"تاريخ الحرب الكبرى استنادًا إلى وثائق رسمية. الحملة في بلاد الرافدين ١٩١٤-١٩١٨. المجلد IV". [ظ‎‎١‎٥‎٠] (٥٤٠/٣٠٥)

246 HISTORY OF THE WAR : MESOPOTAMIA
that the Turks, whose losses are said to have been very heavy,*
were unable to interfere with our withdrawal. The stand made
by the three British battalions, totalling altogether less than
1 '000 rifles, is worthy of our highest admiration ; and senior
British officers on the spot were of opinion that, had another
1,000 British infantry been available as a reserve, the situation
could have been restored.
Only one of the two British aeroplanes present had been fit
to take the air during the day ; and during its reconnaissance
flight at dawn the clouds and mist had prevented identification
of the enemy troops north of Wolf’s Gap. But its Lewis gun
fire had been directed against enemy reserves halted on the
western slopes of the Turkish ridge. During the morning two
further reconnaissances were carried out and the enemy troops
fired at, till mechanical trouble necessitated a return to the
Baku aerodrome. This having been remedied, two further
flights took place, when the enemy troops were again fired at
from a height of 1,500 feet. The aeroplane was hit several
times by enemy rifle and machine gun fire and at 3 p.m. both
the British aeroplanes, being unfit for further immediate work,
were ordered to be destroyed.
The British casualties during the day amounted to about
125, of which 50 occurred in the North Staffordshire, 40 in
the Worcestershire and 26 in the Warwicks. That they were
not greater, as was at first feared,f was mainly due to the
extraordinarily bad shooting of the Turks.
The plans for evacuation had been carefully drawn up before
hand and the actual withdrawal was carried out successfully
and without special incident. It had been anticipated that the
local inhabitants or troops, resenting the evacuation, might
attempt to oppose it by force. But they did not do so until it
was too late for them to stop it. General Dunsterville notified
the Dictators in the afternoon of his intention and they raised
no objection at the time The sick and wounded with some
other details embarked in the Kursk and Argo and the greater
part of the force with General Dunsterville and his staff in the
President Kruger, while munitions were loaded in the Armenian
by Colonel Rawlinson.
By 10 p.m. all the men were on board the President Kruger,
the Argo having already left and the Kursk being about to
start. Two of the Dictators had just arrived at the wharf
* Colonel Faviell estimated them at 2,000.
f Owing to the darkness and dispersion of the force, the totals were not
known till after Enzeli had been reached.