In the clouds above Baghdad

22–25 November 1915

Battle of Ctesiphon (1915)

THE BATTLES THAT WON BAGHDAD 65

cause Khalil Pasha to make some move from Sannayat and give him an opening; Khalil Pasha sat doggedly firm. The air offensive went on; a ton of bombs was dropped on Bghailah on the 2ist, and three machines again visited the place that night; the work of registration from all the new artillery positions allowed no respite. On Christmas Eve the cavalry attacked and burnt the Arab stronghold Gussabs Fort, and D. H. reconnoitred the river as far as Baghdad; it was the first time since the battle of Ctesiphon that a British aeroplane had been over the city; we heard later what consternation it caused. He came back with wonderful tales of gardens and vegetation, railway station, tram-lines, and buildings — it sounded all very civilised to us in the desert.

THE BATTLES THAT WON BAGHDAD 85

was run ashore by a captured and badly-wounded British officer, Lieut. Cowie, of the Black Watch. Another, the " Pioneer," burning fiercely but still fighting her guns, ran aground. On went Nunn after the " Firefly/' a British gunboat captured in the retreat from Ctesiphon. The Navy were intent on getting her back ; after a long fight her captain ran her ashore, and she was recaptured. It was a great day for the Senior Service; they suffered heavy casualties and were riddled by shell and machine-gun fire, but by wonderful fortune none were sunk. Three ships and a thousand prisoners had been captured ; one enemy ship sunk ; the army routed ; and, above all, the lost " Firefly," or, as the Turks had re-christened her, " Sulman Pak," recaptured. All that morning General Maude walked up and down wondering what the gunboats were doing, and " why the devil they didn't report as instructed? ' That night the Navy reported.

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sand. It was a following wind, and as it became stirred up the dust floated forward with troops and waggons. To keep in touch with the troops I accompanied the 3rd Corps in my Hupmobile car; the G.H.Q. ship would be out of touch 'till nightfall owing to the extraordinarily tortuous course of the river. I shall never forget that ride forward with the column. The ground was intersected by nullahs and cut up by the columns in front. Jammed in by guns and transport, it was impossible to move forward at more than five miles an hour; it was almost dark with the intensity of the driving sand, and one could see only a few yards in front when occasionally one opened one's eyes for fleeting glances. Native troops could not be distinguished from British, the grey dust made all men alike. Spread out in marching echelons, with heads muffled up as if in 'the Arctic regions, the army stumbled on in the gale. The enemy in Baghdad must have watched with misgiving the vast cloud rolling on. The rapidity of the advance prevented his making a stand in a carefully pre- pared position and fighting another battle at Ctesiphon, for the cavalry were hard on his heels and reconnoitred to within three miles of the Diala during 'the day. One pilot carried out a useful reconnaissance in the gale, and reported to Cavalry and I3th Division Headquarters. I managed to get across the river with this report and intercept the G.H.Q. ship, which hauled into the bank.

BAGHDAD AND BEYOND 14!

Heat was beginning to restrict the performance of aeroplanes; we were still flying the old B.E.s, but although obsole'te for war purposes, their stationary air-cooled engines were less vulnerable to high temperature than the rotary type in the Bristols or the water-cooled in the Martinsydes. Captain Pickering flew B.E.2C 4500 from the base to Fort Kermeah; she was a veteran machine, having been in action with Townshend at the battle of Ctesiphon in 1915. To maintain ourselves it was necessary to ship any crashed or old machines down to Busrah, where, after being entirely reno- vated, they were flown back to the Front, and with