'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME I.' [‎81v] (167/454)

142 HISTORY OF THE WAR : MESOPOTAMIA
° f tr0 ? P ' W f as carried out c l uickl y and without difficulty
8301^^° 6 WaS aSh ° re and beginnin ^ t0 advance by
By this time the 1\Iejidieh and Blosse Lynch had joined thp
warships and launches and had come into action with their
18-pounder guns, at three thousand yards, against the Turkish
guns to the south-west of Muzaira a. These were soon silenced
The advance on shore was slow. In the absence of cavalrv
reconnaissance had to be carried out by infantry scouts and
the mirage and lack of cover rendered their work difficult
The half battalion 110th, composing the advanced guard
advanced towards the east of Muzaira'a till the scouts reported
that it was unoccupied, when they changed direction towards
the village. It soon became clear that the enemy were occupv-
ing trenches along the plantations between Muzaira'a and the
Shatt al Arab, and the advanced guard, reinforced on their
left by the remainder of the 110th, was ordered to attack them
Muzaim^ proved after all to be held by the enemy ;t and
the Norfolk company, and subsequently the half 17th Sapper
company, were sent up to support that part of the 110th
/ attacking the village. To these attacking troops Muzaira’a
appeared, at first, through the mirage to be a substantial
mud-bastioned and loopholed structure ; and it was only when
t e Y got close that they could see that the defences consisted
ot trenches inside the mud and reed huts. The artillery
support from the ships and the 82nd Battery section on land
was most effective. The guns on shore, without observation
adders, + had found observation difficult owing to the level
plain and the mirage ; but the ships, who at 10 a.m. had
advanced about one thousand yards upstream to get to closer
ranges, had found observation easy owing to their higher
outlook.^ By about 11 a.m. the Turks were driven out of
Muzaira a and the trenches to southward, the 110th taking
over sixty prisoners and two 9-pounder field guns.
The British force was now covered by the plantations from
the Turkish guns at Qurna, but a heavy rifle fire was still
maintained by the Turkish infantry in the plantations, where
i-h e y g°t excellent cover. A portion of the enemy’s force to
+Vi carried on the left of the firing line to indicate its position to
j bearer of this flag, Lance-Naick Apa Bagwe, 110th Mahratta
ig n an try, was specially mentioned for gallantry throughout the attack
in carrying this flag in the open under the heavy fire directed against him.
. ' 11 ormatlon from Turkish sources shows that Muzaira’a was held by
about mne hundred infantry. See Appendix VI, p. 352.
+ is time artillery were not equipped with these.