First Battle of Ramadi (8 lugl 1917 anni – 13 lugl 1917 anni)

Descrizione:

Dhibban was occupied without a fight on the night of 7/8 July and the rest of the force arrived there from Falluja on 10 July. A small detachment remained behind to guard Dhibban while the rest pressed on to the Madhij Defile, 11 km (7 miles) to the west. They reached it in the late evening and occupied it without opposition, though Turkish rifle fire was encountered soon afterwards. At 01:00 on 11 July, the advance resumed to Mushaid Point, about 3.2 km (2 miles) east of Ramadi. The column did not reach it until 04:45 due to heavy sand along the route. As the force moved through gardens and farms on the outskirts of Ramadi, the Turks opened fire with six artillery guns, two machine guns, and numerous rifles. By this time, two of the three British aircraft had been forced down after they developed mechanical problems, due to the heat evaporating the water from their radiators. The armoured cars and infantry could make no progress in the face of artillery and machine-gun fire. The Turkish artillery proved far more accurate than expected, repeatedly disabling the British wireless communications. Reinforcements were sent up at 06:45 but could make no further progress.[8]

To make matters worse a dust storm began at 08:00 and continued for most of the rest of the day. British communications broke down and the storm prevented effective counter-battery fire. This in turn made it impossible for the British infantry to attack, as they faced an advance across nearly 1 km (1,000 yards) of open ground in searing heat. The heat also made it impossible to organise a withdrawal during the daytime, so the troops dug in and endured the conditions with water being supplied from the Euphrates. Suggestions that the Turks might be about to withdraw came to nothing and, at 03:15 the following day, the British commander decided to withdraw under the cover of darkness. Although the Turks did not attack the withdrawing British, around 1,500 pro-Turkish Arabs mounted an attack but were "beaten off and severely punished as soon as it got light." They continued to mount sniping attacks against the British as they made their way back to Dhibban, which they reached at 21:30 on 13 July.[9]

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