MESOPOTAMIA

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIX, Issue XLIX, 13 January 1916, Page 5

MESOPOTAMIA

THE RELIEF CJLUMN strong opposition encountered. ' invisible tt-rkish trenches. rSSc. Jan. 13. 8.5 a.m.) LONDON*, Jan. 12. Mr Candlier, representative of the British Press with the Expeditionary Force in Mesopotamia, says that Colonel Aylmer's advance up the Tigris to join Major-Geneyal Townshend met with stubborn resistance and the heaviest fighting at Sheiesand. Proceeding up the banks of the- Tigris our cavalry camer in contact -with the Turkish advanced troops on the right bank. The Turks were in considerable strength, arid ■were astridei the river." Our-cavalry got behind the trenches on the enemy's extreme right flank and defeated a. -whole battalion. The British casualties among the infantry -were heavy. Our force came nnder heavy riffe and Maxim fire from the Turkish" trenches at a distance of 1200 yards. The flatness, the -uniform condition of mud colour and the ground haze added to the invisibility of the Turkish trenches, which -were remarkably concealed. The Turks' cavalry attempted to envelop our right, but the artillery turned them. Their infantry was—too strong to be dislodged. ,and we entrenched for the night in positions 200 to 700 yards from the enemy. Nothing could exceed' the gallantry of our attack. Officers- of wide experience saythat there never was hotter rifie-fhV at the same Tange in the French campaign. Many of our casualties are slight wounds, mostly due to rifle-fire. The latest reports" show that our force is still advancing. GERMAN ARTILLERY ON THE WAT. {Rec. Jan. ,13. 11 a.m.) ROME, Jan. 12. The "Tribuna" says that enormous quantities of German artillery are traversing from Constantinople to Mesopotamia.