SKETCH SHOWING THE BRITISH RETREAT FROM BAGHDAD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16096, 9 December 1915, Page 6

SKETCH SHOWING THE BRITISH RETREAT FROM BAGHDAD.

Despite the enforced retirement of the British force in Mesopotamia its record is a very brilliant one. The expedition has been operating along the great rivers at the head of the Persian Gulf. It includes certain well-known regiments of British regulars, and, as its original strength has been considerably increased, it now contains many men who a year ago never dreamed that they would soon be bearing arms in the wilds of Mesopotamia. The force is commanded by a resolute and distinguished general, Sir John Nixon, who first won fame as a capable leader of cavalry. The expedition has done bold and gallant deeds, and has waged true amphibious warfare in conjunction with units of the Royal Navy and Royal Indian Marine. It has fought several battles in which, while suffering serious loss, it has generally inflicted far heavier losses upon the enemy. It has carried the British flag into one of the few corners of the earth where our victorious banners have never before been seen. It has captured the important city of Basra, one of the greatest of Turkish seaports. It has established itself, after two partially successful attempts, at the confluence of the Rivers Tigris and Euphrates. It has advanced so far up the Tigris that months ago a civil post office was actually established at Amara a long stride along the road to Baghdad. It has penetrated over a hundred miles along the swamps and shallow lakes of the Lower Euphrates, and after a month of almost incredible toil it drove a fresh Turkish concentration headlong and established a new, base. The advance which ended in the battle of Nasiriyeh involved difficulties greater than those experienced by Lord WoTseley in the earliest efforts to reach Khartoum. Another section of the force has pushed up the River Karun to Ahwaz, in Persian territory, in order to protect the Admiralty oil-pipe line against tribal attacks. The troops engaged in some of these operations have occasionally been in great peril. They have repeatedly had to face surprise attacks. They have endured great privations, for the whole region is in summer one of the hottest places on earth. The degree of sickness in the midst of the insect-haunted swamps in which they have often fought' has been necessarily high. The area of Turkish territory conquered is already very great, and includes large portions of one of the most fertile regions on earth.