"تاريخ الحرب الكبرى استنادًا إلى وثائق رسمية. الحملة في بلاد الرافدين ١٩١٤-١٩١٨. المجلد II." [ظ‎‎٢‎٤‎١] (٦٦٠/٤٩١)

4
444 HISTORY OF THE WAR : MESOPOTAMIA
had begun to eat horse-flesh at the beeinnino- a ■,
majority still held aloof. By the 10th how^f g * Apnl the
become most serious ; menwem Sing at had
even dying from weakness through want of f 4 an<1
addition to his appeal. General® Townshend feh ^4} “
bring all his influence and authority to bear on th lg + ed t0
it had come to the point when the^en h^ ei her to ?'“
they were requested or die from starvation h! do / s
successful that the next day over 5 000 tmt- H< Was 50 far
horse-flesh, and a few days Hto the'e!!!, ' vere , eat “g
had followed this example. Unfortunately most°of th° tllem
already too weak to obtain the full benefit'from theVeoS dirt
It is noteworthy to consider, in this connertinn ” •
ol^rafth^ u b dam t’ ^“^i^rr;
omcers m Kut as throughout the siege they were in verv chi
touch with the Indian troops. General Melliss was in favour at
n early date, of issuing a definite order to Indian troops that
“i* horse - flesh - General Townshend cS red
^1 ‘ 00 , drastlc a m ® asure ; while General Mamain considers
chat had a warning been issued officially at an earlier stage that
been g n r o n grearffiffi Pr ?t bably in f ° r a l0ng Siege there would have
wat ren,fired R 1 §ett,ng the Indian tr 00 P s to do wha t
vai, required. ^ Both these generals are of opinion that the
communiques issued strengthened the men in their refusal to
honp<; T fleS i h ’ as r af r ter each faiIure these statements held out
a r Garly Tehe l and the men felt that they had only to
aia rom meat ^ or a ^ttle longer to save themselves from
embarrassment and trouble on their return home.
the scale of rations now introduced for British was 6 oz.
rea an b. meat, and for Indians 5 oz. barley meal, 4 oz.
b ar ley (for parching) and 12 oz. meat. On the 10th April
ehera ownshend telegraphed to General Lake saying that
e la reduced the ration to 7 oz. barley, which would enable
nm o old out till the 17th. But it was possible that General
on inge might not be able to effect the relief and the situation
must be faced. If General Gorringe failed in his efforts, the
ur s would grant no terms except absolute surrender, unless
aS jf u 611 su Sg ested the y were paid to let the Kut garrison
go. If the Turks would give no terms at all, General Townshend
proposed to endeavour to run the blockade in the Sumam with
* r xj ^e 11 * and asked if Government would approve
j 15 ', . e as ked whether, if there was any doubt as to successful
re lef, it would not be wise to begin negotiations at once while
There w as some discussion of this proposal, but it came to nothing.