The Kasaba of Kut-el-Amara, Mesopotamia, where a British Indian army was surrounded and besieged by Turkish forces from the end of 1915 until the British surrender on April 29, 1915. Photograph from 'Four Years Beneath the Crescent' by Rafael De Nogales, Inspector-General of the Turkish Forces in Armenia and Military Governor of Egyptian Sinai during the World War.
The Kasaba of Kut-el-Amara
"Owing to the heavy floods, the English Army could not renew their operations until April 4th [1916], when a second and successful assault was made upon Umm-el-Hanna. On April 8th, the British attacked Sanna-i-yat, but were repulsed. Turning to the fort of Beit-Aiessa, on April 17th, they captured that position after a heavy bombardment, holding it against several counter-attacks. A two days' assault on Sanna-i-yat followed, April 20-21st, resulting in a victory for the Turks. The Relief Army had fought day and night, for 18 consecutive days, on both banks of the Tigris; had advanced time and again to assault positions of great strength defended by superior forces; had contended against the obstacles of flood, heat, lack of water, and scarcity of food. Utterly exhausted from facing a foe that greatly outnumbered them, they were near to the end of their resources. They could not force the Turkish lines. Consequently, the garrison of Kut-el-Amara could hope for no aid from them."
Attempting to seize Baghdad in Mesopotamia, the British had captured Kut-el-Amara on the Tigris River along the way, and continued their advance. On November 21, 1915, they were defeated at Ctesiphon, 22 miles short of Baghdad, and forced back to Kut-el-Amara, where they were surrounded by superior Turkish forces. The increasingly beleaguered force under General Townshend, many of them Indian, awaited the Relief Army that was stopped in January, in March, and again in April.
King's Complete History of the World War by W.C. King, page 219, copyright © 1922, by W.C. King, publisher: The History Associates, publication date: 1922
1916-04-20, 1916-04-21, 1916, April, Kut-el-Amara, Kut-al-Amara, Kut,
