be among a Turkish counter-attack
were among our own men, who at one time ran into their own barrage.
Their line swept forward, irresistible as always. In later days, in
Palestine, when a despatch praised various miscellaneous troops who had
been in their first actions and done not too badly, some one was
foolish enough to express surprise that the Seaforths were not
mentioned by name. 'I should consider it an insult,' said their
colonel, 'if any one thought it worth mentioning that my regiment had
done what they were told to do. We take some things for granted.' At
Tekrit Schomberg, though already wounded, led his men in person. He was
scholar and Christian; 'the bravest of the brave,' yet a lover of all
fair things.

As the Turks ran from their trenches our machine-guns cut them up.
Rumour now grew positive that we had the enemy hemmed against the
river. Evening closed with a deal of desultory gunfire, which continued
spasmodically all night. My brigade went to rest, in anticipation of a
renewal of battle next dawn, when our turn would be due. The ambulances
had worked nobly all day, cars sweeping up to well within shell-range;
and all night long stretcher-bearer parties were busy. Their work was
superintended by Captain Godson, whose M.C. was well earned.

Tekrit cost us about two thousand casualties. Many of the wounded
collected in the 19 C.C.S.[30] at Samarra had been wounded by aeroplane
bombs.

Next morning our orders of the previous night were confirmed. The enemy
were supposed to be holding the 'kilns' (actually these were tombs)
behind Tekrit. The 28th Brigade were to go through the 8th and 19th
Brigades, and drive them out. We were very doubtful of their being
there. However, we went forward in the usual artillery formation. Every
house in Tekrit had a white flag. This was the place where Townshend's
men were spat on as they limped through it, prisoners. Nevertheless
there was the same surprising display of fairly clean linen to which
the villages before Baghdad had treated us eight months previously, and
the Arabs were most anxious for us to realize how extremely friendly
their sentiments were.

We went forward, but found the Turks had gone. There were crump-holes
everywhere; the amount of our shrapnel lying about, wasted, would have
broken a Chancellor of the Exchequer's heart. Parts of the spaces
between the Turkish successive lines were just contiguous craters. But
there had been disappointingly few