Enemy aeroplanes also put in frequent appearances, but in only one case did their bombs cause any damage. Several schemes for sorties were prepared and the Battalion actually paraded for some, but they did not eventually take place. Great difficulty was met with in getting the men to eat horsemeat and they did not do so until very near the end of the siege; they did, however, find many kinds of edible weeds and grass to cook and supplement the scanty ration. The casualties in Kut up to the end of February totalled 3,000.

March.

On March 8th and 9th the Battalion, with others, was held in readiness to cross the river, and co-operate with the relief force, and great was the disappointment when its failure was made known. On the 10th rations were reduced to 10 ounces of barley and 4 ounces for parching, and all surplus animals were killed. On the 15th the enemy was again flooded out of his trenches. For some time past the whole British garrison had been employed daily in making bricks and collecting materials, and nightly in completing the flood bund. The flood arrived on the 16th and continued rising until on the 27th Kut was an island. On the 28th rations were reduced to 8 ounces, and the same day a new problem appeared in the percolation of water through the ground into the trenches from the flood outside. This gave serious anxiety and much hard work to counteract, nearly to the end of the siege. The men now began to become very weak and emaciated, but retained their spirits, in which all were much helped by the constant and distinctly heard bombardments of the enemy trenches by the relieving force, whose flashes and bursts could be easily seen at night.

Casualties of the 76th from the commencement of the siege to the end of March:—Officers: British—Died of wounds, 1; wounded, 2. Indian—Killed, 1; wounded, 4. Rank and File—Killed, 32; died of wounds, 17; wounded, 90; missing, 2; died of disease, 16. Followers—Killed, 2; died of wounds, 1; wounded, 3; total, 171.

April.

On April 9th rations were reduced to 7 ounces, on the 10th to 5 ounces, and on the 11th to 4 ounces, when the men at last overcame their prejudices and commenced eating horsemeat. Our aeroplanes were now dropping supplies daily, but were unable to carry sufficient to feed the garrison. On the 24th the gallant attempt of the Julnur was made to run up river with supplies, and great was the disappointment to see her ashore at Magasis the next morning. Surrender now appeared inevitable, the reserve ration had been eaten and men were actually dying of starvation. Sentries could no longer stand at their posts, but sat down, and for about three weeks the Battalions in the trenches had not been relieved as the men were too weak to move their equipment, bedding and stores. It was indeed a pitiful sight to see the men weak and emaciated, but one was proud that the men of the Battalion kept up their morale and did their utmost to carry out any order given.

Owing to weakness everyone lay flat on his back whenever possible in order to conserve his strength, and the line-sick were practically unable to move.

On April 28th and 29th the last emergency ration was consumed, and on the 29th the garrison surrendered after a defence of 150 days. Thus ended the siege of Kut, which had lasted for five months, a period of hardship and discomfort seldom equalled in the history of the British Army. The spirit, power of endurance and courage of the men of the Battalion in the face of never-ending digging and repairing of trenches, long hours of night duty, exposure to wet and bitter cold and starvation, is a wonderful proof of their soldierly qualities and a fine example to those who will follow them in the Battalion. The fact that the siege had ended in capitulation was no fault of theirs and, by holding on to Kut, they had prevented the Turkish Army from overrunning Lower Mesopotamia. The Battalion proceeded by steamer to the Turkish Camp at Shumran, where it bivouacked on the bank of the river. The men were in the last stage of exhaustion and more than fifty per cent. were suffering from an acute form of diarrhœa. Very little food was obtained in this camp, and almost entirely consisted of hard Turkish emergency biscuits. Many men of the garrison died of starvation or enteritis. Twenty-three men of the Battalion were passed as unfit to march by the Turkish doctors. The rest marched off for Baghdad on the 6th with the remainder of the Indian garrison; the story of their hardships and suffering has been related elsewhere. The following went into captivity and remained prisoners, with the exception of a few who escaped, for two and a half years:—

And about 240 Indian officers, non-commissioned officers and men.