With a Highland Regiment in Mesopotamia Part 5

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 pus.h.i.+ng 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; but to me a greater loss is the silence of those other pipes, for the sound of the bagpipes will stir up a thousand memories in a Highland regiment, and nothing helps a column of weary foot-soldiers so well as pipe-music, backed by the beat of drum. This march was neither better nor worse than its fellows, and we had covered some fourteen miles before we halted at dawn. Then we lay down, gnawed a biscuit, tasted the precious water in our bottles, and waited for what news airmen would bring of the enemy.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Course Of The Baghdad Railway.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Different Types In Mesopotamia.]

The day is not wasted on which one has seen the sun rise--perhaps some of us changed the old saying, and felt the day would be well spent for him who saw the sun set,--for in war, however sure the victory, so also is the toll of killed and wounded, and the attack of an enemy entrenched in this country, as bare and open as the African veld, is done readily, gladly, but not without losses; and the time one thinks of these is not in the charge, not in the advance, but in the empty period of waiting beforehand. The needle p.r.i.c.ks before, not during, the race. "Remember only the happy hours," and if the most glorious hour in life is the hour of victory in battle, so are the hours preceding battle among the most depressing. I confess, as we sat there idle in the chill dawn, my mind was filled not only with the hope of victory and captured trenches, but with memories of past scenes in France and Mesopotamia, and of a strip of ground the evening after Magersfontein, each battlefield dotted with little groups of men lying rigid, each marked with lines of motionless forms.

Action quickly dispels such thoughts, and we all welcomed the definite news that was at last brought of the enemy, and our orders for a farther advance. One brigade was immediately sent forward on the east side of the railway in order to press back the advanced parties of the enemy on their main position, some six miles north of our present halting place. A brave sight it is to see a brigade deploying for action. Even though the scarlet doublet has given place to the khaki jacket, though no pipes sound and no colours are unfurled, the spirit still remains; the spirit that in old days led the British line to victory still fills these little columns scattered at wide intervals over the plain, these little columns of Englishmen, Highlanders, Indians, and Gurkhas. The brigade pushed forward for a mile or two without opposition, then little puffs of white smoke bursting in the air showed that the Turk had opened the battle with salvoes of shrapnel; the little columns quickly spread out into thin lines, and our batteries trotted forward and were soon themselves engaged in action. So far the scene had been clear in every detail, but now as the day advanced, the dust from advancing batteries, the smoke and mirage, formed a fog of war that telephones and signallers could only in part dispel.

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 mirage here has certainly a strange power of apparently raising objects above the ground-level. I remember well from a camp near Falahiyah the Sinn Banks, which are perhaps thirty feet above the plain, were quite invisible in the clear morning air, but about noon they were easy to distinguish as a cloudy wall swaying to and fro in the distant haze. Nor shall I forget the instance of an officer who once a.s.sured me he had observed five Arab hors.e.m.e.n within a mile of our column: we rode forward, and soon the five shadowy hors.e.m.e.n gave place to five black crows hopping about by the edge of the Suwaicha marsh. But the most curious illusion I have seen in this way was looking towards the Pusht-i-Kuh hills across the marsh from San-i-yat. The foothills, some thirty miles distant, had sometimes the appearance of ending in abrupt white cliffs such as one sees at Dover. The cause of this was a great number of dead fish which had been stranded as the marsh receded, and their white bellies, a mile away, gave the appearance of white cliffs to the base of the Persian hills, which in reality slope very gradually down to the level of the Tigris valley.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Arab Girl Labourers.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Barber.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Was.h.i.+ng Clothes.]

So in Mesopotamian battles, little can be trusted that is seen, and to gain information of the enemy commanders are bound to rely on reports by aeroplane, messengers, and telephones.

The battle now before us was to be fought over ground typical of the Tigris valley and the desert into which it merges. There are no hills, trees, or any distinguis.h.i.+ng features, but the strip nearest the river, varying from one to several miles in breadth, is cultivated and intersected with irrigation channels, some six feet, some six inches, in width and depth. These are invaluable as cover to troops on the defensive, and almost impa.s.sable to transport carts. It was here the enemy had expected us, and was holding numerous trenches between the river and the railway; but our commanders wisely waited till their information was complete, and then decided to make our main attack on the enemy's extreme right, some six miles from the river. The ground in this part is a wide open desert, bare and level except for a few low sandhills; but in the dips and hollows below the sandhills the khaki-coloured desert changes into a thick growth of fresh green gra.s.s, dotted with countless daisies and dandelions, and a little white flower resembling alyssum giving a sweet smell to all the countryside. Some five miles beyond our halting-place a definite ridge runs east and west across the railway, and ends in a low sugar-loaf hill about forty feet high. This ridge was reported to be entrenched and held by the Turk, and this ridge we were ordered to attack and capture.

Our first brigade had moved forward on the east side of the railway, but had been eventually held up mainly by enfilade artillery fire coming from positions stretching nearer to the river than to the railway. The whole brigade was now lying stretched out in extended order some three thousand yards ahead of us, with the left regiment touching the railway embankment. Our brigade had followed for some miles in their tracks, but was now ordered to cross to the western side of the railway by a small culvert and form up for the main attack some three or four miles south of the enemy's position. This was done without difficulty, the third brigade of our Division being held in support on our left rear.

After the orders and dispositions had been explained to every man, magazines were charged, and the Highland regiment deployed into attack formation in four lines of half-platoons in file. A battalion of Gurkhas was deployed on our left, and the third battalion of the brigade was formed up in rear of the Gurkhas. The main attack was thus to be delivered on a narrow front of five hundred yards, the machine-gun company being held in readiness to support the a.s.saulting battalions as occasion offered. The first-line transport with the reserve ammunition halted near the culvert through which we had crossed the railway, but both our reserve ammunition and our Aide Post were brought forward as the attack developed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Indian Cavalry Watering At Arab Village.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Landing Stores At Arab Village.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Great Bund Built To Keep Back The Marsh At Falahiyah.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Liquorice Factory, Kut.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: The River At Kut.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Drawing Water At Kut.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: View From The Kut Minaret Towards The Hai.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Kut.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Progress Is Being Made At Kut, It Now Has Its Munic.i.p.ality.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Townshend's Trenches, Kut.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Looking Towards Kut.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Kut Minaret.]

At 3-30 p.m. we advanced, and soon had pa.s.sed the two field batteries covering our front, and reached, without opposition, the lines of the first brigade extended on the east side of the railway. About four o'clock our patrols reported that the enemy was holding not only the main ridge that joins Sugar Loaf Hill with the railway embankment, but also a broken line of low sandhills a few hundred yards in front of the main position. At the same time some shrapnel burst over our leading platoons, and a party of Turks, directly on our left, opened long-range rifle fire. The battalion halted under cover of some sandhills, the final orders were issued, and half a company and two machine-guns were sent to clear the enemy firing from our left flank.

Happily the latter retired at once when fired on, and the battalion advanced in perfect order, the small columns extending into line as the enemy's rifle fire grew more and more severe. The Turkish batteries now kept up a regular fire of both shrapnel and high-explosive sh.e.l.l, but these detonated badly, and our losses on this account were small. A _rafale_ of shrapnel will of course destroy any infantry moving in the open, but intermittent sh.e.l.ling, although it appears to be terribly destructive, will not stop resolute troops determined to press forward. But the farther we advanced the more evident it became that Sugar Loaf Hill was the key of the position. It stood seven or eight hundred yards west of the railway, and the enemy's riflemen from the entrenchments on top brought a deadly enfilade fire to bear on our advancing lines. The Gurkhas moving in echelon on our left escaped this, but to meet it and to dominate the enemy's fire, the Highlanders were compelled to extend to the left, their supporting platoons being used to fill up the gap. Two machine-gun sections also pressed gallantly forward, and in spite of continual and heavy losses from now onwards, did much to help us to gain superiority of fire over the enemy.

The battle was now divided into two parts. On our left the Turks had been forced to retire from their advanced positions, but on the right they still held some trenches among the broken ground near the railway, two hundred yards in advance of the main position on the ridge; but on the right our losses had not been so severe, nor was our line so extended.

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. But there were now few supports available, and the moment most critical.

Yet all along our front small sections of Highlanders still continued to rise up, make a rush forward, and fling themselves down, weaker perhaps by two or three of their number, but another thirty yards nearer the enemy. Now the last supports pressed into the firing line, and as one leader fell, another took his place. One platoon changed commanders six times in as many minutes, but a lance-corporal led the remaining men with the same dash and judgment as his seniors.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The a.s.sistant Adjutant.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Captain W. A. YOUNG, Commanding No. 2 Company.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Money Changer]

It was at this time our Lewis gun teams lost so heavily. The weight of the gun and the extra ammunition carried renders their movements slower than that of their comrades, and consequently the teams offer a better target as well as one specially sought for by the enemy. The officer in charge, Lieut. Gillespie, had brought up two of our guns in the endeavour to subdue the fire from Sugar Loaf Hill, but at the very moment of giving the range his left arm was shattered. He had been light-weight champion of India, and as he now continued fighting, I could not but compare him to his famous predecessor in the Ring, who carried on the fight with one arm broken. I know those brave, brown eyes of his never flinched in pain, nor wavered in doubt, as he made his way back, not to the Aide Post, but in order to bring forward two more guns for the same purpose. But, alas! while directing their fire he was seen by some Turkish riflemen and fell, never again to rise, his breast pierced by two bullets.

A number of staff and artillery officers witnessed this attack by a Highland regiment. Some were chiefly impressed by so much individual gallantry, others at the example of what can be achieved by collective determination. Was it the result of hard and constant training, perfect discipline, or _esprit de corps_ that at this moment of trial made these thin extended lines work as if by clockwork to their own saving and the victory of our arms?

It was during this advance of five hundred yards that the regiment met with its heaviest losses. With four officers and half his men killed or wounded, and an enemy machine-gun pouring a continuous stream of bullets on to the remainder, the situation is not a happy one for a company sergeant-major, and this was the situation which the young Sergeant-Major Ben Houston of our left company had now to face. He turned round, as so often in battle one does turn round, hoping to see supports pus.h.i.+ng forward, and a bullet seared an ugly line across both shoulders. Without waiting, he led his men on, and another bullet struck his bayonet; fragments cut his face and made his eye swell, so that he could not see out of it. Yet when I met him at midnight after the last charge, he told me much of the battle and nothing of his wounds. High praise is due to those who, although weakened by wounds, continue fighting and undertaking fresh responsibilities.

The company next on the left fared little better, but these two companies forced the enemy back, and occupied the low sandhills some two hundred yards in advance of his main position, and there waited, by order, before making the final a.s.sault. The left company lost two signallers killed, and the next company had four signallers all wounded in the act of calling for more ammunition. Ammunition was brought up, but, though many brave men fell and many brave deeds were done, nothing was carried out with greater bravery, nothing contributed more to our success, than the maintenance of communication throughout the battle.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 1 Company Prepares For Inter-company Cross-country Run.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Highland Games On The Tigris Front.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Last Meal In Camp.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Men's Field Kitchen.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Staff Of Officers' Mess At San-i-yat.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Loading Up The Kits.]

The left half battalion, reduced to less than half of its original numbers, was in need of help. This help it now gained from the action of the companies on the right. Undismayed by the enemy sh.e.l.l and rifle fire, these two companies, gallantly a.s.sisted by the Indian battalion on the east side of the railway, pressed forward, and at five o'clock charged the enemy, and drove him out of his advanced trenches at the point of the bayonet. The very quickness of the manoeuvre had ensured its success, though it was only achieved with considerable loss to ourselves as well as to the Turk. But the gain was great.

Small parties of Highlanders now crept forward among the sand-dunes, two Lewis guns were taken to the east side of the railway embankment, and a hot enfilade fire was brought to bear on the enemy main position. So effective was this that the Turks were forced to evacuate the ridge for some 400 yards nearest the railway, and even from Sugar Loaf Hill his fire weakened, and the relief to our left half battalion and to the Gurkhas was correspondingly great. Streams of wounded Turks were also seen pa.s.sing from the ridge to the rear: it was not only the British who suffered losses on the 14th of March.

The situation was now greatly in our favour, and it only wanted a final charge to complete the success. But this a.s.sault could not be made without either artillery support or the arrival of fresh troops to fill up our depleted and extended ranks. Our Colonel, therefore, ordered all companies to wait in the positions they had gained, but to be ready to charge immediately after the batteries had bombarded the enemy trenches. Consequently, during the next hour both sides remained on the defensive.

Little ironies pursue us through life; in battle Death sometimes comes with a touch so swift and so ironical that we are made to fear G.o.d truly.

Englishmen have learned now the meaning of the saying, dear to the French soldier, "de ne pas s'en faire," and in the lull of battle before the bombardment, Sergeant Strachan and Cleek Smith talked of old times. There had been nine Strachans in the regiment when we landed in France two and a half years ago, one of whom was then my orderly. "Any news this morning?" I would sometimes ask.--"Nothing much, sir, only another of the Strachans was killed last night." My orderly had become a sergeant, but the other eight were no longer with the battalion. They had all left, "on command." "Yes," said Cleek Smith, "I wonder why it is so many poor chaps get it the minute they join the regiment, while fellows like you and me go through one show after another and never get a scratch." Scarce a bullet was fired during that half-hour, yet as a full stop to his question came one that found a way to that gallant heart, which had never failed him in the most critical fight, nor on the most dangerous duty when out scouting. Cleek Smith, you know the answer now to an even greater Riddle than the one you put to the last of the Strachans. No man liveth unto himself, and whoever dies in battle, dies for his regiment, his country, and the cause.

The telephone plays an important part in open warfare, as it does in the trenches, and though the Brigade Signalling Officer and many of his men were killed, intermittent communication was kept up throughout the battle between the battalion, the covering batteries, and the Brigade Commander. The value of this was now extreme. By telephone our Colonel communicated his intentions to the firing line, and thus prevented those sporadic attacks by independent platoons, at once so gallant, so ineffective, and so deadly in losses. By telephone he explained the situation to the Brigadier, who ordered up half a battalion of another Highland regiment, old friends of ours, but never more wanted than now, and by telephone he arranged that the batteries should bombard as heavily as possible the trenches on the right of Sugar Loaf Hill, the bombardment to begin at 6.25 and to last for six minutes.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Sergeant-major I. E. NIVEN.]