regimental officers. Most of all, from the Leicestershires I gained
information. It is rarely any use to question men about an action; even
if they speak freely, they say little which is of value on the printed
page. One may live with a regimental mess for months, running into
years, as I did with the Leicestershires' subalterns, and hear little
that is illuminating, till some electric spark may start a fire of
living reminiscence. But from many of my comrades, at one time and
another, I have picked up a fact. I am especially indebted to Captain
J.O.C. Hasted, D.S.O., for permission to use his lecture on the Samarra
battle. I could have used this lecture still more with great gain; but
I did not wish to impair its interest in itself, as it should be
published. From Captain F.J. Diggins, M.C., I gained a first-hand
account of the capture of the Turkish guns. And Major Kenneth Mason,
M.C., helped me with information in the Tekrit fighting. My brother,
Lieutenant A.R. Thompson, drew the maps.

In conclusion, though the Mesopotamian War was of minor importance
beside the fighting in Western Europe, for the chronicler it has its
own advantages. If our fighting was on a smaller scale, we saw it more
clearly. The 7th Division, as I have said, usually had a campaign, with
its battles, to themselves. We were not a fractional part of an
eruption along many hundreds of miles; we were our own little volcano.
And it was the opinion of many of us that on no front was there such
comradeship; yet many had come from France, and two divisions
afterwards saw service on the Palestine front. Nor can any front have
had so many grim jokes as those with which we kept ourselves sane
through the long-drawn failure before Kut and the dragging months which
followed.

CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE

INTRODUCTION 15

I. BELED 21

II. HARBE 48

III. THE FIRST BATTLE OF ISTABULAT 59

IV. THE BATTLE FOR SAMARRA 70

V. SUMMER AND WAITING 104

VI. HUWESLET; OR, 'THE BATTLE OF JUBER ISLAND' 120

VII. DAUR 124

VIII. AUJEH 131

IX. TEKRIT