als never recovered from this disaster. The skeleton
of a battalion which survived the fight was sent down the line, and its
place taken by the 1st Guides from India.

Two other battalions of the 21st Brigade, the 2nd Black Watch and the
1/8th Gurkhas, crossed a plain bare of cover. They crossed at terrible
cost, and scaled the all but sheer walls of the Turkish left. But it
was too much; and a counter-attack swept the survivors off, and took
two officers and several men prisoners. Evening found our forces held,
though the whole enemy front line was ours and our teeth were fixed
deeply into the position. The Black Watch had lost all four company
commanders, killed.

It is not possible to convey to paper the heroism and agony of this
day. Mackenzie, of the Seaforths, who won the D.S.O. two months
previously at Sannaiyat for valour which in any previous war would have
won the V.C., was shot dead as he was offering his water-bottle to a
wounded Turk. Irvine, of the 9th Bhopals, was wounded, and lay out all
day; two wounded Turks looked after him, surrendering when we
ultimately came up. The Gurkhas and Bhopals took two hundred and thirty
prisoners. A Black Watch private captured nine Turks and brought them
in, himself supporting the last of the file, who was wounded. A
machine-gunner, isolated when his comrades were killed or driven back,
although wounded, worked his gun till we advanced again.

The artillery, as was inevitable from the role they filled, suffered.
Major the Earl of Suffolk, commanding B/56th Battery, was killed by
shrapnel through the heart. He was a popular, unassuming man.
Lieutenant Stewart, of the same battery, was wounded. Colonel Cotter,
commanding the 56th Brigade, R.F.A., was hit in the forehead.
Lieutenant Hart's wrist was shot through. The 14th Battery had two
hundred 5.9's burst round them; yet they brought up their team, one by
one, and got the guns away, losing men, but no animals.

Meanwhile from the Median Wall the 'Tigers'[10] watched the fight. One
could not help being reminded of the grand-stand at a football match.
Sitting on the further side and below the crest, the officers watched
the Indians pushing over the plain steadily through heavy shelling. We
saw dreadful pounding away on our left, where 5.9's plunged and burst
among the trenches the Seaforths were holding. Yet even a battle grows
monotonous; so in the afternoon we went down to the trenches before the
wall to rest, so far