The Battle of Amara, also known as the Second Battle of Qurna, was fought between 31 May and 3 June 1915 during the Mesopotamian Campaign of the First World War. It arose from General John Nixon's order to General Charles Townshend's 6th Division to advance north from Qurna and seize the city of Amara, with the wider aim of compelling the Ottomans to withdraw from the Karun river and opening the route towards Baghdad. The terrain presented a formidable challenge, as the land between Qurna and Amara consisted largely of flooded marshes, with the Ottoman army holding fortified positions on islands and hills along both banks of the Tigris, supported by gun emplacements on the western side and garrisoned villages further north. Townshend responded by equipping his troops with bellums, small canoes native to the Tigris capable of seating five to ten men, and organising them into four colour-coded groups to assault Ottoman positions on both banks simultaneously, with fire support from a flotilla of sloops, armed launches, and artillery mounted on barges and rafts.
The attack opened at 1:00 AM on 31 May when the 22nd Punjabis advanced through the eastern marshes, reaching a position 1,500 metres south of the Ottoman line by 4:30 AM. A bombardment by gunboats and artillery began at 5:30 AM, drawing inaccurate return fire against Townshend's headquarters aboard HMS Espiegle. The 17th Brigade, comprising the Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, the 103rd Mahratta Light Infantry, and the 119th Infantry, advanced along the western bank from around 6:00 AM. The Punjabis captured the eastern fortifications and used them to support the western assault with machine gun and rifle fire, and by 11:30 AM all fortified islands along the Ottoman front had fallen with minimal resistance. The following morning aerial reconnaissance revealed the Ottoman garrisons at the villages of Abu Aran, Muzaibila, and Ruta retreating en masse, and the British flotilla advanced in pursuit, catching the fleeing Ottoman vessels at 6:00 PM and stranding the gunboat Marmaris and several troop-laden craft near Ezra's Tomb, with HMS Odin left behind to take possession of the prize.
With the river too shallow for larger vessels, Townshend transferred command to the armed tug Comet and pressed upriver with three armed launches, led by the armed launch Shaitan. On the morning of 3 June Shaitan entered Amara, sank a steamer carrying Ottoman troops, and passed through the town without drawing fire. Approximately 300 Ottoman troops then emerged from the northern bank and surrendered to Shaitan's nine-man crew, who disarmed them and escorted them back into the town. Townshend's combined force of just 41 men subsequently accepted the formal surrender of Amara's civil governor and military commandant, with around 800 further Ottoman troops taken prisoner. A steamer carrying the 2nd Brigade of the Royal Norfolk Regiment arrived the following day to secure the position. Nixon praised the cooperation between Army and Navy in his report, and the crew of Shaitan were awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. The success at Amara persuaded Nixon to continue the advance up the Tigris, a decision that eventually led to the Battle of Ctesiphon and the Siege of Kut.
Perhaps the most remarkable episode of the battle came on the morning of 3 June 1915, when the armed launch Shaitan, running well ahead of the rest of the British flotilla, entered Amara alone, sank a steamer carrying Ottoman troops, and passed through the town without a single shot being fired at her. Half a mile beyond the town some 300 Ottoman soldiers emerged from the forested riverbank and surrendered to Shaitan's crew of just nine men, who collected their arms and marched them back into Amara, where Townshend's total force of 41 men then received the formal surrender of the town's civil governor and military commandant, taking around 800 additional prisoners in the process. The crew of Shaitan were subsequently awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for this extraordinary feat.
Not specified in the sources; British resistance described as minimal during the capture of the fortified islands
British: 6th Division under General Charles Townshend, including the 17th Brigade (Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 103rd Mahratta Light Infantry, 119th Infantry), the 22nd Punjabis, and a flotilla of sloops, armed launches, and armed tugs. Ottoman: defensive forces holding fortified island positions and villages along the Tigris, supported by gun emplacements and the gunboat Marmaris.
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