The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-04-21
Dust Storm Sealed Doom of
MesopOtamian City.
Many Previous Attempts Had
Ended Fatally.
SIXTY MADE HEROIC STAND
Gaining Other Side They Hold
Fort for SO Hours.
Hundred Turks Dead Outside
Lunette When Rescue Came.

Bagdad, Mesopotamia. April 81
The much-maligned dust of the Tigris
valley was an important factor in the
taking of Bagdad by the British army.
1t was dust storm, so thick that one
could not see four feet in front of him.
that enabled the engineers to bridge
the Diala river, where the Turks made
their last stand.
| The last battle before Bagdag is
likely to become historic mainly on
account of the fighting at the crossing
of the Diala, about eleven miles from
Bagdad 1t was necessary to cross
opposite the village of Diala, where
! the stream is about 120 yards wide, in
the face of the enemy sheltered be-
hind thick houses, walls, and gardens,
armed with machine guns and rifles.
There were two days of very desperate
| fighting before the crossing was eff
fected.
| Courage Never Surpassed.
| The attack on the night of March
! : was checked, but the quality of
courage shown has never Deen sur
/ passed in war. 1mme diately the first
| pontoon was lowered over the ramp,
! the whole launching larty was shot
down in a few seconds. 1t was bright
moonlight, and the Turks had con-
centrated their machine guns in the
houses on the opposite bank A second
Dontoon reached the middle of the
stream when a terrific fusillade was
lopened on it. The crew of five rowers
and ten riflemen was killed, and the
boat floated down stream A thlru
boat got nearly across the river out
was bombed and sunk All the crew
was killed, but there was no hololnS
lack
The orders still held to secure the
massage. Crew after crew pushed off
to an obvious and certain death. The
second and third groups of pontoon
crews were exterminated in the same
way, and their pontoons drlfted out
INTO the Tigris to float past the British
camp in the daylight with the freight
of dead. The pontoon parties were
volunteers, so chosen that all battal-
ions of the brigade would share the
honors of the night. The loss of all
the valuable pontoons finally stopped
the efforts to cross the river
Attempt Again Fails.
On the second night the attempt
was resumed with equal gallantry. But
this time the attack was preceded by a
bombardment. Registering by artil-
lery had been impossible on the first
day in the speed of the pursuit 1t
was the artillery barrage that finally
secured the troops their footing-not
the shells themselves, but the dust
storm raised by them. The dust, fine
particles of dried Tfgris mud, was so
thick that it formed a curtain behind
which ten boats were able to cross.
Afterwards, in the clear moonlight,
when the guns were waiting for am
munition and the dust curtain had
lifted, the conditions of the preceding
night were re-esta blished. Succeeding
crossing parties were exterminated,
and pontoOns drifted away, but foot
ing had been secured. The crew of
one pontoon which lost its way in the
dust cloud, failed to make the bank
in time Directly the air cleared,
machine gun was opened on them, and
the rowers were shot down and the
pontoon drifted back to the shore. A
sergeant called for volunteers to get
the wounded out of the boat, and
party of twelve men went over the
river bank. Every man of them, as
well as the crew of the boat, was
killed.
Game Fight by 60 Men.
Sixty men had gained a foothold on
the other bank of the Diala- They
got together and started bombing
along the banks. They were soon
heavily pressed by the Turks on both
TANKS, and found themselves between
two clumps of woods Here they DIS
covered a providential natural posi-
ton. A break in the river levee had
been repaired by a new levee built in
half moon on the 1andward side.
This formed a perfect lunette. The
sixty soldiers, surrounded on all sides
but the water, held it thru the night,
all the next day, and the next night
against repeated and determined at
tacks.
The attacks were delivered in the
dark and at dawn. The Turks only
attacked once in the daylight, as the
British machine guns on the other
bank swept the ground in front of the
position. Twenty yards west OF the
lunette there was thin grove of null
berries and palms. The pontoOn posi-
, ton was most vulnerable on this side
and it was here that the Turkish at
tacks were most frequent. British ar
tillery fire. Intermittent day and night,
on the wood, afforded some protec-
ton. The whole affair was visible to
the British troops on the south side,
who encouraged their comrades by
shouting. Attempts were made to get
a cable across by means of a rocket, in
order to pass the little band of sixty
more ammunition, but the attempts
were unsuccessful.
Twice Turks Gained Parapet.
Twice during the nights of March
and 10 the Turks were on top of the
parapet, but were driven back. One
more determined rush would have car
ried the lunette, but the little garri-
son, now reduced to forty, kept their
heads and maintained cool control of
NAcAA AAAS. - GU pOtdl was seen SEARCH
ing for loose rounds and emptying the
bandholeers of the dead. In the end
they were reduced almost to their last
clip of cartridges, and they had only
one bomb left. but there were more
than a hundred Turkish dead outside
the redoubt
On the morning of the 10th. British
troops upstream had begun to turn
the Turkish flank, and a general re-
tirement began. By $3.50 a. m in
the morning the whole brigade had
crossed and the fate of Bagdad was
sealed
Compel Joint Rail-River Rates.
Washington, April 21.-Railroads
entering 81 Louis are required under