The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1916-04-07
ARABS HELP TURKS
Swarm on FIanks Of British in
MeSOpOtamia.
Follow Like Jaekals to Take Advan
tage Of Any Accident or Confusion
by the Way-Atmosphere
Deceptive.

Deceptive.
London.-Edmund Gambler in the
Daily News gives an interesting ac
count of the hordes OF Arab cavalry
which swarm on the tanks OF the Brit
ish columns in Mesopotamia He
| says;
THE mobility of the Arab cavalry
who ride light and are unsparing OF
their horses Is something outside eX
perience On approaching n Turkish
position to reconnoiter our scouts will
often see a horde of Arabs emerge
from the dark masses and spread in a
fanlike movement over the whole ho'
rizon These irregulars are eternally
swOoping about for no apparent rea'
son. Drop a shell in front of them and
they win swerve like a flight Of teal,
make a wide detour at full gallop and
appear on the other flank.
The atmosphere is most deceptive,
and in the haze Of mirage II is difficult
to tell II the enemy are horse or foot,
or 20 make an estimate of their num-
bers. Everything is magnihed. 4
low-lying mud village becomes a fort
with walls twenty feet high, a group
Of donkeys, palm grove. Camels ap'
pear on a near horizon like huge dis
sipated compasses. There is not a
cavalry regiment with the force which
has not at some time or other mis-
taken sheep for infantry.
IN no theater of the war is our
cavalry so essential, for the Arabs
make up kind o' irregular arm for
the Turk. They are always lowering
on our hanks ready to take advantage
of any accident or confusion by the
way And they follow like iackals in
our rear. Two jibbing ponies in Jai-
uur transport cart had to be unyoked
and the cart abandoned. The Arabs
we're down on it before the rear guard
had passed on eight hundred yards.
After this the nondescript horde closed
IN, emboldened by the loot. They are
frankly plunderers, and murder is
merely the preliminary to pillage.
"Nominally the Arabs are fighting
for the Turk, but they are the most un-
comfortable allies. Their sympathies
are but skin deep and they turn on
their friends and murder and loot
them, too, if opportunity delivers them
into their hands. The Turks use them,
but put no trust in them.
The Arabs, of course, melt away
whenever our cavalry charge. We can
never get in among them. They are
light, and carry little kit, and seem to
be independent of supplies. Their
horses look thin and poor, but are hard
and well fed, and they don't mind
using them up.
Our chargers are handicapped with
their six stone Of accouterment. The
Arab horseman has his bag of dates,
a small ration of grain for his horse,
and nothing else except his arms and
These are of no regular
pattern-a rifle always, a dagger or
sword or both, waist belt and bando-
lier of ammunition, and occasionally
a lance.
They fire from the saddle for
choice, and employ no dismounting tao
tics. Each man holds his own horse !
and stands or kneels firing. Their
tactics are always to surround a small. |
er force, shoot the horses and close |
IN; or to lead our cavalry on to an in
'antry ambuscade They fear ambus.
oades themselves, and are chary of |
following us up. They are naturally
more formidable in a retirement, when |
hey wait until our cavalry are mount
ing, and get in their fire before they
AXE up another position.
They will only attack small bodies
when the odds are five or six to one.
They have cut up patrol or two, but
nave never got in on a troop or squad
on, much less on a regiment, and are
lot encouraged by their superior num-
oers, which are, indeed, discounted by
,ur guns.
March 8, in the skirmish near Shat
1a, is, ! think, the only occasion on
which they have charged They be-
ieyed they had taken US in an ambus-
,ade and at a disadvantage in the deep
mud. We we're 450 cavalry, with two
sections of horse artillery, and vastly
,utnumbered We had no time to close
II ranks and crumple them up, but
Wheeled on to them in extended order
Ne were interlocked For a minute
t was sword and lance Then they
rave. AS they retired they came un-
Ter our infantry fire, which did bloody
Execution. 1t was the best fight they
lave put up"