Action at Saihan
- Category:
- Military operations
- Front:
- Middle East
- Date:
- 15 November 1914
- Author:
- Łukasz Skowroń
- Tags:
- British India, Ottoman Empire, Great Britain
On 15 November 1914 the 16th Indian Brigade of Brigadier-General Walter Delamain attacked Turkish troops at Saihan, on the west bank of the Shatt al-Arab, a few kilometres from the British camp at Saniyah. It was the first sizeable engagement of Indian Expeditionary Force “D” since the landing at Fao.
Two days earlier General Arthur Barrett had arrived with the second part of the force and orders to take Basra. Scouts reported that the Turks were gathering at Saihan. They were estimated at about 1,200 men with machine guns and mountain guns. Barrett ordered Delamain to drive them off, but without getting drawn into a long fight, as his own troops were still disembarking.
Delamain took with him the 2nd Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment, the 104th Wellesley’s Rifles and a battery of mountain guns, while the 20th Punjabis with a second battery formed the reserve. In the morning, as the brigade approached Saihan, the Turks opened fire at a range of more than a kilometre. The fighting took place in difficult conditions, in dust, mud and air shimmering with heat, which made it hard to judge distances. The 104th turned the Turkish left flank, while the Dorsets and the Punjabis attacked frontally. The Turks withdrew, and the British occupied and destroyed their camp. In accordance with his orders, Delamain did not pursue the enemy and returned to camp.
The brigade’s losses were 9 killed and 53 wounded. Turkish losses are uncertain. Studies give from about 130 to 250 killed and wounded, and some of them judge that there were far more Turks at Saihan than the scouts had believed.
The action at Saihan should not be confused with the battle at nearby Sahil, fought two days later. After the defeat at Saihan the Turks fell back a few kilometres upriver, to an entrenched line between Sahil and Zain. On 17 November (19 November according to some sources) both of Barrett’s brigades, supported by warships, attacked them there. After this defeat the Turks abandoned Basra, and on 21 and 22 November British ships and troops entered it.
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Meanwhile
(04)Elsewhere in the same days.
- 15 November 1914 · Eastern FrontBattle of Kraków beginsIn mid-November 1914 the Russians neared the fortress of Kraków. On 16 November the Austro-Hungarian Fourth Army sallied out and hit their Ninth Army's flank.
- 14 November 1914 · DiplomacyJapan will not send troops to EuropeIn mid-November 1914 the Japanese government rejected Allied, especially French, requests to send troops to Europe. The Japanese army did not fight in the West.
- 14 November 1914 · MilitaryLord Roberts diesOn 14 November 1914 Field Marshal Lord Roberts, hero of the wars in Afghanistan and South Africa, died of pneumonia at Saint-Omer.
- 16 November 1914 · Eastern FrontSecond German offensive against WarsawOn 16 November 1914 the German Ninth Army crossed the Bzura and advanced on Łódź. The British chronology treats this day as the start of the Battle of Łódź.
Related events
(04)The same battle, people or subject.
- 13 November 1914 · Middle EastBarrett takes command in MesopotamiaIn mid-November 1914 General Arthur Barrett arrived on the Shatt al-Arab with 18th Brigade. He took command and was ordered to occupy Basra.
- 17 November 1914 · Middle EastAction at SahilOn 17 November 1914 two brigades of Gen. Barrett routed the main Turkish force at Sahil on the Shatt al-Arab in rain and mud. The road to Basra lay open.
- 22 November 1914 · Middle EastThe British occupy BasraOn 22 November 1914 British and Indian troops entered Basra, abandoned by the Turks. The next day the occupation of the city was formally proclaimed.
- 6 November 1914 · Middle EastBritish land at FaoOn 6 November 1914 Indian troops, after a naval bombardment, landed at Fao on the Shatt al-Arab and took the Turkish fort. The Mesopotamian campaign began.