"تاريخ الحرب الكبرى استنادًا إلى وثائق رسمية. الحملة في بلاد الرافدين ١٩١٤-١٩١٨. مجلد I" [و‎‎١‎٧‎١] (٤٥٤/٣٤٦)

ARRIVAL AT SANNAIYAT
315
place as Senior Naval Officer was taken by other officers. On
the 15th September the position was held by Lieutenant-
Commander Cookson, R.N.
By the 16th General Townshend’s force had reached Sannaiyat,
eight miles from Nur-ud-Din’s position. The advance from
Ali Gharbi had been carried out principally by marching along
the river bank, accompanied by the naval flotilla and the river
transport. The weather was still intensely hot by day, with
temperatures varying from 110° to 120° in the shade; but
the nights and early mornings were comparatively cool, and
by marching only from daybreak to 8.30 a.m. the casualties
from heat were kept as low as possible ; nevertheless, on the
12th and 13th they amounted to 101. The march, especially
the last stage, had been very trying to the troops owing to
the heat, the rough ground to be traversed, and the trouble
given by the heterogeneous second line -transport. No fighting
of any consequence, however, occurred, as the Turkish advanced
troops fell back before the British advance without offering
any real opposition. General Townshend had now to halt and
send back all his shipping to Amara to bring up the 63rd Field
and l/5th Hants Howitzer Batteries and also the remaining
supplies. The last ship did not reach Sannaiyat again till the
night of the 25th.
On the 14th and 15th aerial and naval reconnaissances of
the enemy’s position had been carried out showing that the
Turks were in strength and working hard at their entrench
ments* On the 16th further information was obtained by
aerial reconnaissances supported by the naval flotilla ; and
by a cavalry reconnaissance particularly directed to ascertain
the extent of dry land between the Suwada and Suwaikiyaf
marshes, and to investigate the truth of a report that the
Turks were digging trenches between the Suwada and the
Ataba marshes. General Townshend in his book describes the
fine aerial reconnaissance work performed at this time by Major
Reilly, who by the 17th had furnished him with a map and
detailed information of the enemy position. There was suffi
cient dry land between the marshes for General Townshend to
make the turning movement he desired ; and the cavalry
reconnaissance showed that the ground, some two miles wide,
between the marshes was hard and good, a nd that the route
* It is of interest to note that the aerial reconnaissances of the 14th reported
that the trenches were deserted, and that no guns could be seen. It require
the action of the naval flotilla the next day to force the enemy to show their
strength.
f See Map 7.