The bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1916-03-31
ARABS HELP TURKS
Swarm on Flanks Of British In
Mesop0tamia.
Follow Like Jackals to Take Advan
tase Of Any Accident or Confusion
by the Way-Atmosphcre
Deceptive.


London. Gambler in the
Daily News gives an interesting &C
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 Turkish
position to reconnoiter our scouts will
often see a horde of Arabs emerge
from the dark masses and spread in q
fanlike movement over the whole no.
rizon. These irregulars are eternally
swooping about for no apparent rea'
son. Drop shell in front OF them and
they will swerve like flight OF teal
make wide detour at full gallop and
appear on the other flank.
1.-THE atmosphere is most deceptive,
and in the haze Of mirage it is difficult
to tell II the enemy are horse or foot,
or to make an estimate Of their num-
bers. Everything is magnified. A
low-lying mud village becomes a fort
with walls twenty feet high. group
of donkeys, a 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 80 essential, for the Arabs
make up a kind of irregular arm for
the Turk. They are always lowering
on our tanks ready to take advantage
of any accident or confusion by the
way. And they follow like jackals In
our rear. Two jibbing ponies in jail
pur transport cart had to be unyoked
and the cart abandoned. The Arabs
were 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 we'll 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.
q small ration Of grain for his horse,
and nothing else except his arms and
ammunition. These are OF no regular
patterns rife always, dagger or
sword or both, waist belt and bando-
lier Of ammunition, and occasionally
q 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 small
er force, shoot the horses and close
in; or to lead our cavalry on to an in
fantry ambuscade. They fear ambus.
cades themselves, and are chary Of
following US up. They are naturally
more formidable in retirement, when
they wait until our cavalry are mount
ing, and get IN their fire before they
take up another position.
They will only attack small bodies
when the odds are five or six to one.
They have cut up q patrol or two, but
have never got in on troop or squad
ron. much less on a regiment, and are
not encouraged by their superior num-
bers, which are: indeed. discounted by
our guns.
March 3, in the skirmish near Shat
ba, is. I think. the only occasion on
which they have charged. They be-
lieved they had taken us in an ambus-
cade and at disadvantage in the deep
mud. We were $50 cavalry, with two
sections of horse artillery. and vastly
outnumbered. We had no time to close
in ranks and crumple them up, but
wheeled on to them in extended order.
We were interlocked. For minute
it was sword and lance. Then they
gave. As they retired they came un-
der our infantry fire, which did bloody
execution. 1t was the best fight they
have put up"