y's attack upon the redoubt from the east. The
southern attack was now reinforced, and by 1 P.M. had pushed forward to
within five hundred yards of the redoubt, but concealed trenches again
stopped further progress and the Turks made several counter-attacks with
reinforcements which had by now arrived from the direction of Magasis.

It was about this time that the Corps Commander received from his
engineer officers the unwelcome news that the water supply contained in
rain-water pools and in Dujailah depression, upon which he had reckoned,
was insufficient and could not be increased by digging. It was clear,
therefore, that unless the Dujailah redoubt could be carried that day
the scarcity of water would, of itself, compel the troops to fall back.
Preparations were accordingly made for a further assault on the redoubt,
and attacks were launched from the south and east under cover of a heavy
bombardment.

The attacking forces succeeded in gaining a foothold in the redoubt. But
here they were heavily counter-attacked by large enemy reinforcements,
and being subjected to an extremely rapid and accurate shrapnel fire
from concealed guns in the vicinity of Sinn After, they were forced to
fall back to the position from which they started. The troops who had
been under arms for some thirty hours, including a long night march,
were now much exhausted, and General Aylmer considered that a renewal of
the assault during the night could not be made with any prospect of
success. Next morning the enemy's position was found to be unchanged and
General Aylmer, finding himself faced with the deficiency of order
already referred to, decided upon the immediate withdrawal of his troops
to Wadi, which was reached the same night.

For the next month the English were held in their positions by the
Tigris floods. On April 4th the floods had sufficiently receded to
permit of another attack upon Umm-el-Hanna, which this time was
successful. On April 8th the Turkish position at Sanna-i-yat was
attacked, but the English were repulsed. They then determined to make
another attempt to capture the Sinn After redoubt. On April 17th the
fort of Beit-Aiessa, four miles from Es Sinn, on the left bank, was
captured after heavy bombardment, and held against serious
counter-attacks. On the 20th and 21st the Sanna-i-yat position was
bombarded and a vigorous assault was made, which met with some success.
The Turks, however, delivered a strong counter-attack,