out to take advantage of the retreat of the enemy a curious phenomenon
occurred. Between the advancing British and the retiring Turks a mirage
interposed and effectually screened the movements of the latter. Because
of this and the heavy ground no pursuit was possible.

This action, resulting in the loss of 353 of the British force and an
even larger number of the Turkish troops (estimated by the British at
1,500, but which is almost certainly an exaggeration), decided the fate
of Basra. Some opposition was made to the passage of the British river
expedition, and at one point an unsuccessful attempt was made to block
the passage of the Shat-el-Arab by the sinking of three steamers.

About ten o'clock in the morning of November 22, 1914, the British river
force, after silencing a battery that had been hurriedly erected by the
Turks just below the town, reached Basra, and General Barrett hoisted
the British flag on the German Consulate, the customhouse having been
fired by the retreating Turks. Some time was spent by the invaders at
Basra in preparing a base.

It was not until December 3, 1914, that Lieutenant Colonel Frazer of
General Barrett's force with Indian troops and some of the Second
Norfolks advanced on Kurna, fifty miles above Basra, at a point where
the Tigris empties into the old channel of the Euphrates. Lieutenant
Colonel Frazer's force was accompanied by three gunboats, an armed
yacht, and a couple of armed launches. The troops landed four miles
below the town and intrenched, while the river force moved up and
shelled Kurna. When the troops advanced, it immediately became apparent
that the strength of the Turks had been underestimated and that
Lieutenant Colonel Frazer's force was much too small to dislodge them.
After losing heavily, Frazer ordered a retreat to the intrenchments four
miles down the river, and sent word to Basra for reenforcements.

On December 6, 1914, General Fry appeared with additional troops, and
plans were laid for attacking Kurna on the flank. Just as the scheme was
nearing completion, however, Turkish officers appeared at the English
camp and asked for terms. Conditions were refused, and finally the Turks
laid down their arms.

With the capture of Kurna the British secured control of the delta of
the Euphrates, made impossible any raid upon the Persian Gulf and its
oil supply except in great force, and laid the foundations of an
ambitious campaign against the strategic points o