"تاريخ الحرب الكبرى استنادًا إلى وثائق رسمية. الحملة في بلاد الرافدين ١٩١٤-١٩١٨. مجلد I" [ظ‎‎٨‎٢] (٤٥٤/١٦٩)

144 HISTORY OF THE WAR : MESOPOTAMIA
were now lining the left bank of the Tigris, the Norfolk companv
being on the extreme right of the line, with about twenty to
thirty Turks opposite them, holding what appeared to be the
northern limit of the Turkish position.
Lieutenant-Colonel Frazer decided that he must wait for
further reinforcements before attempting to cross, and, bavin?
no transport animals to bring up his supplies, etc., he ordered
a retirement of the whole force to camp at the Shwaiyib landin?
point * The retirement was covered by the fire of the ships 5
the sloops firing at such portions of Quma as they could discern
and by the 104th, who had to withdraw under a heavy fire’
The land force was all back in camp soon after 5 p.m., having
killed many Turks and captured seventy-eight prisoners, in
cluding three officers, and two field guns. The British casualties
had been one Indian officer and nineteen Indian other ranks
killed, one British officer and three British and fifty Indian
other ranks wounded. At 4 p.m. the launches—the conduct
of whose crews had been gallant in the extreme and who had
done very good work—were ordered to retire; and about
6.15 p.m., the other ships having come down-stream, the Turks
opened a heavy gun fire on the Espiegle and the Miner. The
shell hole in the Miner was plugged by about 6.30 p.m., when,
the tide having risen, the Espiegle, which had been practically
aground, was able once again to manoeuvre, and she and the
Miner reached camp about 7 p.m. The naval casualties had
been one officer, one petty officer, one stoker and one native
rating wounded.
General Barrett had been kept informed of events by wireless,
and when he heard that Lieutenant-Colonel Frazer had decided
not to attempt the crossing to Qurna until reinforced, he sent
an order to General Fry, commanding 18th Brigade, to be
prepared to take up reinforcements consisting of the remainder
of the Norfolks, the 7th Rajputs and half the 120th.
The prisoners and wounded reached Basra the next morning.
The Senior Naval Officer also went down to Basra and with
Lieutenant-Colonel Frazer’s staff officer explained the situation
to General Barrett. On hearing their report, General Barrett
decided to include four guns of the 76th Battery in General
T ry’s force, and issued instructions to General Fry that he was
to reconnoitre the ground thoroughly before renewing the
* In his report on this action, General Barrett said : “I consider that
Lieutenant-Colonel Frazer accomplished all that could have been expected
oi him, having regard to the limited number of troops at his command. The
Turks had been reinforced before the action and were in greater strengt
than had been expected.”