'IRAQ AND THE PERSIAN GULF' [‎192v] (389/862)

274 HISTORY
German and Turkish warships. Three days later Britain and Turkey
were at war.
The operation of landing an expeditionary force at the mouth of
the Shatt al Arab had peculiar features. Great Britain had unfettered
rights of navigation (p. 269), so that although the navigable channel
was within Turkish territory, a naval sloop H.M.S. Espiegle with
the armed yacht Comet, the armed launch Lewis Felly, and two
armed tugs were on theKarun at Mohammerah, while a second sloop,
H.M.S. Odin, had moved down the Shatt and stood off territorial
waters awaiting the arrival of the transports. There was no question
of surprise, for the presence of the force at Bahrein had been deliber
ately advertised in order to strengthen the authority of the Shaikhs
of Mohammerah and Kuwait and to rally the local Arabs to the
British cause. The advanced troops landed at Fao on 6 November,
meeting little opposition, and drove the Turks before them through
the palm belt, being well supported by fire from the Odin and a tug.
The first serious opposition was encountered opposite Mohammerah,
by which time reinforcements were beginning to arrive by river;
here the Turks made a determined stand, but with the help of the
Odin and Espiegle and light auxiliaries the Turks were severely de
feated on 15 November, and Basra was occupied on the 21st, the
Turks having ineffectively tried to block the navigable channel by
sinking three vessels in the fairway, before retreating to Qurna. The
occupation of Basra enabled reinforcements to be landed, though
facilities for disembarkation were then very limited, and vessels had
to be discharged in midstream into native craft which then drifted
with the current until within poling distance of the bank.
The advance to Qurna began on 30 November, the force for the
operation being transported in river steamers, belonging to Messrs.
Lynch, which had been requisitioned from Mohammerah. It was
supported by the two sloops and three launches which played an
important part both in reconnaissance and in the fighting which
followed. These amphibious operations lasted until 9 December,
when Qurna was occupied.
These early successes had a marked effect on the local Arabs, who
at once became more friendly and more reliable in providing infor
mation. But the Turks were jolted out of their early apathy, and
reinforcements from Constantinople and from Syria were hurried
to Baghdad and to the Euphrates. On the Tigris the Turks took up
a position at Azair. On the Euphrates Shaikh Ajaimi raised the
Muntafiq to co-operate in an attack on Basra. Unfortunately the