THURSDAY, MARCH 16,1916. TOWNSHEND'S TWO SIEGES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 65, 16 March 1916, Page 4

THURSDAY, MARCH 16,1916. TOWNSHEND'S TWO SIEGES.

1 From none of the minor theatres of war would good news be so welcome row as from Mesopotamia. It is no' about fourteen weeks since General Townshend's force was isolated from the rest of the army in Mesopotamia, and naturally thfre is anxiety as to Ills ability to hold out. General Ayl'nor is now opposed by the Turkish position at Es Sinn, seven miles east of Kut. This n the position that was turned so brilliantly by the British in September. It was formidable then, but it U much morr so now., and that it has been extended is indicated by the fact that after attacking it the other day the Briiisli hed to fall back some dist*nce to liic river for want of water. We were appar ent;y trying an attack on one 01 the wings. Many arc the difficulties a*l hardships of this campaigr. The monotonous flatness of the plan is broken only by mounds that mark the fc'tca of former towns and cities; the whole land, 'vincli should be one of i,hc most fertile districts in the world, is still the pitiful wilderness it was turned into by Mongol invasion and Turkish negl<j:t. lute , se heat is not the only hardshio the troops have to suffer from the climate. " A pelting rain and a strong cold wind has prevailed/with but few intervals durin? the last ten days," wrote a correspondent in the middle of January, " and fur ther military operations have been hindered by. the weather. The mud of : Flanders has been-repeated. here,. only thftt .there, is not..f i^e,/ reJieiE,of foads and billets, and troops have to bivouac in the mire." The men who, after advancing nearly to Bagdad, had to retire to Kut, figljting a splendid rearguard action on the way, and are now surrounded in this dismal and inhospitable spot, and those who have been working for some nine weeks to relieve them, are, soldiers of whom we should all be proud. Most of them are native troops, whose dash and courage and endurance are proof of their fine fighting qualities anc\ the excellence of their training. The British commander at Kut ie experienced in siege warfare. As Captain Townshend he was one of the six Englishmen who went through the siege of Fort Chitfal In I*Bos, one of the most ' brilliant defences in Indian frontier ware, i The late Sir George Robertson, then Drj Robertson, wne sent on a mission to! Cliitral. a turbulent mountain State in j the extreme north of India, bordering' on the Pamirs, where the ruler never died in his bed and lying- and treachery were perhaps more rife than anywhere else on the whole frontier. A series of I complications created a situation co serious that it was decided to make a reconnaisance in force from the fort. Owing to the numbers and skill of the thillmen, the impetuosity of one of the British officers, and the unsteadiness of the Kashmir troops, the escort of the mission met with a nasty reverse, and bad to retire to the fort, where they •were immediately besieged. Captain CwpbeJl.-tbc senior military officer, waa severely wounded, during the engagemeut; and the command of the fort devolved on Captain Townshe-nd, wlho wa.s faced with a formidable task. In tlio fort, which was -only, eiglfty yards? equare, were 550 persons, of whom some 200 were non-combatants. Of the soldiers, only about one-fourth, a detachment, and the command of the fort and the Kashmir men were suffering] from the effects of their rough handling outside. Provisions were on the e'hort side, and poor in variety, whioh, with tbe sanitary conditions inevitable with so much crowding in 60 small a space, produced a good deal of sickness. Outside was an enemy strong in numbers, well armed, and flushed, by success, and between the garrison and relief lay wide stretches of extremely difficult country, including high passes deep in snow. The enemy ke.pt up a dangerous rifle fire, and by means of sangars pushed up close to the walls. The story of the mission and of ihe siege of 47 days is admirably told by the head of the mission in "Chitral: the Story of a Minor Siege," which "will long be read ac one of the most interesting books on the Indian fringe of Empire. By military skill, unflagging zeal and good organisa-tidn, the garrison .kept the flag flying for eeven weeks without serious loss, until Colonel Kelly completed his marvellous inarch from Gilgit over the Shandur Paes and relieved them. The most dramatic moments in the siege were the firing of the fort by tht enemy, the fire being put out with great difficulty, and the sortie to destroy the tuniifel that the enemy was driving to mine one of the towers. Led by Lieut. Karley, the Sikhs dashed out suddenly, in the face of a hot fire at close range, and carried with the bayonet the position at the mouth of the tunnel. Harley then fired the mine that was to destroy the tunnel, and the gallant party raced back. The story of this brilliant bit of.work is as thrilling a tale of dash, coolnees and courage as one would wish to read. Sir George Robertson died a few weeks ago, after several years of useful work as a member of Parliament, having~lived to see Captain Townshend rise to high command. One would like to know what became of the others, particularly Dr. Whitchurch, who received the Victoria Crp&s for carrying in Captain Baird on I

the day of toe reverse, and Harley, who led the sortie. Perhaps General Townshend is not worrying over his position as much as come of the civilians who are anxiously waiting for news of his relief. He may be reflecting that he was in greater peril twenty-one years ago.