A Gallant County by Robin Grist

Author:Robin Grist [Grist, Robin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Military, World War I, General, Europe, Great Britain
ISBN: 9781526736086
Google: dBjWDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
Published: 2018-04-30T00:39:31+00:00

Note

1. Captain JC Procter MC was the Adjutant of 13th Gloucesters but was also a talented artist who produced some powerful sketches and drawings of life at the Front which are in the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum.

Part VII

OTHER FRONTS IN 1917

Chapter 34

7th Gloucesters at the Capture of Kut and Baghdad

In Mesopotamia, 1916 ended with Kut still in Turkish hands but the British Army far better organized and poised to recapture the town. Progress was slow, partly because of the rains; although the British had a numerical advantage of 20:1, the Turks were extremely well dug in. At least no one was now under any illusion about the Turks’ fighting ability. It took two months of strenuous combat to clear the west bank of the River Tigris below Kut, during which 7th Gloucesters, like most of the battalions in 13th Divsion, suffered severely. Initially, the Battalion either manned lunettes (crescent-shaped defensive structures facing in at least two directions) and redoubts or provided working parties day and night to construct new trenches prior to an attack on 25 January. During this the Turkish trenches were captured and then lost to a counter-attack, but gradually, over the following few days, the British prevailed.

On 2/3 February the Battalion was again in action, establishing a line of picquet posts closer to the Tigris. The first three were successfully positioned, but when two platoons of C Company advanced to form the fourth, the Turks opened fire, and in a fierce action 3 officers and 16 other ranks were killed and 4 officers and 44 other ranks wounded. On 10 February the Battalion sent out a strong party to reconnoitre and capture an enemy trench that was believed to be lightly held. A Company advanced but 400yds from the objective were fired on from the ‘unoccupied’ trench and both flanks. They were forced to dig in until darkness before retiring but had suffered 73 casualties, of whom 49 died. The Company Commander, Lieutenant F. L. C. Hodson , was awarded an MC. Company Sergeant Major Dommett,1 who organized parties to drive back the enemy and went back alone to personally lead stretcher parties and bring in the wounded, was awarded a DCM, and Corporal Sanders and Private T. Baker won Military Medals. One of the wounded may have been Harold Lusty.2 When another attack was launched the next day, the enemy had withdrawn, and several of the dead Gloucesters were found close to the enemy’s parapet.

On 17 February the British crossed the Shumran bend to the right of the Turkish forces, who, recognizing that they were overwhelmed, undertook a skilful retreat from Kut a week later, pursued by a flotilla of naval gunboats. 7th Gloucesters did not cross the Tigris until 25 February, when the Battalion was quickly in action against the Turkish rearguard. It advanced over 1,500yds of open ground under heavy fire, took the position and captured 300 prisoners. Two days later, the Basra, a Turkish Red Crescent ship, was captured and three missing Gloucesters were recovered; three more were rescued by the cavalry on 1 March.

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