Siege of Kut

The Battle of El Kut and the defeat at Ctesiphon

On September 28, 1915 , the British-Indian corps under the command of General Townsend defeated the Turkish troops under the command of General Nureddin near the city of Kut and moved to Baghdad . However, under Ctesiphon, the British were defeated by the Turks, who had received reinforcements by that time. British troops were forced to leave Ctesiphon.

Retreat to Kut

After leaving Ctesiphon under the onslaught of the Turkish troops, the 6th Infantry Division of the Indian Army, under the command of Major General Charles Townsend, retreated to the city of El Kutu on December 3, 1915 . By that time, British-Indian troops had suffered significant casualties and totaled about 11,000 soldiers, excluding cavalry units. Townsend decided to gain a foothold in Kut and defend the city instead of continuing to retreat to Basra . The city provided excellent opportunities for successful defense against a numerically superior enemy. However, the British forces, entrenched in the city, were removed from the main forces located in Basra .

Turkish troops approached El Kut on December 7, 1915. Since it became clear that the Turks had sufficient forces to organize a full-scale siege of the city, Townsend ordered the cavalry led by Colonel Gerad Lichman to retreat south. Turkish troops numbered about 11,000 soldiers under the command of an experienced German general, Colmar von der Goltz . After three unsuccessful attacks, von der Goltz ordered the construction of siege fortifications, not forgetting also about the possible threat from Basra .

General Aylmer's Expedition

The expedition to lift the siege from El Kut was led by General Aylmer. In early January, his troops of 19,000 soldiers had already suffered heavy casualties in three battles with Turkish troops. On January 6, Aylmer’s troops advanced to Kut. Ailmer's advance detachment, under the command of Major General Yangkhazbend, was advancing on Sheikh Sa'ad along both banks of the Tigris . Yangkhazbend’s column collided with Turkish troops on the morning of January 6, 3.5 km east of Sheikh Sa'ad. All attempts to overthrow the Turks were unsuccessful. The next day, the main forces came under the command of Eilmer, who began a decisive attack on Turkish positions. Younghazbend led the offensive on the left bank of the Tigris, and Major General Campbell on the right. After heavy fighting, Campbell's troops overturned the Turks on the right bank, capturing prisoners and 2 guns. However, on the left bank, Turkish forces withstood all the attacks of the British troops. On January 8, the British resumed attacks, and on January 9, Turkish troops left Sheikh Sa'ad. The Turks retreated from Sheikh Sa'ad and set up a camp near the place of Wadi (in the lane with the Arabic . - "river valley") 16 km from Sheikh Sa'ad. On January 13, Aylmer attacked the Turkish positions in Wadi with all available forces, and after a fierce battle, the Turks retreated west, setting up camp on a narrow strip of land between the Tigris and the marshy valley. Here, on the outskirts of the Turkish camp, the British troops suffered a crushing defeat, having lost 2700 people killed and wounded in the battle. This battle was fatal for the defenders of Kut.

General Corrange's Expedition and Capitulation of El Kut

Meanwhile, the commander-in-chief of the Turkish troops, Halil Pasha, headed by 20-30 thousand soldiers, arrived at the site of the fighting between the British and Turkish troops. General Aylmer was replaced by General George Corringe. On March 12, his troops, numbering 30,000 soldiers (the same as the Turkish forces), launched a successful attack on Turkish positions, but were stopped by the Turks on April 22. The expedition to remove the siege from Kut failed. To British troops it cost 23,000 soldiers killed and wounded, while the Turks lost far less - 10,000 people. Meanwhile, on April 19, the famous commander of the Turkish troops, General von der Goltz , died of typhus. This circumstance, however, could no longer affect the general course of events. In the besieged El Kut, famine began. After the failure of secret negotiations, in which the famous British intelligence officer Edward Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) took part, Townsend surrendered on April 29, 1916 . British troops suffered a severe defeat. About 13,000 soldiers were captured, 50% of Indians and 70% of Britons died in captivity ; according to other sources, of the 8,000 prisoners, more than half of the British and no less than a third of the Indians died ^[2] .

• Barber, Major Charles H. Besieged in Kut - and After Blackwood, 1917
• Braddon, Russell The Siege Cape, 1969 / Viking Adult, 1970 ISBN 0-670-64386-6
• Dixon, Dr. Norman F. On the Psychology of Military Incompetence Jonathan Cape Ltd 1976 / Pimlico 1994 pp95-109
• Gardiner, Nikolas. 2004. 'Sepoys and the Siege of Kut-al-Amara, December 1915-April 1961', War in History , 11 (3): pp. 307-326. (journal article)

• Kut El Amara. A brief description of the battle