"تاريخ الحرب الكبرى استنادًا إلى وثائق رسمية. الحملة في بلاد الرافدين ١٩١٤-١٩١٨. المجلد II." [و‎‎٧‎٦] (٦٦٠/١٥٨)

BRITISH LOSSES IN RIVER CRAFT
123
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On the river the Sumana, after being forced to abandon the
Firefly and Comet, had come across more of the transport
craft aground. While she managed to get some of them off
again, a launch, a motor boat, and a barge containing sick and
wounded had to be abandoned * Owing to the difficulties
encountered, the Sumana did not succeed in catching up General
Townshend’s force that day, and at 10.30 p.m. she anchored
for the night just below Bughaila. Next day, the 2nd Decem
ber, she proceeded to Kut. During the retreat the navy had
had a most difficult task to perform, and it was through no
fault of theirs that so many craft had been lost. These amounted
to the Shaitan, Comet, Firefly, three launches, six barges, and
all the pontoons and many danaks belonging to the bridging
train.
Among the rather heterogeneous British river craft was one
that deserves special mention, namely the Aerial, which, as
Candler says in his “ Long Road to Baghdad,’ was half house
boat, half aeroplane. She was 60 feet long by 10 feet wide,
weighing 15 tons, and drew 18 inches of water; and, driven
by an aeroplane propeller geared to a motor of 50 B.H.P.,
burning fuel oil, she could do nine miles an hour.
Her owner, Mr. T. A. Chalmers, a planter in Assam, had
offered her with his own services for six months for ambulance
work in Mesopotamia, where they arrived on the 26th July
1915, and w r ere attached to General Townshend s force.
During the fighting below Kut on the 27th/28th September
she had been employed in carrying wounded from the river
banks to the hospitals, and during the retreat from Ctesiphon
she was used for carrying sick and wounded as occasion
required.
Later she advanced with General Aylmer’s relieving force,
and was present at all the actions on the Tigris till the fall of
Kut on 29th April, 1916. She is mentioned in several accounts
as doing most useful work, frequently under fire.f
During the morning of the 1st December, General Townshend
sent the following telegrams to General Nixon :—
(1) “ Had to halt at Umm at Tubul to help shipsj and
whole enemy’s force overtook me at daylight. Enemy in
* A few days later the Turks sent these men into the British camp, saying
that as they had so many wounded of their own to attend to, they could not
look after these. •
f See illustration opposite. Mr. Chalmers was given the C.S.I. for his
services.
J The accuracy of this remark is disputed by the Senior Naval Officer. See
ante p. 115, footnote (t).
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