was in our hands, and the Turks in full retreat. Thus fell this position which for ten long months had held us up, and had claimed such a (p. 057) big toll of lives from both sides. The sky was clear and without cloud. The same sun shone out on victors as on vanquished, on pursued and pursuers. ”

“ It is a question that often confronts one at a comic opera, always (p. 097) in the near neighbourhood of a gramophone, but never with such persistent irritation as when undergoing a bombardment from high explosive shell. Nothing is more trying to the nerves, for and from it there is no escape. This war has been defined as a war, not of infantry, nor of artillery, but of effective co-operation between the two. ”

“ I know, by personal experience, the suffering entailed in lying day and night untended with broken limbs, the utter weariness from wounds, and the exhaustion after conflict, the tragedy of all surroundings, the cries of those who cry for help that never comes, a passionate longing for death alternating with a craven fear of foe and wandering marauder, and above all, the horror of the great vultures swinging round and round in ever closer circles. ”

“ The water is a wonderful opal colour; the great Desert on our left, the barren rocks, sunburnt and bare on our right, help to make a fascinating picture. One remembers the first time one had passed through the Canal, years before in time of peace, and how one had been filled with admiration for the Medical Officer who came out to the Mail Boat to give it a clean bill of health to pass through the Canal, because she was a woman, and standing month after month of Suez summer weather, which proves too much for many men, leave alone women. ”

“ Perhaps some daring Turkish flying man heard that brave cheer from his observation car far above and thought the mad English were practising some new game to worry his existence. That evening at a concert given by the Regiment the General made a speech and congratulated the two teams on the best tug-of war he had ever seen, congratulating them on their splendid staying powers and for the tenacity and determination they had displayed, which he remarked augured ill for the Turk in the coming months. ”

“ There stretches, some sixty miles north of Baghdad, from the Tigris to the Euphrates, a famous fortified line known to the Greeks as the Median Wall. It is skilfully constructed in tiers of mud bricks to a height fully thirty feet above the level of the plain, the whole has been covered over by a thick layer of earth protecting the bricks these many centuries from wind and weather, for the Median Wall is, so some say, the oldest building in all the world. ”

“ Bombing was practiced morning and night. Bayonet fighting was excelled in, and attacks by bombers and bayonetmen were practiced with frequency in trenches especially prepared for the purpose. Officers were trained to march by compass and stars and some were even given a course of riding lessons, nothing being left to chance. The long hot trying summer was not wasted; it was a preparation for what was to come. Long marches were out of the question, but short night marches were often practiced, sometimes by the Battalion alone, sometimes by the whole Brigade with an attack at dawn. ”

“ On the left the Turk occupied no advanced positions, but he outflanked our line, and the enfilade fire from his commanding positions was causing such losses that it seemed impossible for our men to continue the advance without strong artillery support. Unfortunately this was not forthcoming at the time, because our covering batteries had found they were at extreme range, and were now in the act of moving to a more forward position. If an attacking line wavers and halts within close range of an enemy entrenched, that attack is done until supports come up and give it again an impetus forward. ”

“ I believe when we congratulate ourselves after a battle that we and our friends are still in the land of the living, that in some mysterious way there may be a counterpart on the other side of the veil—that there may be welcome and rejoicing also on behalf of those who have passed through the portals of death. ”

“ Officers patrols were regularly sent out into "No Man's Land" to examine the enemy's wire and find out if he were sapping forward. As the summer advanced the marsh receded on the left of the enemy's line, and this gave our scouts an opportunity to patrol and harass the Turks by penetrating in rear of their left flank. Much gallant work was done in this direction and much credit gained by the Regiment, for the Colonel considered that a good test of the fighting energy of a Company was the vigour of its patrol duties, and a good number of the Turkish sentries, I feel sure, agreed with him. ”

“ Now the Turk is a stubborn fighter. His men on the west bank of the Dujail had not yet been driven so far back as those opposing the Highlanders, and they now opened a very galling fire from the west bank at a range of only two to four hundred yards. The Redoubt had been taken at 6-15 a.m. Within ten minutes the Turks on the east bank had organised a strong body to make a counter attack, and these headed by parties of bombers, rushed the Redoubt, drove the few defenders back, and held its front and side faces. ”