The Thirteenth Hussars in the Great War

by H. Mortimer Durand

“The weather has on the whole been most lenient to us, for although the cold at night has been intense and the winds strong and bitter, we have only had a small shower of rain, and the days are now getting quite warm. The men are well and cheery, and the horses, which a few days ago were footsore and weary, are picking up and ready for more work. The Regiment has fought very well, and our casualty list—about forty in the last ten days—is comparatively small.”

Such was the state of affairs when the Thirteenth received orders that the advance was to be resumed on the 5th March. The writer of that letter had longed for one gallop with his squadron. He was to get it at last. But before his confident words reached those for whom they were written his fiery spirit was at rest for ever.

Sergt. P. Chipperfield (Died, 6th March 1917, of wound received at Lajj)		Sergt. H. Knapman (Killed at Lajj, 5th March 1917)
	Capt. W. H. Eve (Killed at Lajj, 5th March 1917)
Pte. A. Wallhead (Killed at Lajj, 5th March 1917)		Pte. Alfred Jones, D.C.M. (Killed at Lajj, 5th March 1917)

CHAPTER XIV.
THE FIGHT AT LAJJ, 5TH MARCH 1917.

“On the fifth,” writes Sir Stanley Maude in his despatch upon the advance to Baghdad, “the supply situation having been rapidly readjusted, Lieutenant-General Marshall marched to Zeur (eighteen miles), preceded by the Cavalry, which moved seven miles farther to Lajj. Here the Turkish rearguard was found in an intrenched position, very difficult to locate by reason of a dense dust-storm that was blowing and a network of nalas,[33] with which the country is intersected. The Cavalry was hotly engaged with the enemy in this locality throughout the day, and took some prisoners. A noticeable feature of the day’s work was a brilliant charge made, mounted, by the Hussars straight into the Turkish trenches. The enemy retreated during the night.”

Such is the brief official account of an action which was one of the most memorable in the history of the Thirteenth. In accordance with the custom of the times, when extreme reserve marked the despatches of the military commanders, no details are given, and the very number of the Regiment which made the “brilliant charge” is omitted. This reserve was probably necessary, yet the charge was a gallant feat of arms, and, if not a triumphant success, none the less creditable to the valour and discipline of the Regiment. News of it would have stirred the heart of the nation.

Extracts from several accounts by those who were present will be given hereafter; and it will be seen that they are not always in exact agreement. They reflect in some measure the rush and confusion which must always attend a Cavalry charge, and perhaps on that account they give a better picture of it than can be given by any attempt at a general narrative. The pace of galloping horses and the extent of ground covered make it impossible for any horseman sharing in a charge to note all the incidents that occurred, and it is equally impossible for him to remember in precise sequence all that he did see.

Nevertheless, it seems necessary to state briefly what happened on this day as far as one can judge from the varying and sometimes conflicting stories. Their discrepancies after all are mainly on points of detail, and a fairly accurate view of the whole affair can be formed by comparing them. The following facts appear to be free from any serious doubt.

On the 5th of March, shortly before daybreak, the Cavalry Division marched from Azizieh, the rest of General Marshall’s force coming on behind them. The line of advance lay along the north bank of the Tigris, mostly over flat ground, with some low sand-hills on the right, away from the river. Somewhere between 9 and 10 o’clock the head of the force reached the village of Zeur,[34] and there the Cavalry watered their horses. Half an hour or so later they pushed on for Lajj, while the rest of the force halted for the night.

Lajj was the point on the river where General Townshend had left his flotilla and his hospitals before the battle of Ctesiphon in November 1915; and it was rumoured that the Turks intended to make another stand now upon the old field where General Townshend’s advance had been checked.