Military History

Theatre of War	Medals	Commonwealth War Grave or Memorial
Mesopotamia	1914-15 Star, British War & Victory Medals	Amara War Cemetery
Arrived in Theatre	Medal Citation (if app)	SWFHS Area Memorials
11 Sep 1915 - Balkans	~	Stockton
Action, Battle or Other Reason Killed	Date and Place Enlisted	Other War Memorials
Siege of Kut	on or before 5 Aug 1914 at Warwick
Place of Death	Previous Regiments or Units
Falahiyeh

Circumstances Leading to Death - The Story Of The Royal Warwickshire Regiment - By C. L. Kingsford          

On January 1916 the 9th Royal Warwickshire left Lemnos, and after a five days' voyage reached Port Said, where they remained over three weeks. It had now been decided to send the 13th Division to Mesopotamia, where General Townshend, after his fruitless victory at Ctesiphon, had been besieged in Kut-el-Amara since December 5. The 9th Royal Warwickshire, which by drafts from England had been brought up to a strength of over 800, left Port Said on February 16, and on February 29 reached Koweit Bay in the Persian Gulf. A week later they disembarked at Basra, where Lieut.-Colonel Gover handed over the command to Major Gordon, who had rejoined at Port Said.

On March 15 the battalion began its journey up the Tigris to Sheikh Saad, behind the British Front, where they arrived on March 21.
After a vain attempt to take Kut by assault, the Turkish general had turned the siege to a blockade and constructed a series of strong lines lower down the river to prevent the advance of the relieving force. The most forward Turkish position was at Sheikh Saad (about twenty-five miles east of Kut by land) which was captured by the British under General Aylmer on January 9.

The next Turkish line at Umm-el-Hanna was much stronger, and the attack on January 21 failed. An attempt to turn the Turkish position by an advance on Es-Sinn (on the right or south bank of the river), was equally unsuccessful on March 8. General Gorringe, who then took over the command, thereon set himself to prepare the way for a renewed assault at Umm-el-Hanna.

This was the situation when the 13th Division reached Sheikh Saad. On April 3 they went forward to the front line in readiness for the intended assault, in which they were to take the foremost part. At 4.45 on the morning of April 5 the attack started, the Royal Warwickshire being on the extreme left on the river bank. The position was weakly held and by seven o'clock five successive lines of Turkish trenches had been carried with few casualties. The advance continued till noon, when the battalion dug temporary cover and rested. At nightfall the attack on the next position at Falahiyeh began. The advance had to be made over flat ground, and the Royal
Warwickshires coming under heavy fire suffered severely. Nevertheless Falahiyeh was taken by the combined efforts of the 9th Royal Warwickshire and the 9th Worcester, as the climax of the one brilliantly successful day in the attempted relief of Kut. The chief credit rested with the 13th Division, who between dawn and midnight had stormed two whole labyrinths of trenches. The Royal Warwickshire had 7 officers [including Captains Baker and Marshall] and 35 men killed or mortally wounded, and 7 officers and 154 men wounded.

There still lay between the relieving army and Kut two lines of trenches; the first at Sanna-i-yat, on both sides of the Tigris with impenetrable marshes on either flank; and the other on the right bank at Es-sinn, much nearer Kut. On April 9 the 13th Division after a night march attacked Sanna-i-yat, but in face of an appalling fire was eventually driven back. In the fight the Royal Warwickshire had 4 officers and 20 men killed, and 3 officers and 106 men wounded. George was killed during the events in early April.