This was towards the
Persian border, on the left bank of the Tigris, where the 13th and 14th
Divisions were operating. That force and ours, the 7th, were now to
advance together on Samarra; a new campaign was beginning, in which we
took the right bank.

A Mobile Column was formed, under Brigadier-General Davies, as the
spearhead of the 7th Division's thrust. It consisted of the 28th
Infantry Brigade (2nd Leicestershires, 51st and 53rd Sikhs, 56th
Rifles, and 136th Machine-Gun Company), the 9th Brigade, R.F.A. (less
one battery), one section of the 524th Battery, R.F.A., a
Light-Armoured Motor-Battery, the 32nd Lancers (less two squadrons),
and a half-company of Sappers and Miners; an ammunition column and
ambulances.

Fritz--the enemy's airman--inspected us before we started. Then the
Leicestershires, by twelve and eight miles, marched in two days to a
point opposite Sindiyeh, on the Tigris. The Indian battalions cut
across country to Sumaikchah, which lies inland.

That day and night by Sindiyeh! '_Infandum jubes renovare dolorem._'
The day was one of burning discomfort, spent in cracks and nullas,
under blanket bivouacs. We had tramped, from dawn, through eight miles
of 'chivvy-dusters,' and our camp was now among them. These are a grass
which crams the clothes and feet with maddening needles; once in they
seemed there 'for duration.' The soldier out East knows them for his
worst foe on a march. Lest we should be obsessed with these, we were
infested with sandflies and mosquitoes. But large black ants were the
principal line in vermin. At dinner they swarmed over us. Man after man
dropped his plate and leapt into a dervish-dance, frenziedly slapping
his nose and ears. We tried to eat standing; even so, we were
festooned. Little Westlake, the 'Cherub,' abandoned all hope of
nourishment, and crept wretchedly into a clothes-pile. There was no
sleep that night.

The river ran beneath lofty bluffs; on the left bank was a
far-stretching view of low, rich country, with palms and canals. Fritz
visited us, and a monitor favoured us with some comically bad shooting.
And after sundown came a moon, benignant, calm, in a cloudless heaven,
looking down on men miserable with small vexations, which haply saved
them from facing too much the deeper griefs which accompanied them.

Next morning, Good Friday, we joined the rest of the column at
Sumaikchah. The Cherub with his scouts went ahead to find a road. All
the field was jum