SIEGE OF RUMAILA

Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 160726, 12 August 1920, Page 5

SIEGE OF RUMAILA

HEROIC DEFENCE BV SMALL FORCE. ARABS PUT TO FLIGHT. . By Telegraph,—Press Assn.—Copyright: Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. Received Aug. 12, 10.15 a.m. SIMLA, Aug. 11. Details are available from Bagdad of the siege of Rumaila, which was recently relieved hy a strong column. The garrison at Rumaila consisted of seven platoons of the 114 th Mahrattas and 99th Infantry, and 200 British civilians, who were working the railway. These held out for three weeks. Rations and ammunition were dropped into the Serai, which they fortified. The garrison further provided themselves by occasional sorties into bazaars, made possible by aeroplanes bombing the outskirts of the town and distracting the attention of the investing army, while the garrison rushed the bazaars. A regiment of Sikhs made a bold attempt to relieve the garrison, but the Arabs succeeded in cutting off the water from the canal, upon which the regiment depended. The Sikhs had to retire suffering heavy casualties. The Arabs finally fled on the approach of a strong column from Bagdad.