The Thirteenth Hussars in the Great WarDurand, H. Mortimer (Henry Mortimer)
History
The Thirteenth Hussars in the Great War
Durand, H. Mortimer (Henry Mortimer)
Great Britain. Army. Hussars, 13th; World War, 1914-1918 -- Regimental histories -- Great Britain
“Gripped as in a vice, with his men packed in ravines which were
raked by our guns from across the Tigris, Ismail Hakki, the Turkish
Commander, found himself in a hopeless position. All attempts to break
through had failed, communication with the Turkish Commander-in-Chief
at Mosul had been rendered impossible, and no relief was in sight.
At dawn on October 30th, just as our troops were about to renew the
attack, white flags appeared all along the Turkish lines, and later on
Ismail Hakki surrendered in person.”
So ended the last battle fought in the Great War by a Turkish army.
It had been gallantly contested, but the victory was as complete as a
victory could be. The Turkish 6th Army had been not only defeated but
captured.
Immediately after the surrender, the 7th Cavalry Brigade and armoured
cars pushed rapidly along the Mosul road and made a considerable
addition to the number of prisoners. The 14th (Indian) Lancers,
charging with the lance, captured a convoy and 500 men, while the
13th Lancers captured a Turkish battalion. Altogether the Turks lost
on the 30th October over 11,000 prisoners and 51 guns, besides great
quantities of machine-guns, animals, and military material of all kinds.
By the first of November both Cavalry Brigades had got within twelve
miles of Mosul, when they were met by a flag of truce informing them
that an armistice had been concluded between Great Britain and Turkey.
Hostilities ceased, and the long campaign in Mesopotamia had closed
with a dramatic success.
At Shergat, as elsewhere, the bulk of the close fighting had of
course been done by the Infantry, but General Marshall reported that
“the daring and brilliant leadership of the Cavalry Brigades under
Brigadier-Generals Cassels and Norton contributed largely to the final
result,” and it may safely be affirmed that no Regiment in those
Brigades had more right to be proud of its share in the work than the
Thirteenth Hussars.
The extracts appended give details of its movements during the last
period of the campaign, and especially of the affair at “Richardson’s
Bluff,” as the scene of the fight at Hadraniya came to be called.
_Account by General Norton, commanding 7th Brigade._
“The Brigade left Fathah at one o’clock on the night of the 27th-28th
October, crossed the Lesser Zab at about 8 A.M., and reached
the Hadrani-Yah Ford over the Tigris at 4.30 P.M. on the 28th,
having marched about 50 miles since 1 A.M., the last 30 under
a very hot sun, and about 70 miles in the last 36 hours.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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