'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME I.' [‎126r] (256/454)

PREPARATIONS FOR FURTHER ADVANCE 227
the desert nature of the country, any force operating away
from the Karun river had to carry with it all the fuel and fodder
it required, besides other supplies; and General Gorringe’s
transport could only carry sufficient for two days. To give
him the necessary freedom of manoeuvre to cope with the
opposition that might be expected, General Gorringe was,
therefore, obliged to adopt the system of sending a portion
of his force ahead to form an advanced depot; which depot
he had to fill up with sufficient supplies for any projected
operations before he could bring up to it the remainder of his
force. General Melliss having reported that he had found a
suitable position with an ample water supply near Ali Ibn
Husain, General Gornnge decided to form his first advanced
depot there.
In spite of adverse weather—a strong dust-storm blew all
day on the 2nd, causing great discomfort to the men, and heavy
rain at other times impeded the transport—supplies for ten
days were collected at Ali Ibn Husain by the evening of the
3rd May. Next day the whole force was concentrated there,
except the 4th Rajputs, left to garrison the camp near Ahwaz
and the bridging train, which, in spite of strenuous exertions
on the part of the engineers, did not arrive from Ahwaz till
the night of the 5th-6th. In the meantime, reconnaissance
had shown that the Turkish force about Ilia had all crossed
over to the right bank of the Karkha, which was reported
to be in flood and at least two hundred yards wide.
General Gorringe decided to push on to Ilia in the hope of
bringing the Turks to action and thus assisting the operations
projected by General Nixon from Qurna. The cavalry were
therefore despatched to Ilia to reconnoitre and discover a
place for crossing the Karkha. This was found near Ilia,
and although the actual width to be spanned there was two
hundred and fifty yards, it was decided on as the best place
to cross both from a tactical and a technical point of view.
An advance was therefore made on Ilia during the night
6th-7th by the cavalry, the field artillery and the 30th Infantry
Brigade ; and by 6 a.m. on the 7th a sufficient number of
the canvas boats* with the bridging train had been assembled
to commence a flying bridge. Although the crossing was
unopposed, the construction of a bridge proved very difficult.
The river, two hundred and fifty yards wide, with steep clay
banks, was in full flood with a strong current. A gale of wind
was blowing and the material for the flying bridge—designed
* These boats were improvised of planks enclosed in service tarpaulins.