CAPTURE OF BAGDAD IMMINENT

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3024, 10 March 1917, Page 9

CAPTURE OF BAGDAD IMMINENT

1 ' , BRITISH CAVALRY WITHIN 12 MILES IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS EXPECTED -, London, March' S. «, General V. B. Maurice (Director of Military Operations).announces that the capture of' Bagdad is imminent. The British cavalry are within twelve miles, and-it'is impossible to defend the city, but the Turks may make a. stand six miles southward. If not, the Turks must retreat north and find defensible-positions.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assii. '■'■.■-■■ ';■••■■ \ _. • ',-■•■ ■ \ , SENSATIONAL POSSIBILITIES . . London, March 8. ■ Tho British cavalry in Mesopotamia is twenty-tiye miles from Bagdad, which Lieutenant-General Maude's advance guards are expofitesl to reach shortly. The campaign against Turkey has sensational possibilities. The Anzacs have crossed , the Syrian frontier, and occupied Turkish positions at Shellal, constructed to protect the in land railway to Jerusalem. The .Turk's bombed the railway, fearing its use in a further advance. Shellal is an unimportant village, but the occupation of the positions clears the way for progress. The position on ,the' Tigris i s most promising. The Turks are now, ■ much outnumbered. Bagdad, is within reach, and its occupation would have enormous effect on the Turks. There is even a faint possibility that it would prove decisive in the Turkish minds. The. season in Mesopotamia^—is, however, far advanced, and the rivo ris rising. The. melting snows in the Taurus range will soon bring floods. 11 is not known what lies beyond Ctesiphoii, but General Townshend was unable to ta"ke his ships beyond Lajj, which Lieutenant-General Maude's cavalry has now reached. General Townsbend found tho river banks studded with artillery, Lajj beiug tho first; of the deep lino of the defences of Bagdad. The Tigris position is largely governed by the prospects of maintaining |th e long line of communication from the Persian Gulf. The railway is now ap preaching Kut. Turkish prospects of reinforcing the troops on tho Tigris are momentarily poor. According to German reports, tho Bagdad railway is completed to Terablus, on the Euphrates, from whore tho troops can take river barges to a point twenty miles from Bagdad, with which that point is connected by a, light railway. The Turks, apparently, are endeavouring to get the divisions in Persia bnck across tho oldest road iin the world in time to save Bagdad) There are throe Persian columns now converging upon this road wesf/of Asadabad. Meanwhile tho Russians in the Caucasus aro more than holding their own, whilst the Germans aro retaining at least ten Turkish divisions in Galicia, Romania, and Macedonia, oallous to Turkey's serious plight in Syria, Mesopotamia, Persia, and the Caucasus.—Aus.-N'.Z. Cable Assn. THE LATEST-14 MILES FROM BAGDAD The High Commissioner reports •— '•. ; . ; .'■•■• ' London. March 8. ■•. A telegraphic dispatch from Mesopotamia at midnight on March 6 stateß: "There is little opposition to our pursuit. Our cavalry has passed" Otesiphon, which was unoccupied, and is bivouacking near Bawi, six miles soutn-ea6t of Dialah. We aro now 14 miles from Bagdad." ' RUSSIAN PRESSURE SUSTAINED . , :' Uondon, March 8. -■ A. Russian communique states:—"We are pursuing the Turks from Hamadan. We occupied Kangawar (40 miles east of Hamadan) on March. 4. Military operations continue to develo p in the direction of Bidjar and'Doole. tabad.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.-Rcufcer; . , • . ■ \