reconnaissance. On February 7, 1916, on his way back, General Brooking
was attacked by hostile Arabs near Butaniyeh. He was also attacked by
tribesmen who had been considered friendly to the British and who
issued from villages along the route. There was some sharp fighting in
which the losses were heavy on both sides. The British had 373 men
killed or wounded, while the Arab dead numbered 636. On the 9th a
small punitive expedition was sent against the treacherous tribesmen,
and four Arab villages were destroyed. The incident offered another
striking proof that no dependence could be placed on the faith of the
Arabs.

General Aylmer finding, after his failure at Felahie, that his force
was too weakened physically to attempt to break through to relieve the
beleaguered division at the Kut, decided to intrench in the position
then occupied by his troops and to await the reenforcements which were
on the way.

On February 17-19, 1916, hostile aeroplanes dropped bombs on the Kut,
without doing any damage, General Townshend reported. For two and a
half months the British army had been bottled up in this river town,
and the Turks had tried every means to dislodge them.

On February 22, 1916, British columns under General Aylmer advanced up
the river on the right bank to Um-el-Arak, occupying a position which
commanded the Turkish camp behind their trenches at El Henna, a marsh
on the left bank. At daybreak the British guns opened a heavy
bombardment on the enemy's camp across the Tigris, which at this point
makes a sharp bend to the north. The Turks were evidently taken by
surprise, for a lively stampede followed.

On March 6, 1916, General Aylmer marched up the Tigris to the Turkish
position at Es Sinn, which is only seven miles from Kut-el-Amara. This
is a Turkish stronghold and was carried by General Townshend on his
way to the Kut. The position had been greatly strengthened since that
time, that General Aylmer could hardly have hoped to succeed in
driving the enemy out. But the effort had to be made, and resulted in
a failure. The enemy lost heavily according to the British accounts,
while their own casualties were unimportant. The Turkish version of
the struggle was as follows:

"On the morning of March 8, 1916, the enemy attacked from the right
bank of the Tigris with his main force. The fighting lasted until
sunset. Assisted by reenforcements hastily brought to his wing by his
river fleet, he succeeded in occupyi