Food Stores at Kut All But Gone; A Bribe for the Bey. In Contested Waters, Return of the U-Boats Special to The Great War Project (21-25 March) On this day a century ago, the British introduce a new weapon into the war at sea — the depth charge. A British ship drops an underwater explosive…
Tag Archive for Iraq
RUSSIAN COSSACKS OVERRUN TURKISH CITY
by Mike Shuster
Ottomans Stunned at Fall of Erzurum on Caucasus Front; Relentless Turkish Siege of British at Kut . Special to The Great War Project. (16-19 February) In the Mesopotamian [Iraqi] desert, the Turks tighten their deadly noose around the small and increasingly hungry British and Indian troops at Kut. In mid-February 1916, precisely a century ago,…
KUT UNDER SIEGE FOR A MONTH
by Mike Shuster
Ottoman Force Inflicting Heavy Losses; Food Supplies Dwindling. ‘As Near as Hell As We Are Likely To See.’ Special to The Great War Project (18-21 January) The siege of Kut on the Tigris River in Mesopotamia [Iraq] grinds on. “The British were fighting a steady and harsh battle against the Turks,” writes historian Martin Gilbert,…
SIEGE IN IRAQ NOW A MONTH LONG
by Mike Shuster
British Trapped in Kut; Food and Ammunition Dwindling. After Seesaw Battle, British Reinforcements Fail to Reach the Town. Special to The Great War Project (14-17 January) British troops are under siege at the town of Kut on the Tigris River in Mesopotamia [Iraq]. The Ottoman forces launch their siege on Christmas Eve of 1915. It…
IN IRAQ, BRITISH VICTORIES TURN SOUR
by Mike Shuster
Each Success Brings Greater Peril Turks Withdraw, Then Toughen Stand Special to The Great War Project (29 September-1 October) In Mesopotamia — today’s Iraq — the British are about to seize the town of Kut, on the Tigris River a century ago. It is not an easy task, and the British and their allied Indian…
THE ‘GREAT LOOT’
by Mike Shuster
Warring Nations Seek Carve Up of Middle East. Despite Losses, Britain Plots Desert War in Arabia, Iraq, Syria. Special to The Great War Project (15-17 September) By this moment a century ago, after more than a year of hideous slaughter in Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Russia, Turkey, and in the seas of the North Atlantic,…
BRITISH PROBE DEEPER INTO IRAQ
by Mike Shuster
An “Effortless” Campaign? Now Supply Lines Over Stretched, Reinforcements Needed. Special to The Great War Project (2-4 September) The British campaign in Mesopotamia (today’s Iraq) is proving, so far, to be one of the few bright spots for the British, at this moment in the war, a century ago. With little resistance, the British steam…