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Sun (Christchurch), Volume IV, Issue 962, 12 March 1917, Page 6

The capture of Bagdad, "once the -magnificent and still the mysterious" —and shabby—is one more striking proof of British indomitablcness. The previous expedition up the Tigris, which reached its limit at Ctesiphon and ended in the regrettable surrender at Kut on April 29, was a humiliating failure. When General Townshend and his gallant 10,000 fell into Turkish hands, British prestige in the Middle East was severely damaged. As at Gallipoli, the Turk had once more triumphed. But, nothing daunted, Britain set about beginning the job all over again with reorganised forces, much to the surprise of the enemy, who imagined he had dealt his opponent a vital blow so far as Mesopotamia was concerned. Once the new operation was fairly started progress was continuous in spite of tenacious opposition. The British fought their way up the south side of the river and recaptured Kut, the Turks, who were strongly entrenched on the north bank, falling back in confusion. Taking thousands of prisoners, many guns, and large quantities of general booty, the attackers forced the pace so strongly that the enemy's flight became a rout, lie was permitted no time to entrench, with the result that General Maude entered Bagdad yesterday, after one of the most dashing offensives of the war. The success is particularly timely, and will come as a thunderbolt to Turks and Germans alike. The fall of the ancient capital of Mesopotamia will startle Berlin and shake Constantinople to ils depths. Turkey is in a bad way. Her German masters have used up Turkish divisions in Macedonia and Volhynia, leaving a depleted army to hold the Tigris line. With few or none of her fields tilled, Turkey is in a state of semi-starva-tion, and heartily sick of a struggle in which she stands to lose so much. The British entry into Bagdad will add seriously to that disaffection, and Enver Pasha will find it increasingly dillicult to justify the policy of his German friends. The moral and political effect of General Maude's brilliant achievement on both Allies and foes will be far-reaching. It should give a stimulus (if that were needed) lo the approaching clash on the battlegrounds of Europe, and supply impetus lo the Russian advance in Armenia by hastening the retirement of the Turks from Persia and west of Lake Van. ft brings Consjantinople a little nearer to the Tsar's troops, and gives into British hands a region which, once one of the most populous and productive in the world, has degenerated under the Turks into a waste of ruins and arid lands. General Maude has thoroughly avenged Hie defenders of Kut.