‘Water course used by the Turks as their first line trenches on right bank at...

‘Water course used by the Turks as their first line trenches on right bank at Hibsh’, 7 January 1916. Photograph, World War One, Mesopotamia (1914-1918), 1916. This photograph was taken during the Battle of Sheik Saad (7-9 January 1916), an engagement fought by Lieutenant-General Sir Fenton Aylmer’s Tigris Corps during its ill-fated attempt to relieve the besieged British garrison at Kut. Although the British attack was initially repulsed the Turks later withdrew, perhaps overestimating British strength. From a collection of 265 photographs compiled by Major W Leith-Ross, Indian Army Staff, 1915-1917.