"تاريخ الحرب الكبرى استنادًا إلى وثائق رسمية: العمليات في بلاد فارس ١٩١٤-١٩١٩" [و‎‎١‎١‎١] (٥٦٦/٢٢٦)

DYER IN THE GUSHT DEFILE
187
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on the previous day*, but suffering a good deal from the intense
heat. Gushti professed to be friendly, and General Dyer halted
on the 17th to augment his meagre information of both the
enemy and the country. It was only by bribing Gushti heavily,
however, that he learnt that the tribesmen had collected in
force to the north and that a move in that direction would
probably draw an enemy attack. Accordingly, on the 18th July
the column moved northward into the Sar-i-Drukan valley for
about three miles, the high hills on both sides of the Gusht
defile proving very difficult to piquet. Camp was pitched by a
small karez about a mile above Kalag fort, (in the centre of the
Gusht defile) the surrounding piquets coming under a good deal
of spasmodic rifle fire during the evening and ensuing night.
On the 19th July an advance was made by part of the column Affair of the
up a defile to the north-east towards a position which Halil Khan le
was reported to be holding in strength. As, however, the guide j u i y I9I 6.
at first took the wrong direction and the enemy threatened
the camp piquets, the advance was much delayed. The defile,
with its lofty, steep and precipitous hill sides, was then found
to be very difficult to traverse and to piquet; and the enemy
offered much opposition. The operation took so long, in fact.,
that after going about two miles General Dyer decided not to
advance any further. The column, followed by the enemy,
accordingly retired to camp, at one place having to halt for
three hours to enable the rear guard to get a wounded man down
from a piquet on a particularly steep hill. The total British
casualties, however, were only three and it was believed that
the enemy had suffered considerably.
The country was so much more difficult than he had anti
cipated that General Dyer decided, having regard to the heat,
the scarcity of the water and the strength of the opposition,
that it would be better to halt for a day or two in the hope that
the enemy would come down to attack the column, or at any
rate use up much of his ammunition in sniping and most of his
supplies. Moreover, General Dyer desired rather to demonstrate
to the Sarhaddis that it was useless waste of life for them to
fight him than to engage himself in hard fighting, wherein
severe casualties might render his task of winning them over
more difficult. As water at the camp was getting scarce, General
Dyer moved back on the 20th to Kalag fort, where there was an
excellent water supply and where the camp could be more
easily piquetted. Enemy opposition was encountered and the *
* A detachment from the column pursued the small body of the enemy
concerned, inflicting a few casualties and capturing 360 sheep.