IN MESOPOTAMIA

Press, Volume LII, Issue 15560, 8 April 1916, Page 9

IN MESOPOTAMIA

POSITION.

MORE HEROICS BY GERMAN

CHANCELLOR.

(614 th DAY OF THE WAR.)

TURKISH CAMPAIGNS. IN MESOPOTAMIA. IMPORTANT BRITISH SUCCESS. UMM-E--HENNA CAPTURED. FIVE LINES OF TRENCHES TAKEN. /By Cable. —Press Asaociation.-Copynßlit.) ' 7 LONDON, Apnl 6. An official communinuo ' 'The British have cultureli £ elahio (limm-el-ilenlia?, 6 . Lieut-General Sir Percy Lake, Com-mander-in-Chief of lie Mesopotamia, reports that th c » Corns under Manor-General G. is. Ooi riS Maior-Gciieral Aylmer'a successor, attacked Umm-cl-Heiina at too o'clock in thc morning of April oth. Uur trendies had been wished by means of saps to witlnn one yards of the enemy s position, tho loading battalions of the 13th Division rushed the enemy's first and second linos in quick succession. JLiio third lino -was captured by six o clockTho attack was supported by concentrated artillery and machine-gun fare. The 13th Division continued its ictorious advance an hour la ™?> drovo the enemy out of his fourth and fifth lines. . , •Aeroplane reconnaissances reported that the enemy -was strongly reinforcing the Galahivah and Sannayyat positions, which were respectively 6000 and 12,000 yards from tho front trenches at Umm-el-Henna. As these positions were only approachable over open ground, General Gorringe deferred further attack till the evening. . , Meanwhile, on the right bank, xno 3rd Division, under General Cary, captured the enemy's trenches opposite Felahie ("Umm-cl-Henna). The enemy in the afternoon on this bank strongly counter-attacked with infantry and cavalry, supported by guns, but we successfully repulsed him, an consolidated the position won General Gorringe, at eight o clock in the evening, resumed his advance, ana carried the Falmhiyah positions Reports state that the Umm-el-Henna position was strongly entrenched. Its left flank was resting on the Suwaichi Marsh, and its right on "the river front. The trenches were nine feet deep, and the system extended in successive lines to a depth of 250U yards.

THE THIRTEENTH DIVISION. NEW ARMY VETERANS. (Received April 7th, 11.10 p.m.) LONDON, April 7. Tho newspapers recall the fact that the. 13th Division mentioned in Sir Percy Lake's report, "belongs to tho New Army. It earned tho title of tho 'Iron Division" at Gallipoli, -where it went through the fiercest of the fighting in August. Sir lan Hamilton m his despatch mentions that the 13th Division lost 6000 killed and wounded out of a strength of 10,500 effectives.

The following references to the Division were made by Sir lan Ha-md-ton in his great despatch on th e lighting on Gallipoli Peninsula last Al day, August 10th two attacks one in the morning and the other in the afternoon, were dellv " e <J on our positions along the Asmak Dero and Damakjelik Bail- Both Y, c , ro »"" pulsed with heavy loss by the fth Australian Brigade and tho 4th South Wales Borderers, the men of the New Army showing all tho steadiness of erans Sad to say. the Borderers lost their intrepid leader, Lieutenant-Col-onel Gillespie, in the course of this "By evening the total casualties of General Birdwood's force had reached 12 000, and included a very large proportion of officers. The 13th of the New Army, under Major-General Shaw, had alone lost 0000 out of a grand total of 10..500. Baldwin was gone and all his staff Ten commanding officers out of thirteen had disappeared from the fighting cffectn . The Warwicks and the W orcesters had lost literally every single officer. Iho old German"notion that.no unity would stand a loss of more than 2-5 per cent, had been completely falsified. "The 13tli Division and the 29th Brigade of the 10th (Irish) Division had lost more than twice that proportion, and in spirit, were game for as much more lighting as might be required. But physically. though Birdwoou s forces were prepared to hold all they had ff ot- they were now too exhausted to attack—at least they had rested and reorganised. So far they had held on to nTI thev had gained, excepting only the footholds on the rulgp between Chnnuk Bair and Hill Q, momentarily carried by the Gurkhas, and tlio salient, of Chunuk Bair itself, which thev had retained for forty-eight hours. I nfortunately, these two pieces ol groum , sm:!ll and worthless as they seemed, were worth, according to the ethics ot war. 10.000 lives, for by their loss or retention they just marked the difference between an important success anci a sisrnnl victory. "Major-General F. C. Shaw, com-

BRITISH CAPTURE FELAHIE

ANOTHER ZEPPELIN RAID.

manding the 13th Division, also rose superior to all the trials and tests of these trying days. His calm and sound judgment proved to be of tho greatest value throughout the arduous fighting, I havo recorded. As for tho troops, tho joyous alacrity with which they faced danger, wounds and death, as if the.v wero some new form of exciting recreation, lias astonished- me —old campaigner as I am. I will say no more." THE NEWS IN ENGLAND. MAIN POSITION YET TO BE ATTACKED. LONDON. April 6. The newspapers givo prominence to the news from tho Tigris, and comment on the fact that the success of the forces under Sir Perev Lake coincides with the publication, of General Aixon & drspntch.

The absence of recent news from Major-Genera Pownshend has can sod increasing public anxinbr. Sir Percv Lake s success gives to both tiro W suffering force at Kut-01-Amara .md to the Piij'lic at homo a rav of hone. Thou S h the main Turkish position remains to bo attacked, Sir •Percy Lake is apparently lucky in that the inundations from the Armenian S-'m ° n ° fc made °P° ra tions imfearcd ** m,litar £ <*Perts

nf Xj +)T m T l " Hcnna is on the lef t bank or tiio lifp-is, and constitutes the first S o « C!,emy ' 8 &° n - .. | I,e re 1S n ? room for mancouvritiff, it haying a front of onlv a mile and a half. Wo tned to force this bottle .neck on January 21st hut fc GcnCral , A 7 lmor was unable to Jiold the ground ho won. Th 0 "Morning Post" attacks +!i„ Government and alleges that, ■ acting on General Isixon's advice, it ovcrniled the India Office aitf direct Major-General TWnshcnd to dash to Bagdad, though Major-Gencral TW shend protested that he had an inadequate force. Major Churchill's rest !f SS k M sllll a , ga . m responsible, his probable motive being to div«>r+ il! Turks from Gallipot re! &3es r bl,mder «' tie Dar-