ABSTRACT
The fighting on the Tigris was almost continuous from the day soldiers began their offensive on December 13th, 1916, to the capture of Samarrah on April 23rd, 1917. The Mahomed Abdul Hassan Bend was the first enemy strong hold to fall to them. The second, the elaborate trench system enclosing the Hai bridgehead, fell with the capture of the liquorice factory on February 10th. The third, a continuation of this system thrown from east to west across the Dahra Bend, was finally cleared in the assault on February 15th. In the Hai salient, Hassan yielded ground with equal stubbornness. It was only, in the last day’s struggle for the Dahra Bend, that his moral, or resistance, was broken. The first attack west of the Hai ended in failure, but great gallantry was shown in the Brigade. The Brigade lost 35 officers and 900 rank and file; all three commanding officers fell.
