[23] Expeditionary Force Canteen.
[24] December.
[25] “Pusht i Kuh,” or Back of the Mountains, is the district so called by the Persians, their western district.
[26] Captain Eve, the senior Captain, was then second in command of the Regiment, owing to the absence of Major Twist, disabled, and on the particular day, as Colonel Richardson was on other duty, Eve had taken the Regiment into action. Captain Steele was next in seniority.
[27] The man was Private T. O’Connor. In a letter from Mesopotamia to Mr Justice Eve he writes: “I was the last ammunition-carrier to get wounded that day, and your son and Captain Steele came out under heavy machine-gun fire and carried me in as we evacuated that position that night, thus saving me from being taken prisoner. There is no need to tell you he was loved in the squadron, as we have missed him as one of the finest soldiers and leaders of men any soldier could wish to follow.”
[28] The horse casualties from fire had been numerous, and many horses had been lost from fatigue and exposure.
[29] It may be well to note here that in the course of this campaign, where the Tigris was the main line of communication, the distances were usually calculated by river. The distances by road, when a road existed, were much shorter, roughly perhaps half the river distances.
[30] As a fact the Infantry got across on the 23rd.
[31] This was Lieutenant Payne of “D” Squadron.
[32] Of the 24th February.