The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1918-09-30
SAVED Vel BY MIRAGE
How British Army Escaped De-
!. feat in Mesopotamja.
Turkish Commander Saw What lie Be-
Iieved We're Re-enfor:cmenfs Conn.,
=. ing to Aid Enemy and Or
s@* dered Retreat.

We went on toward nowhere, intend'
ing to make a wide detoCi and come
into old Basra city by the Zobeir gate
in tile south wall, Eleanor F. Egan
writes in the Saturday Evening Post.
There was no dust olt there; only
hard. packed sind, out of which the
fierce hammering sun struck myriad
.glinung, eye-senring sparks. But 1t
wis beautiful beyond words to DE-
scribe. We spun alonf: ut fifty miles
an rour with a,?cool, clean breeze in
our faces Then just over, a slight rise
in the sparkling plain saw my first
mirage. 1t was impossible to believe
it was a mirage and not really the
beautiful lake that lit ,s.eemed--a lake
dotted with wooded islands and
fringad in places with deep green for
estS. '- NJ f .l ..,
have seen mirages in other deserts
in other lands, but have never seen
anything like the Mesopotalnian mi
rage. We drove straight on and 1t
came so close that was SURF / could
see q ripple on it's surfnce. 1hen>sud-
denly It went away off, and where 1t
had been our skidp"oof tires were hum
ming on the hard.packe1 sand and l
saw that the wooded islands had been
created out Of nothing but patches of
camel thorn and that the trees Of the
forests We're tufts of dry grass, not
more than six inches high.
or on the far horizon a camel car
avian was. swinging slowly along and
the camels looked like some mammoth
prehistoric beasts, while in another
direction what we took to be camels
turned out to be string Of diminutive
donkeys under pack saddles laden with
bales of the desert grass roots that the
Arabs use for fuel.
The mirage has played an interest
ing part in the Mesopotamian cam
paigns., In some; places 1t IS practt-
cally continuous the year round, and it
adds greatly to the difficulties of an
army in action. 1t is seldom mistaken
for anything but Swhat 1t is. Of course,
but T. does curious things to distance
and to objects both animate and mani
mate. Incidentally it renders the ac-
curate adjustment of gun ranges al
most altogether, impossible.
One Of the most curious incidents OF
the whole war. happened in connection
with mirage and on the very spot
over which I drove that first day out
in the desert.
The battle Of Shaiba was one Of the
hardest-fought battles in the whole
Mespot campaign and victory for a
while was anybody's. It was going
very badly for the British, their losses
heing heavier than they could" stand
for long. And though the Turks were
In Overwhelmingly superior numbers
it was going very badly for them as
well. This: the British officer COM
fnanding did not realize, and he was
just on the point OF giving an order for
retirement-which would. haye been
fatal to- the British in Mesopotam.a-
when to his establishment he discov-
cred that the Turks were In full re-
treat! What moment! -
Ths desert was full Of mirage and
the Turkish COMMUNICATIVE really
ought to have been more familiar with
local phenomena = saw approaching
from the southeast what looked to him
like heavy re-enforcements. 1t was
nothing but supply and ambulance
train ,magnified and multiplied by the
deceptive desert atmosphere! When
he ordered an Immediate retreat his
already unnerved troops stampeded
and his demoralized rear guard was
bounded and harassed by great bands
Of nomod Arabs all the way to Kha-
misseyeh, nearly ninety miles away.
He learned the truth n few days later
and committed suicide! -
X = 4 ~