.-.rf -
Twetoty-Eight Page
East Oregonian Round-Up Souvenir Edition
Pendleton, Oregon, Friday, September 21, 1917.
Page Twenty-Three
The Thrilling Story of
the Moonlight Battle for
the Possession of Bagdad
(By Edmund Candlur.)
The luut fighting before Baghdad it
likely to become hlHtorlo on account
of the splendid gallantry of our
troop In the croanlnn of the DIuU
river. After the action at LaJJ the
TurklHh rearguard fell back on Dlula,
dejilroylng the bridge which crossed
the stream at its Junction with thn
Tigris We pushed on in pursuit on
the left bank, Mending cuvulry and
two columns of Infantry to work
round on the right bunk, and to en
ter Baghdad from the west. Hpeed
in following up was essential, and the
On the second night the attempt
was pursued with equal gallantry.
This time the attack was preceded by
a bombardment. Registering by ar
tillery had been Impossible on the
first day In the speed of the pursuit.
It was the barrage that secured us the
footing not the shells, but the dust
raised by them. This was so thick
that you could not see your hand In
front of your face. It formed a cur
tain behind which ten bouts were
able to cross. Afterwards, in clear
moonlight, when the curtain of dust
had lifted, the conditions of the
column attacking Dlala was faced night before were re-establlBhed. Suc-
1 ceedlng crossing parties were exter
! mtnated, and pontoons drifted away,
I but a footing was Becured. The dust
served us well. The crew of one
bout which lost Its way during the
barruge were untouched, but they did
not make the bank in time. Dlrect-
wlth another crossing In which the
element of surprise was eliminated.
The village lies on both banks of the
stream, which Is 120 yurds wide. The
houses, trees, nullah, and wullcd gar
dens made It Impossible to build
road and ramps quickly and to bring
up pontoons without betraying the j ly the air cleared a machine gun was
point of embarkation. Hence the old opened on them and the rowers were
bridgehead site was chosen. The at- I shot down and the pontoons drifted
tack on the night of the 7th was i back ashore. A sergeant called to
checked, but the quality of courage j volunteers to get the wounded out of
shown by our men has never been ' the boat and a party of twelve men
surpassed in war. immediately the went over the river bank. Every
first pontoon was lowered over the ' man of them, aa well as the crew of
Tamo the whole launching onrty wan the pontoons, ware killed.
shot down In a few seconds. It was
a bright moonlight, and the Turks
had concentrated their machine guns
and rifles la the houses on the op
posite bank.
The second pontoon had got into
the middle of the stream, when a
tarrlflc fusillade was opened on It.
The crew of nva rowan and ten rifle
men were killed and the boat floated
down the stream. A third got near
ly across, but was bombed and sank.
All the crew were killed. But there
was no holding back. The orders
still held to secure the passage.
Crew after erew pushed off to an
obvious and certain death. The
fourth crossing party was extermi
nated In the same way and the pon
toons drifted out to the Tigris to float j guns on the other bank
past our camp In the daylight with I ground In front of tbe
Some 60 men had got over and
these joined up and started bombing
along the bank They were soon
heavily pressed by tbe Turks on both
flanks and found themselves between
two woods.
Here they discovered a providen
tial natural position. A break In the
river bend had been repaired by a
new bund built In a half-moon on the
landward side. This formed a per
fect lunette. The Lancashire men.
surrounded on all sides but the river,
held it through the night, all the next
day and the next night against re
peated and determined attacks. Those
attacks were delivered In the dark
or at dawn The Turks only attacked
once In the daylight, as our machine
swept the
position
their freight of dead. The drafts Twenty yards west of the lunette
who went over were raised by vol-, there was a thin grove of mulberries
unteers from other battalions In the and palms. The pontoon was most
brigade. These and the sappers on vulnerable on this side, and it was
the bank share the honor of the night here that the Turkish counter-attacks
with the attacking ba'ttallon. Noth
ing stopped them, save the loss or
the pontoons. A Lancashire man re
marked: "It is a bit hot here, hut
let's try It higher up." but the gal
lant fellows were reduced to their last
boat. Another regiment, which was
to cross higher up. were delayed, as
the boats had to be carried nearly a
mile across country to the stream.
After the failure of the bridgehead
passage the second crossing wss can
celled, but the men were still game.
were most frequent. Our intense In
termittent artillery fire day and
night -on the wood afforded some
protection. The whole affair was
visible to our troops on the south
side, who were alile to make them
selves heard by shouting. Attempts
to get a cable ncroas with a rocket
for the passage of ammunition fail
ed At midnight on the 9th and 10th
the Turks were driven back. One
more determined rush would have
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carried the lunette, but the little gar
rison, now reduced to 40, kept their
heads and maintained cool control of
their fire. A corporal was seen
searching for loose rounds and empty
ing the bandoliers of the dead. In
the end they were reduced almost to
their lust clip and one bomb, but we
found over 100 TurklHh dead outside
the redoubts when they were relieved
at daylight. The crossing on the
night of the 9th and 10th was entire
ly successful. With our cavalry and
two columns of infantry working
round on the right bank the Turks
were In danger of being cut off, as at
Sanna-I-Yat lUtfore midnight they
had withdrawn their machine guns,
leaving only riflemen to dispute the
passage. The crossing upstream was
a surprise. We slipped through the
Turkish guard. He had pickets at
both ends of the river salient where
we dropped our pontoons. But he
overlooked essential points In It
which offered us dead ground uncov
ered by posts up and down stream.
Consequently our passage here lost
us no lives. The other ferry near the
bridge was also crossed with slight
loss, owing to a diversion up-stream.
The Turks, perceiving that their
flank was being turned, effected 4
general retirement of the greater
part of their garrison between the
two ferries. Some 150 In all, finding
us bombing down on boh flanks, sur
rendered. The upper crossing was
so unexpected that one Turk was
actually bayonettad as he lay cov
ering tbe opposite bank with hts
rifle. .
By 9:30 on the morning of the 10th
the whole brigade had crossed. Son
after 11 the brigade was complete
and the pursuit continued. The Turi a
continued their rearguard action, and
in the afternoon there was fighting
In the palm groves of Said a, and the j
Turks were cleared with the bayonet :
after artillery had combed the wood. 1
The main body was holding the El j
Mahomed position, one and a half j
miles further north a trench line
running nearly four miles inland
from the Tigris. We attaced this ;
in front, while another column made j
a wide turning movement on the '
flank, and the enemy evacuated it at :
night, on the morning of the 12th
we entered Haghdad. Our force on
the right bank, after defeating the ;
Turkish rearguard in two actions, :
reached the suburb on the opponlte
side of the Bridge of Poata A brlgiJe
was ferried across In coracles, and at
noon they hoisted the Union Jack on
the citadel. Meanwhile the cavalry
continued the pursuit and occupied
Kaxlmnln after sUtrht resistance.
FYtlir rlAmntTArl narnnlnoii nnrl 1i)0
I prisoners were taken, in addition to
HID (7 V fllil cu till tnc i ua 11 fa.
The gunboats are still In pursuit of
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the enemy, who are reported to be en
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We also carry a complete stock of COLUMBIA
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Economy Drug Co
Hotel St. Geurffe Building
Day Telephone 711 Night Telephone 718
WASHINGTON. Sept 22.- If you
want to make things hot for Kaiser
Hill, start right at home in the
basement furnace or the kitchen
Htove. A little scientific attention to
your coal problem will generate
enough heat to drive the flames ol'
liberty over iermnny. Phenomenal
It seems, your furnace can help
finance the next Uberty Loan.
Here's how: Stop wasting eoal.
and you can save enough to buy a
Liberty Bond. Maybe two or three
If you save with a vengeance. Tho
government Hays, In short: "Coal Is
literally and figuratively the burn
ing problem of the hour.' president
Wilson has just appointed a coal die-
tator. and the business world Is
thinking and talking about coal
If you are using coal the way you
have always used it, you are wasting
from $50 to $100 a year And coal
not to mention money Is too precious
jewel to be squandered these days.
It is the bed-rock sinews of war.
Comes now a mighty expert em
ployed by Uncle Sum Van H Man
ning, director of the Hureau of Mines
to tel lyou just how the next Liber
ty Loan can be floated in your rur
nace. so to speak, tn the liquid fire
of patriotism.
In the drab days off peace, you can
light cigars with $10 bills and get
away With It. MUt try u loutty. anu
you play Into the hands of Prussia
The same with coal In normal times
you can toss coal Into your furnace
with little or no thought. Rut nor
mal times are past. Director Man
ning believes that you can save from
$1 to $2 a week by caring about coal.
And he can prove it. too. Listen:
'In the search for the truth as to
Inst what can be done by a house
hold furnace in heating a nouse. n
professor at Yale University was ask
ed to keep exact costs of heating his
10-room house in New Haven. Conn-
In the winter of 1912-13. when coal
was comparatively cheap. He kept
that house at an average temperature
of 69 degrees for 7 months and 10
days al a cost of $40 for eoal and $9
for cord wood that was used in a
rraTe more for cheer Iness than any
thing else. He vsed 9 2-5 tons of coal
at a cost of $4.25 a ton.
That m.in's cost of heating wa-
' rrom ."0 to S 1 00 less than what was
1 expended by a huge number of hotme-
4 j holders livinj In the same locality
Kk i,-L-itit tli M:imt ht:itine renllire-
pro feasor by a careful. Intelligent fir
ing of his furnace can save from $50
to $100 less than what was expended
by a large number of householders
when the cost of coal was low, how
much can he and other citizens who
cape to try save with coal costing In
many instances twice as much and
more ?
Have you a little coal dictator in
your home? President Wilson and Dr.
Garfield will see that you get coal
cheaply but after It's in your bin.
the problem Is squarely up to you.
Will you make King Coal an ally or
an enemy of the Kaiser?
Store
:adwa's Harness
WE CARRY A FULL LINE OF HARNESS, COLLARS, SADDLES AND
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We Specialize in
Auto Tops and Upholstering
LET US PUT A NEW TOP ON YOUR CAR OR REPAIR THE OLD
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Opera House Corner
PENDLETON, OREGON
Phone 773
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The Interests of this Bank are identical with the interests of Farmer and the Stock Raiaar ,
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FARM LOANS PROMPTLY MADE, AT LOWEST INTEREST RATES.
Total Resources 53,800,000
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