Current Information:

Age-26

85, The Vineyard, Richmond-on-Thames

Basra War Cemetery, Iraq

Mesopotamia

When the Ottoman Empire allied itself to Germany in 1914, Britain found itself at war with Turkey, a conflict that was not only fought in Gallipoli, Egypt and Palestine but also in Mesopotamia, the land between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates which is now modern day Iraq. Britain had vital oil interests around Basra in the south and troops were sent there to protect them. During 1915 and 1916 British and Indian troops began pushing north with their eye on the prize of Baghdad which, after a series of victories and reverses, was finally captured in March 1917. But the Turks continued to strenuously defend their territory until the final end came in October, 1918 when they signed an armistice. But it was not the Turkish army that was the biggest danger faced by the British in Mesopotamia, but rather disease. Sickness was rife brought about by temperatures of nearly 50 Centigrade, poor sanitation and regular flooding all of which encouraged flies mosquitoes and rats. Obtaining clean water was always a big problem in the desert and consequently water-borne diseases such as typhoid and cholera claimed many victims. The situation was exacerbated by shockingly poor medical arrangements with sick and wounded men taking up to two weeks to get to a hospital.

The Battle of Shaiba April, 1915

By the end of 1914, British and Indian forces had captured Basra and had pushed on to Qurna at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates. The British established a camp at Shaiba, a few miles to the south-west of Basra and the Turkish response to this came in April, 1915, when they bombarded both Basra and Qurna and then, on 12th April, attacked the British positions at Shaiba. On 13 April, two days after the bombardment started, Turkish troops attempted to outflank the British across the seasonal floods that separated Shaiba from Basra, while the Turkish cavalry prepared for a frontal assault. However the defences stood firm and the Turkish attack was turned back. On 14th April the British went onto the offensive and attacked the main enemy camp in a nearby palm grove called Barjisiyeh Wood. After heavy fighting the Turkish forces were defeated and scattered.

At the start of the war in August, 1914, the 2nd Norfolk battalion were in Poona, India as part of the 18 (Belgaum) Brigade, 6th Indian Division. However, they were soon on their way to the Persian Gulf to protect the oil installations there and on 6th November, 1914, landed at Fao. They played a leading role in the Battle of Shaiba and on 14th April they were one of the units that attacked Barjisiyeh Wood in the heat and dust of a desert battle during which nearly thirty men from the battalion were killed, including Maurice Burnett the Medical Officer attached to 2nd Norfolk. They were buried in the Basra War Cemetery which has now been completely destroyed.