BRITISH OPERATIONS AGAINST BAGDAD.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume IV, Issue 962, 12 March 1917, Page 11

BRITISH OPERATIONS AGAINST BAGDAD.

ADVANCE ON BOTH BANKS OF THE TIGRIS. DIYALA DEFENCES SURPRISED BY NIGHT. A. and N.Z. Cable Association and Renter. (Received March 12, 1.55 p.m.) LONDON, March 11. A Mesopotamia official report states: —We crossed the Diyala by a surprise in the moonlight on Thursday, and established a strong post on the right bank. We bridged the Tigris, and a strong detachment marched up the right bank. It found the enemy six miles south-west of Bagdad, and drove him back two miles. We forced the passage of the Diyala on Friday, and advanced four miles towards Bagdad. Our right bank forces dislodged the enemy from his second position, and bivouacked on the captured ground. Dust storms and a violent gale forced back the Turks for three miles west and south-west of Bagdad on Saturday.