Letter from Colonel Richardson to Sir R. S. Baden-Powell.
“7th Cavalry Brigade, M.E.F.,
In the Field, 1st May 1918.
“My dear General,—Your note with enclosures regarding Regimental Monuments and Gravestones reached me only a few days ago, when we were already on the trek of our present stunt....
“I am sorry to say I quite forget the contents of my letter to Symons to which you refer, but I imagine it dealt with our part in the battle of Tekrit; since that time we have been almost continuously in one camp, on the Tigris, about 40 miles above Baghdad, and although for more than four months we did not have a shot fired in anger we were far from idle—i.e., when the wet weather made it possible to be otherwise. Not only were we able to put in a lot of much-needed—on account of the numerous officers and other reinforcements during the past six months—instruction in equitation and elementary and secondary drill and training, but we were able to have games and sports—both mounted and dismounted—for the men, and polo for the officers; we also had the opportunity of getting fitter than at any time since we have been in this country, and I doubt very much whether men or horses have ever been fitter physically than when we started out, ten days ago, for this stunt. Only one Brigade of Cavalry is being utilised, and it is not the one to which we properly belong, but we are taking the place of the 14th, who are scattered about on an independent mission. Our march to the rendezvous was not propitious, as we were dogged by heavy rain and thunder, which made life on operation scale, without tents, a delusion and a snare for four days, but we got through with only one case of pneumonia. Once we got started on this stunt—the object of which has been to clear the whole of our northeasterly front of the enemy—we began to get into a country of magnificent crops and glorious grazing, in which the horses have been revelling, and growing visibly bigger. The operations themselves have partaken more of the nature of South African drives, and Johnny Turk was, I think, caught napping by the largeness of the scale of the operations, and he has been so badly fed lately that he could not travel sufficiently quickly to escape us; however, he put up, as he always does, a jolly good fight when cornered, and as we were unable to close the fourth side to the square—i.e., on the north, where a steep ledge of rock, backed by hilly country, discounted our mobility—a good few got away. However, we have accounted for nearly 2000 prisoners, ten large and very many machine guns, and our casualties have been less than 250 (in the whole force), so I suppose we may reckon the operations as having been fairly successful. Of course, from the nature of things, the principal rôle fell to the Cavalry, and even the Pan-Infantry men were fain to admit that we have done it well. On the first day we came into touch with the enemy—mostly troops retiring from outside positions, from which they had been driven by the Infantry; but, covered by the garrison and guns of the aforesaid rocky ledge, the three Regiments of the Brigade galloped in two lines of wings over about 1½ miles of country towards the ledge, and swung right-handed along the foot of it, the net result being about 600 prisoners and several machine-guns. The next day there was a pause, as the main position, which was pretty well served by big guns, still remained, and we could not hope to take it without the help of the Infantry; but next morning the latter came through our outposts, and we concentrated on the left flank and began the advance, which I may fairly claim the Regiment initiated, which put the finishing touch to the operations. A good few of the enemy no doubt escaped through the hill country, and perhaps he got a gun or two away, but certainly a thousand prisoners and ten guns fell into our hands.
|
Capt. D. W. Godfree, M.C. (21st Lancers) |
Lieut. H. Macdonald, M.C. (Murdered 14th July 1919 at Amadia by Kurdish gendarmes) |
Lieut. C. A. G. McLagan (Wounded at Tus Kermatli, 21st April 1918) |
| Capt. B. W. D. Cochrane |
Sergt. W. Matthews, M.M. (Killed at Tus Kermatli, 28th April 1918) | Lieut. L. Osmond |
“When I claim that the Regiment initiated the final advance, I must explain the situation in more detail: over night 2 squadrons were on outpost duty on the left bank of the river, and two troops of a third squadron were away with the first batch of 500 prisoners; the balance of the Regiment with which I was, was on the right of the Cavalry Brigade, advancing up the right bank of the river; we were held up at dusk by the enemy in an entrenched position, and remained where we stood all night; soon after daybreak the Infantry took over our line, and the Brigadier sent me off to the left flank to try and get across the path of the retiring enemy. I found that the two Regiments of Indian Cavalry had been trying to advance with the same object for a couple of hours, but were held up by small parties of enemy entrenched on knolls and well supplied with machine-guns. I determined to advance, and put one of my few remaining sabre troops into the scouting line under MacDonald, a lad who only joined us 6 or 8 months ago. When we got about 800 yards from the nearest knoll he met very heavy machine-gun fire, but as it was apparently directed against his left flank, he at once gathered his troops to the right, and following a circular path he galloped the hill, taking the gunners in flank and reverse, and in less than five minutes had the whole party of Turks killed or marching as prisoners to the rear, and 4 machine-guns captured. He had only one man badly wounded. It was, I think, without exception the quickest and prettiest—not to say the most successful—small piece of work it has been my fortune to witness. This little episode put great heart into the Indians, and thereafter it was almost a race for the foot-hills; all opposition went like a house of cards, and it was only a question of mopping up. I, on behalf of the Regiment and MacDonald, have received congratulations on all sides, and the Brigade and Divisional Commanders have promised to support my recommendation for immediate rewards, so I hope MacDonald and his troop may get the honours they have earned so well.
“With the exception of Twist and of my Adjutant Gowan, I have no other officers with pre-war training and experience, but we have been most exceptionally lucky in our temporary officers; for this, I think, I have to thank Ronnie Brook chiefly, and he would, I am sure, be interested to see the account of the operations, should you have it copied.—With all good wishes, yours sincerely,
(Signed) J. J. Richardson.
“P.S.—The following coincidence of special interest has come to light. Among material captured by MacDonald on the knoll was a signaller’s telescope, which he gave to his signaller, Sgt. Burgess. The latter at once recognised it as the one he himself lost at Lajj on March 5th last year, when his horse was shot and he had to abandon his gun.”