The flames of war were sweeping across Mesopotamia and Arabia. In the last days of January, 1915, Lord Hardinge, Viceroy and Governor General of India, made a tour of the conquered territory around the Persian Gulf, and at Basra was received by the native community with an address of welcome, which expressed the hope of permanent British occupation.
Owing to the overflow of the Tigris and Euphrates in February and March, when the surrounding country is flooded, there was little fighting in those regions. But on March 3 the enemy appeared near Ahwaz, on the Karun River, where the British had a small garrison to protect the Anglo-Persian Oil Company's pipe line.
A contingent sent out from the town to discover the strength of the Turkish force, located them at Ghadir. The enemy was found to be about 12,000 strong, having been joined by a body of tribesmen from Arabia and Persia. As the British troops only numbered 1,000 men, there was imminent danger of them being cut off, and a hurried retreat was ordered. The Turks seemed determined that their enemy should not escape them, and used every effort to prevent a successful retreat. There was much hand-to-hand fighting before the British could struggle back to Ahwaz. As the Turks did not continue to attack it was to be supposed that they had lost heavily. The Anglo-Indian force had lost about 200. The colonel of the Seventh Rajputs was wounded, and four of their white officers were killed.
On this day, March 3, 1915, a body of British cavalry reconnoitering toward Nakaila, about twenty-five miles northwest of Basra, was attacked while on their way back to camp by some 1,500 mounted Turks. The British pretending to retire, maneuvered to lure them on to a position where they had concealed infantry with machine guns and artillery. The Turks, quite unsuspecting a ruse came on, were met by a withering fire from the guns that sent them shattered and broken flying back to Nakaila. In this little fight the British had four officers killed and several severely wounded.
Reenforcements had been sent from India in anticipation of the end of the flood season, and Ahwaz and Kurna were greatly strengthened. Lieutenant General Sir J. E. Nixon, K. C. B., accompanied the new troops, and on his arrival took command of the entire force of between 30,000 and 40,000 men.
The Turks, who had also been largely reenforced with soldiers probably from Bagdad, on April 11 attacked the three British positions at Kurna-Ahwaz and Shaiba, the last a fort protecting Basra. Kurna was bombarded for two days, with small result. A bridge across the Tigris was partly destroyed, but they inflicted no casualties. Guns from the shore and those in H.M.S. Odin did effective work in scattering such of the enemy as appeared in boats. At Ahwaz large bodies of hostile cavalry could be seen against the sky line surrounding the British positions, but they did not attack.
Mesopotamia—The British Operations from the Persian Gulf.
The main object of the Turks was evidently to capture Basra, their attempts on Kurna and Ahwaz being merely feints to keep the British occupied while they struck a real blow at Shaiba. On April 12, 1915, an action began that lasted three days—one of the most notable fights in the history of this campaign. The attacking force was estimated at between 18,000 and 22,000 men. Perhaps 11,000 were regular infantry and cavalry from Bagdad, and 12,000 irregular levies of Kurds and Arabs. The Turkish infantry after some irregular artillery fire, commanded by German officers, advanced in the early morning of the 12th toward the south-southwest, and west of the British lines. For three hours they were pressing forward, and then when the artillery fire fell off began to dig themselves in. An attack from the south was made in the afternoon, but was beaten off by the British before making much progress. The Turks were busy during the night of the 12th keeping up a spirited fire from rifles and machine guns, and by morning were found to have occupied some houses on a rising ground to the north of the British position. An Anglo-Indian force easily dislodged them from this place, and a counterattack made by the Turks from the west was repulsed with a loss to them of several hundred prisoners. The British also captured eighteen officers and two guns.