ly held in check. A group of machine guns from further
up the Dujail swept the crest of the hard-won parapet, and men less
experienced in war had suffered more than did those who bore the Red
Haeckle. But no experience of war could save men from the high
explosive shell which burst throughout the day among the trenches,
destroying indiscriminately parapet and defenders. These 5.9 shell the
Highlanders had known all too well in France, and the number of bursts
reminded our men rather of a bombardment in the trenches of Flanders
than the shell fire ordinary to Mesopotamia. And to this bombardment
the defenders of the Redoubt were subject from time to time throughout
that long day. It is a constant puzzle, why in this life so many
things that are at first merely disagreeable are allowed to make so
great a noise and to continue for so long a time that they become
almost unbearable. It is a question that often confronts one at a
comic opera, always in the near neighbourhood of a gramophone, but
never with such persistent irritation as when undergoing a bombardment
from high explosive shell. Nothing is more trying to the nerves, for
and from it there is no escape. This war has been defined as a war,
not of infantry, nor of artillery, but of effective co-operation
between the two. The nature of the ground, and the skill with which
the enemy had chosen his positions had prevented this co-operation
from being as effective as is usual in our army, and this in spite of
every effort being made by our Artillery Officers, and in spite of
many casualties among their batteries. In consequence, the enemy's
batteries were never silenced, and kept up a heavy fire throughout the
day, and our losses were heavy. On our right the Gurkhas had advanced
in gallant style at the same time as the Highlanders, and in spite of
a stubborn resistance had pushed the enemy back along the line of the
old canal, and kept up with our advance. Then with the sand dunes
dipped to the level of the plain and the salient bend of the Tigris
narrowed their front, the Gurkhas swung round to their left in a most
soldierly fashion, and, despite, heavy losses, joined the Highlanders
on the Dujail, and for the rest of the day shared the honours and the
dangers of the defence of the Redoubt and the trenches near it. The
Indian Regiment advancing still further on the right had met with
misfortune, for, on reaching a small rise in the ground, their lines
had been suddenly s