"تاريخ الحرب الكبرى استنادًا إلى وثائق رسمية. الحملة في بلاد الرافدين ١٩١٤-١٩١٨. المجلد II." [و‎‎٢‎٠‎٦] (٦٦٠/٤٢٠)

HANNA POSITION OCCUPIED 375
by our air photographs. General Maude’s operation order was
drawn out in considerable detail on the lines that experience
in the trench warfare in France had shown to be necessary ;
and in his final paragraph he emphasised the necessity for
discipline, determination and dash.
At 4.55 a.m. on the 5th April, the 13th Division moved
forward to the assault and, meeting with only slight opposition,
carried the enemy s first and second lines in quick succession.
A further immediate advance was only rendered impossible
by the fire of the British artillery, who, not knowing that there
was no enemy opposition and being unable in the dim light to
distinguish the infantry signals, did not lift their fire until
about 5.35 a.m. A few minutes later, the Turkish third line
was occupied and found empty ; and, continuing to advance,
the 13th Division had occupied the enemy’s fourth and fifth
lines by 7 a.m. It appears that the Turks had evacuated the
position during the night, leaving only a small infantry rear
guard with a few machine guns to hold their front line.
Turkish prisoners captured that morning said that the
evacuation had been forced on them by flood encroachments,
and this may well have been the case. Whatever the reason,
their retreat had been well carried out and in the nick of time.
General Gorringe heard of this evacuation about 6.30 a.m.
from his airmen and also that the Turks were holding their
Fallahiya and Abu Rumman positions and reinforcing strongly
their Sannaiyat position.
At 7.30 a.m. General Maude sent forward General Lewin’s
40th Infantry Brigade with orders to secure a line between
river and marsh some 2,000 yards eastward of the Fallahiya
position, while the two other brigades reformed. This Turkish
position extended northward to the marsh from the northern
extremity of the Fallahiya bend and was believed to consist
of several lines of trenches. The 40th Brigade as they advanced
came under a gradually increasing rifle, machine gun and gun
fire, but they pushed on and occupied a line somewhat in
advance of that indicated to them. Here, as most of them were
in the open without cover, they sustained fairly heavy casualties.
General Maude had also sent orders at 7.30 a.m. to Colonel
Musgrave’s artillery to advance to positions from which they
could bombard the Fallahiya trenches.
At 8.40 a.m. General O’Dowda’s 38th Infantry Brigade was
ordered to advance to the line indicated an hour before to the
40th Brigade and to entrench its northern half while the 40th
Brigade extended to the Tigris on its left; and General Cayley’s