Введение
Солдат Первой мировой войны (1861–1924)
He was very ambitious and nourished high hopes of inheriting the family title and the family estate at Raynham Hall in Norfolk, as his cousin Viscount Raynham, the heir to the title, had no children until later in life. He was educated at Cranleigh School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. On graduation from Sandhurst, he was granted a commission with the Royal Marine Light Infantry in 1881. Townshend was a well known "playboy" officer in his youth, famous for his womanizing, drinking, for playing the banjo while singing very bawdy songs and for spending an excessive amount of his time in the music halls. He was often described by those who knew him as a "ladies' man" who was very popular with the opposite sex owing to his dashing personality and good looks. He was also known for his theatrical style, and he liked to associate with actors. As a Royal Marine officer, he strictly speaking should not have been part of an Army expedition, but he wrote to General Garnet Wolseley asking if he could go, and his request was granted. The way that Gordon had defied the orders of the government to leave Khartoum, knowing full well that the government could not abandon a national hero like himself and would have to send out a relief expedition to save him made a great impression on Townshend, as did the power of the press and its ability to rouse public opinion in favour of heroic generals besieged by Islamic fanatics. An intensely ambitious man, he was constantly writing letters to friends, relatives and anyone who might be able to help him achieve promotion, saying that he desperately needed one and asking them to "pull some strings" to help him. and was permanently appointed on 15 January 1886. He went on to serve on the Hunza Naga expedition in 1891. At Fort Gupis, the Francophile Townshend decorated the interior walls of the fort with illustrations advertising the latest plays popular in Paris. Townshend made his name in England as a British Imperial hero with the assistance of London's Fleet Street's coverage of his conduct as the besieged garrison commander during the Siege of Chitral Fort on the North West Frontier in 1895, for which he was invested as a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB). After being defeated by the tribesmen following an attempt to storm the village, despite being outnumbered, Townshend ordered a retreat into the fort, writing:
<blockquote>
We had a long way to go; and from all the hamlets as we approached Chitral we were fired into from orchards and houses right and left, front and rear! It was now very dark. I saw there was nothing for it but to double or else none of us would reach the fort alive, and this we did. He was one of the few British officers who before 1914 had studied the writings of Ferdinand Foch, regarded at the time as France's premier military intellectual and via Foch, he discovered the writings of General Carl von Clausewitz. The British historian Hew Strachan described him:
<blockquote>
Townshend was a cultured man. He married a French wife, he was very fond of all things French, and he saw that as part of his character; in many ways therefore not a typical Army officer of the day, another reason for his being seen to be slightly out of the mainstream professionally. In fact, he was not a comfortable man from the point of view of others in the Mess. He made himself popular with his men by playing on his banjo and singing obscene, sexually explicit French songs in both French and English. On 5 June 1896, he first encountered the Ansar, whom the British incorrectly called the "Dervishes" at the Battle of Ferkeh. Kitchener defeated the Ansar. Besides battling the Ansar, Townshend spent his time perfecting his French, reading books of military history and French novels, learning Arabic and training his Sudanese soldiers when not entertaining them with his banjo. Townshend left Southampton on board the SS Armenian in early February 1900, and it was announced a couple of days later that he had been "selected for employment on special service in South Africa". He was appointed Assistant Adjutant General on the staff of the Military Governor for the Orange Free State in 1900 and then transferred to the Royal Fusiliers later that year. After much lobbying on his part, the War Office gave him a posting with the Royal Fusiliers instead. His time with that regiment was not a happy one as Townshend constantly fought with his commanding officer, and he wrote a long series of letters to the War Office asking them for a promotion and a transfer to a more prestigious regiment, who replied that he had already received enough. In early 1903, Townshend was sent to Burma to join the 1st battalion of his regiment. After arriving in Rangoon on 6 April 1903, Townshend wrote:
<blockquote>
We were at anchor in the stream at Rangoon at 9 a. m., and after two hours of monkey tricks and chinoiserie about plague inspections by the port doctor, the steamer was allowed to go in alongside the quay. Alice of course dragged me out to see the great Pagoda of Shive Dagon and other pagodas; and the Burmese, Chinese, Indian and Portuguese bazaars and quarters of the city. I like the look of the Burmans, pretty well built girls, many of them decidedly handsome and beautifully made, with glossy black hair.
Он был очень амбициозен и лелеял большие надежды на наследование семейного титула и поместья Рэйнхэм-Холл в Норфолке, поскольку его кузен, виконт Рэйнхэм, наследник титула, долгое время не имел детей. Он получил образование в школе Кранли и Королевском военном колледже в Сандхерсте. После окончания Сандхерста в 1881 году он был принят на службу в Королевскую морскую пехоту. В юности Тауншенд был известен как "плейбойский" офицер, прославившийся своими любовными похождениями, пьянством, игрой на банджо с исполнением непристойных песен и чрезмерным пребыванием в музыкальных залах. Те, кто его знал, часто описывали его как "сердцееда", пользовавшегося популярностью у женщин благодаря своей обаятельной личности и привлекательной внешности. Он также был известен своим театральным стилем и тягой к общению с актерами. Как офицер Королевской морской пехоты, он формально не должен был участвовать в армейской экспедиции, но написал генералу Гарнету Вулсли с просьбой разрешить ему присоединиться, и его просьба была удовлетворена. Сильное впечатление на Тауншенда произвело то, как Гордон ослушался приказа правительства покинуть Хартум, будучи уверенным, что правительство не оставит национального героя на произвол судьбы и отправит спасательную экспедицию. Его впечатлила и сила прессы, способная поднять общественное мнение в поддержку героических генералов, осажденных исламскими фанатиками. Он был чрезвычайно амбициозен и постоянно писал письма друзьям, родственникам и всем, кто мог бы помочь ему в продвижении по службе, выражая острую необходимость в повышении и прося "пошевелить связями", чтобы ему помогли. 15 января 1886 года он был назначен на постоянную должность. В 1891 году он участвовал в экспедиции в Хунзу-Нагу. В форте Гупис франкофил Тауншенд украсил внутренние стены форта иллюстрациями, рекламирующими популярные парижские пьесы. Тауншенд завоевал известность в Англии как британский имперский герой благодаря освещению в лондонской прессе его действий в качестве командира осажденного гарнизона во время осады форта Читрал на Северо-Западной границе в 1895 году, за что он был удостоен звания Компаньона Ордена Бани (CB). После поражения от племен после попытки штурма деревни, несмотря на численное превосходство противника, Тауншенд приказал отступить в форт, написав:
> Нам предстояло пройти долгий путь; и из всех деревень, мимо которых мы приближались к Читралу, по нам открывали огонь из садов и домов справа и слева, спереди и сзади! Уже стемнело. Я понял, что у нас нет другого выхода, кроме как бежать, иначе никто из нас не доберется до форта живым, и мы так и сделали.
He was very ambitious and nourished high hopes of inheriting the family title and the family estate at Raynham Hall in Norfolk, as his cousin Viscount Raynham, the heir to the title, had no children until later in life. He was educated at Cranleigh School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. On graduation from Sandhurst, he was granted a commission with the Royal Marine Light Infantry in 1881. Townshend was a well known "playboy" officer in his youth, famous for his womanizing, drinking, for playing the banjo while singing very bawdy songs and for spending an excessive amount of his time in the music halls. He was often described by those who knew him as a "ladies' man" who was very popular with the opposite sex owing to his dashing personality and good looks. He was also known for his theatrical style, and he liked to associate with actors. As a Royal Marine officer, he strictly speaking should not have been part of an Army expedition, but he wrote to General Garnet Wolseley asking if he could go, and his request was granted. The way that Gordon had defied the orders of the government to leave Khartoum, knowing full well that the government could not abandon a national hero like himself and would have to send out a relief expedition to save him made a great impression on Townshend, as did the power of the press and its ability to rouse public opinion in favour of heroic generals besieged by Islamic fanatics. An intensely ambitious man, he was constantly writing letters to friends, relatives and anyone who might be able to help him achieve promotion, saying that he desperately needed one and asking them to "pull some strings" to help him. and was permanently appointed on 15 January 1886. He went on to serve on the Hunza Naga expedition in 1891. At Fort Gupis, the Francophile Townshend decorated the interior walls of the fort with illustrations advertising the latest plays popular in Paris. Townshend made his name in England as a British Imperial hero with the assistance of London's Fleet Street's coverage of his conduct as the besieged garrison commander during the Siege of Chitral Fort on the North West Frontier in 1895, for which he was invested as a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB). After being defeated by the tribesmen following an attempt to storm the village, despite being outnumbered, Townshend ordered a retreat into the fort, writing:
<blockquote>
We had a long way to go; and from all the hamlets as we approached Chitral we were fired into from orchards and houses right and left, front and rear! It was now very dark. I saw there was nothing for it but to double or else none of us would reach the fort alive, and this we did. He was one of the few British officers who before 1914 had studied the writings of Ferdinand Foch, regarded at the time as France's premier military intellectual and via Foch, he discovered the writings of General Carl von Clausewitz. The British historian Hew Strachan described him:
<blockquote>
Townshend was a cultured man. He married a French wife, he was very fond of all things French, and he saw that as part of his character; in many ways therefore not a typical Army officer of the day, another reason for his being seen to be slightly out of the mainstream professionally. In fact, he was not a comfortable man from the point of view of others in the Mess. He made himself popular with his men by playing on his banjo and singing obscene, sexually explicit French songs in both French and English. On 5 June 1896, he first encountered the Ansar, whom the British incorrectly called the "Dervishes" at the Battle of Ferkeh. Kitchener defeated the Ansar. Besides battling the Ansar, Townshend spent his time perfecting his French, reading books of military history and French novels, learning Arabic and training his Sudanese soldiers when not entertaining them with his banjo. Townshend left Southampton on board the SS Armenian in early February 1900, and it was announced a couple of days later that he had been "selected for employment on special service in South Africa". He was appointed Assistant Adjutant General on the staff of the Military Governor for the Orange Free State in 1900 and then transferred to the Royal Fusiliers later that year. After much lobbying on his part, the War Office gave him a posting with the Royal Fusiliers instead. His time with that regiment was not a happy one as Townshend constantly fought with his commanding officer, and he wrote a long series of letters to the War Office asking them for a promotion and a transfer to a more prestigious regiment, who replied that he had already received enough. In early 1903, Townshend was sent to Burma to join the 1st battalion of his regiment. After arriving in Rangoon on 6 April 1903, Townshend wrote:
<blockquote>
We were at anchor in the stream at Rangoon at 9 a. m., and after two hours of monkey tricks and chinoiserie about plague inspections by the port doctor, the steamer was allowed to go in alongside the quay. Alice of course dragged me out to see the great Pagoda of Shive Dagon and other pagodas; and the Burmese, Chinese, Indian and Portuguese bazaars and quarters of the city. I like the look of the Burmans, pretty well built girls, many of them decidedly handsome and beautifully made, with glossy black hair.
Он был одним из немногих британских офицеров, которые до 1914 года изучали труды Фердинанда Фоша, считавшегося в то время ведущим военным теоретиком Франции, и благодаря Фошу он открыл для себя работы генерала Карла фон Клаузевица. Британский историк Хью Стречан описал его так:
> Тауншенд был человеком образованным. Он женился на француженке, очень любил все французское и считал это частью своей натуры; таким образом, он во многом отличался от типичного армейского офицера того времени, что также было одной из причин, по которой его считали несколько чуждым профессиональной среде. На самом деле, он не был приятным собеседником для других офицеров. Он завоевывал популярность среди солдат, играя на банджо и исполняя непристойные, откровенно сексуальные французские песни на французском и английском языках. 5 июня 1896 года он впервые столкнулся с ансарами, которых британцы ошибочно называли "дервишами", в битве при Ферке. Китченер разгромил ансаров. Помимо борьбы с ансарами, Тауншенд посвящал время совершенствованию французского языка, чтению книг по военной истории и французских романов, изучению арабского языка и тренировке своих суданских солдат, а также развлечению их игрой на банджо. Тауншенд покинул Саутгемптон на борту SS Armenian в начале февраля 1900 года, и через пару дней было объявлено, что он "выбран для выполнения специальных заданий в Южной Африке". В 1900 году он был назначен помощником адъютанта-генерала в штабе военного губернатора Оранжевого Свободного Государства, а затем в том же году переведен в Королевские фузилеры. После долгих уговоров военное ведомство направило его в Королевские фузилеры. Служба в этом полку не принесла ему удовлетворения, поскольку Тауншенд постоянно конфликтовал со своим командиром и написал серию писем в военное ведомство с просьбой о повышении и переводе в более престижный полк, на что получил ответ, что он уже получил достаточно. В начале 1903 года Тауншенд был отправлен в Бирму, чтобы присоединиться к 1-му батальону своего полка. По прибытии в Рангун 6 апреля 1903 года Тауншенд написал:
> Мы стояли на якоре в Рангуне в 9 утра, и после двух часов обезьяньих уловок и китайских формальностей, связанных с проверкой на чуму портовым врачом, пароходу было разрешено причалить к пирсу. Алиса, конечно, вытащила меня посмотреть на великую пагоду Шиве Дагон и другие пагоды, а также на бирманские, китайские, индийские и португальские базары и кварталы города. Мне нравится внешность бирманцев, хорошо сложенные девушки, многие из них весьма привлекательны и красиво сложены, с блестящими черными волосами.
He was very ambitious and nourished high hopes of inheriting the family title and the family estate at Raynham Hall in Norfolk, as his cousin Viscount Raynham, the heir to the title, had no children until later in life. He was educated at Cranleigh School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. On graduation from Sandhurst, he was granted a commission with the Royal Marine Light Infantry in 1881. Townshend was a well known "playboy" officer in his youth, famous for his womanizing, drinking, for playing the banjo while singing very bawdy songs and for spending an excessive amount of his time in the music halls. He was often described by those who knew him as a "ladies' man" who was very popular with the opposite sex owing to his dashing personality and good looks. He was also known for his theatrical style, and he liked to associate with actors. As a Royal Marine officer, he strictly speaking should not have been part of an Army expedition, but he wrote to General Garnet Wolseley asking if he could go, and his request was granted. The way that Gordon had defied the orders of the government to leave Khartoum, knowing full well that the government could not abandon a national hero like himself and would have to send out a relief expedition to save him made a great impression on Townshend, as did the power of the press and its ability to rouse public opinion in favour of heroic generals besieged by Islamic fanatics. An intensely ambitious man, he was constantly writing letters to friends, relatives and anyone who might be able to help him achieve promotion, saying that he desperately needed one and asking them to "pull some strings" to help him. and was permanently appointed on 15 January 1886. He went on to serve on the Hunza Naga expedition in 1891. At Fort Gupis, the Francophile Townshend decorated the interior walls of the fort with illustrations advertising the latest plays popular in Paris. Townshend made his name in England as a British Imperial hero with the assistance of London's Fleet Street's coverage of his conduct as the besieged garrison commander during the Siege of Chitral Fort on the North West Frontier in 1895, for which he was invested as a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB). After being defeated by the tribesmen following an attempt to storm the village, despite being outnumbered, Townshend ordered a retreat into the fort, writing:
<blockquote>
We had a long way to go; and from all the hamlets as we approached Chitral we were fired into from orchards and houses right and left, front and rear! It was now very dark. I saw there was nothing for it but to double or else none of us would reach the fort alive, and this we did. He was one of the few British officers who before 1914 had studied the writings of Ferdinand Foch, regarded at the time as France's premier military intellectual and via Foch, he discovered the writings of General Carl von Clausewitz. The British historian Hew Strachan described him:
<blockquote>
Townshend was a cultured man. He married a French wife, he was very fond of all things French, and he saw that as part of his character; in many ways therefore not a typical Army officer of the day, another reason for his being seen to be slightly out of the mainstream professionally. In fact, he was not a comfortable man from the point of view of others in the Mess. He made himself popular with his men by playing on his banjo and singing obscene, sexually explicit French songs in both French and English. On 5 June 1896, he first encountered the Ansar, whom the British incorrectly called the "Dervishes" at the Battle of Ferkeh. Kitchener defeated the Ansar. Besides battling the Ansar, Townshend spent his time perfecting his French, reading books of military history and French novels, learning Arabic and training his Sudanese soldiers when not entertaining them with his banjo. Townshend left Southampton on board the SS Armenian in early February 1900, and it was announced a couple of days later that he had been "selected for employment on special service in South Africa". He was appointed Assistant Adjutant General on the staff of the Military Governor for the Orange Free State in 1900 and then transferred to the Royal Fusiliers later that year. After much lobbying on his part, the War Office gave him a posting with the Royal Fusiliers instead. His time with that regiment was not a happy one as Townshend constantly fought with his commanding officer, and he wrote a long series of letters to the War Office asking them for a promotion and a transfer to a more prestigious regiment, who replied that he had already received enough. In early 1903, Townshend was sent to Burma to join the 1st battalion of his regiment. After arriving in Rangoon on 6 April 1903, Townshend wrote:
<blockquote>
We were at anchor in the stream at Rangoon at 9 a. m., and after two hours of monkey tricks and chinoiserie about plague inspections by the port doctor, the steamer was allowed to go in alongside the quay. Alice of course dragged me out to see the great Pagoda of Shive Dagon and other pagodas; and the Burmese, Chinese, Indian and Portuguese bazaars and quarters of the city. I like the look of the Burmans, pretty well built girls, many of them decidedly handsome and beautifully made, with glossy black hair.
Месопотамская кампания 1915-1916
Генерал Тауншенд получил приказ от своего командующего, генерала Джона Никсона, продвинуть 6-ю дивизию из Басры вдоль северо-западного направления реки Тигр, с стратегической целью захвата города Амара. В конце 1914 года, оккупировав османский вилает (провинцию) Басры (ныне на юге Ирака), британцы достигли своей стратегической цели – предотвратить наступление османов на провинцию Хузестан, где располагались все принадлежащие британцам персидские нефтяные месторождения. Таким образом, не было реальной стратегической необходимости для британцев продвигаться вверх по Тигру к Багдаду, но и Никсон, и Тауншенд были сторонниками этого по соображениям престижа. Несмотря на высокое качество войск, группировка D не располагала тяжелой артиллерией и испытывала недостаток в снабжении, включая чистую питьевую воду, кусачки для проволоки, телефоны, фонари, палатки, сигнальные ракеты, москитные сетки, телескопические прицелы, сигнальные ракетницы, шлемы, ручные гранаты, перископы и одеяла. Наиболее серьезным, в свете последующих событий, был недостаток медицинских средств и персонала. Тауншенд хорошо знал об этих проблемах, но, по-видимому, никогда не обсуждал их с Никсоном.
Марш в Багдад
Начальный этап наступления прошел блестяще против численно превосходящего противника в сложной и неблагоприятной местности и климате, большая часть османских войск, спасаясь бегством или сдаваясь, оказала сравнительно небольшое сопротивление. Тауншенд начал наступление 31 мая 1915 года, открыв огонь из своих 18-фунтовых артиллерийских орудий по османским траншеям, в то время как его солдаты в белумсах обходили османские позиции с фланга. Он питал крайне низкое мнение о болотных арабах, которых считал "большими негодяями и даже убийцами", годными лишь для мародерства, презрительно называя их "Армией спасения". В Османской империи государственной религией был суннитский ислам, и болотные арабы, будучи шиитами, подвергались угнетению со стороны османского государства; Тауншенд мог бы переманить болотных арабов на сторону союзников, если бы был готов потратить время на установление с ними отношений. Он пользовался популярностью среди своих людей. Макнайт из Сандхерста заявил в интервью: "Иногда его своеобразное чувство юмора находит отклик у солдат. Был случай в начале осады, когда он устроил внезапную инспекцию на сутки раньше, чем ожидалось, и обнаружил офицера, командующего этим редутом, отчаянно пытающегося переодеться во что-то более формальное, будучи совершенно голым. Тауншенд настоял на том, чтобы тот сопровождал его на инспекции прямо там, без одежды, что, очевидно, офицер ненавидел, но солдатам в окопах это бы понравилось! Он доложил, что если он сможет разгромить османов у Курны, он сможет немедленно взять Багдад, на что Никсон ответил, что с нетерпением ждет триумфального въезда в Багдад на белом коне. Ядром османской армии всегда были турецкие крестьяне-новобранцы из Анатолии, известные своей стойкостью и упорством в бою. Как он вскоре узнал, этнические турецкие части в османской армии были гораздо более серьезными противниками, чем этнические арабы. После этого цели кампании были расширены, включив в себя город Кут-эль-Амара, расположенный выше по течению реки, который был захвачен после позиционной битвы 28 сентября 1915 года. Об успешном ходе кампании широко сообщалось в прессе Британской империи, что поощрялось британским правительством, стремившимся к хорошим новостям о войне для общественности, чтобы смягчить военные трудности, с которыми оно сталкивалось в Европе на Западном фронте и в Галлиполи. Амбициозный Тауншенд отчаянно хотел получить звание генерал-лейтенанта и командование корпусом, и он считал, что взятие Багдада – лучший способ достичь обеих целей. В Дорсетском полку осталось всего 297 человек, пригодных для боя, и он выразил обеспокоенность качеством индийских подкреплений, отправленных ему. Тауншенд попросил Никсона отправить всех британских солдат, работающих полицейскими, клерками и адъютантами в Басре, на фронт, чтобы заменить индийских мусульман, которых он отправил, но Никсон отказал. Отношения между Никсоном и Тауншендом были крайне плохими, и Никсон всячески старался создать Тауншенду трудности. Поставки из Басры доставлялись на махелах – арабских парусных лодках с огромными парусами, которые даже в лучшем случае двигались очень медленно. Кроме того, Тигр стал слишком мелким для лодок Королевского флота, которые обеспечивали столь ценную огневую поддержку, и Тауншенду пришлось обойтись без их услуг, отправляясь в Багдад. Тауншенд разделил свою дивизию на четыре колонны. В колонну А он назначил Дорсетский полк, 104-й стрелковый полк и 30-ю смешанную бригаду, к которой он прикрепил две роты гуркхов. В колонну Б Тауншенд назначил Норфолкский полк, 7-й Раджпутский полк и 110-й Мараттский полк. В колонну С вошли Оксфордширская легкая пехота, 22-й панджабский полк, 103-й Мараттский полк и 119-й пехотный полк, а в колонну D вошли 7-й лансерский полк, 16-й кавалерийский полк, 33-й кавалерийский полк и батарея S Королевской конной артиллерии. Тем временем генерал Деламейн возглавил колонну А под сильным огнем османов, чтобы захватить жизненно важную точку (ЖВТ) позже тем же утром. После захвата ЖВТ Тауншенд считал, что битва выиграна, но к своему ужасу обнаружил, что османская армия намного больше, чем он предполагал, и его силы подверглись мощной османской контратаке. Когда вернулся Боггис, Тауншенд разделся донага на глазах у своих солдат, а затем надел "шелковый жилет, шелковое белье, хаки-рубашку, брюки, сапоги и солнцезащитный шлем. Он взял бинокль, съел кусок сливового пирога, который ему передал младший офицер, и продолжил осмотр поля боя". Под натиском османской контратаки Тауншенд был вынужден отступить, поскольку его силы уступали противнику численностью. Он утверждал, что отступление было вызвано тем, что индийские войска под его командованием отступили без приказа, что Тауншенд объяснил значительными потерями среди британских офицеров. После тяжелого дня сражений он приказал остаткам своей дивизии зарыться в землю, в то время как Нуреддин-паша приказал своим войскам отступить; Тауншенд быстро начал перегруппировку своих сил для обороны от новой османской атаки. Среди руин Ктесифона османские войска атаковали британских и индийских защитников, самые ожесточенные бои шли за Водный редут, где около 100 человек из 22-го панджабского полка и около 300 гуркхов держали оборону и отбили последовательные атаки 35-й османской дивизии. Один из штабных офицеров Нуреддина-паши, Мухаммед Амин, позже писал, что поразительно, как эта "храбрая и решительная горстка" остановила целую османскую дивизию и в конечном итоге отбросила ее ко второй линии обороны. Тауншенд, "всегда готовый критиковать действия своих индийских войск", не упомянул в своих послевоенных мемуарах о событиях в Водном редуте. После второго дня сражений Нуреддин-паша приказал своим войскам отступить. Османская армия понесла большие потери в Ктесифоне, но большая численность войск Нуреддина позволяла ему восполнять потери, продолжать бой, в то время как меньшая численность дивизии Тауншенда означала, что его потери в Ктесифоне были непропорционально велики. 1 декабря 1915 года Нуреддин настиг Тауншенда в деревне Умм-эль-Тубул ("Мать могил"), где произошел ожесточенный бой, завершившийся тем, что османы были отброшены с большими потерями. Неудача османов у Умм-эль-Тубул дала Тауншенду и его людям несколько дней преимущества перед преследующими османскими войсками, поскольку их потери дезорганизовали их, и Нуреддину потребовалось время, чтобы перегруппировать свои силы. Тауншенд заявил, что его люди были измотаны и больше не могли идти, поэтому он решил остановиться в Куте. Тауншенд (который участвовал в экспедиции по спасению Чарльза Гордона в Хартуме) был сильно подвержен влиянию того, как британская пресса превозносила Гордона, и хотел, чтобы Флит-стрит прославила его таким же образом. 10 декабря 1915 года генерал Нуреддин-паша приказал своим войскам штурмовать Кут. Тауншенд отбил османский штурм с большими потерями для противника, хотя османам удалось занять позиции, чтобы построить новую линию ближе к стенам Кута. В Рождество 1915 года османы снова атаковали, прорвались в одном месте и захватили часть старого форта, прежде чем яростные британские контратаки выбили их. Главный врач Кута, майор Чарльз Барбер, вспоминал, как англо-индийские солдаты были замучены "мириадами" вшей, говоря: "Наши несчастные пациенты часами сидели, выковыривая их из одеял и рубашек". Эти запасы, которых якобы должно было хватить на месяц при полном пайке, закончились только в апреле 1916 года, почти через пять месяцев. Тревожные сообщения подпитывали изображение Тауншенда как героя, окруженного восточными ордами и находящегося в отчаянном положении, как это было во время осады Читрала 21 год назад; они также побудили британское правительство спешно отправить военный отряд под командованием сэра Фентона Эйлмера из Басры. Эйлмер...
Occasionally his quirky sense of humour plays quite well with the men. There was an occasion early on in the siege where he does a snap inspection twenty four hours earlier than was expected and discovers the officer in command of the particular redoubt desperately trying to change into something a little bit more formal with no clothes on. Townshend insists the guy accompanies him on the inspection then and there with no clothes on, which obviously the officer hated, but would have been loved by the men in the trenches! He reported that if he could defeat the Ottomans at Kurna, he could take Baghdad at once, which led Nixon to reply that he was looking forward to riding into Baghdad in triumph on a white horse. The core of the Ottoman Army had always been Turkish peasant conscripts from Anatolia, well known for their toughness and tenacity in combat. As he was soon to learn, the ethnic Turkish units in the Ottoman Army were far tougher opponents than the ethnic Arab ones. After this, the campaign's objectives were extended to encompass the town of Kut al Amara, further up the river, which was captured after a set piece battle on 28 September 1915. The victorious passage of the campaign received much coverage in the British Empire's press, which was encouraged by a British Government anxious for good war news for the public to counteract the military difficulties it was experiencing in Europe on the Western Front and at Gallipoli. The ambitious Townshend desperately wanted to be promoted to lieutenant general and have the command of a corps, and he believed that taking Baghdad was the best means of achieving both. The Dorset Regiment was down to only 297 men fit for combat, and he expressed worry about the quality of the Indian replacements being sent to him. Townshend asked that Nixon send all of the British soldiers working as policemen, clerks and batmen in Basra up to the front to replace the Indian Muslims Townshend had sent away, a request that Nixon refused. Relations between Nixon and Townshend were extremely poor and Nixon went out of his way to make things difficult for Townshend. Supplies from Basra were brought up in mahelas, a type of Arab sailing boat with enormous sails that moved very slowly at the best of times. Furthermore, the Tigris had become too shallow for the Royal Navy boats that had provided such useful fire support and Townshend would have to do without their services as he set out for Baghdad. Townshend had divided his division into four columns. To Column A, he assigned the Dorset Regiment, the 104th Rifles and the 30th Composite Brigade to which he attached two Gurkha companies. To Column B, Townshend assigned the Norfolk regiment, the 7th Rajputs and the 110th Mahrattas. To Column C went the Oxfordshire Light Infantry, the 22nd Punjabi regiment, the 103rd Mahrattas and 119th Infantry and finally to Column D went the 7th Lancers, the 16th Cavalry, the 33rd Cavalry and S battery of the Royal Horse Artillery. In the meantime, General Delamain led Column A under heavy Ottoman fire to capture the Vital Point (V. P.) later that morning. After the capture of the V. P, Townshend believed that the battle was won, only to discover much to his shock that the Ottoman Army was much larger than he had thought and his forces were at the receiving end of a vigorous Ottoman counter attack. Once Boggis returned, Townshend stripped himself naked in full view of his men before putting on "a silk vest, silk underpants, a khaki shirt, his breeches, boots and sunhelmet and, picking up his binoculars, eating a piece of plum cake passed to him by a junior officer, resumed his inspection of the battle". As the Ottoman forces counter attacked, Townshend was forced to pull back as his forces were outnumbered. He claimed that the withdrawal was due to the Indian troops under his command pulling back without orders, something which Townshend ascribed to significant numbers of their British officers being killed or wounded. After a hard day's fighting, he ordered what was left of his division to dig in while Nureddin Pasha ordered his troops to pull back; Townshend quickly began reorganising his men to defend against another Ottoman attack. Amid the ruins of Ctesiphon, Ottoman forces attacked the British and Indian defenders, with the fiercest fighting occurring at the Water Redoubt where about 100 men of the 22nd Punjabi Regiment and about 300 Gurkhas stood their ground and beat off successive attacks by the 35th Ottoman Division. One of Nureddin Pasha's staff officers, Muhammad Amin, later wrote that it was amazing that this "brave and determined little force" had stopped an entire Ottoman division and finally pushed them back to their second line of defence. Townshend, "quick enough to criticize the performance of his Indian troops", made no mention in his post war writings of the action at the Water Redoubt. After the second day of fighting, Nureddin Pasha ordered his men to withdraw. The Ottomans had suffered more dead and wounded at Ctesiphon, but Nureddin's greater size of forces could sustain his losses, continue to fight while the smaller size of Townshend's division meant that his losses at Ctesiphon were proportionally more costly. On 1 December 1915 Nureddin caught up with Townshend at the village of Umm al Tubul (the "Mother of Tombs") where a sharp action occurred that ended with the Ottomans being driven off with heavy losses. The Ottoman setback at Umm al Tubul gave Townshend and his men several days lead over the pursuing Ottoman forces as their losses had disorganised them, and it took Nureddin some time to reorganise his men. Townshend claimed that his men were exhausted and could not march anymore, hence his decision to stop at Kut. Townshend (who had been part of the relief expedition to save Charles Gordon at Khartoum) had been greatly influenced by how the British press had lionised Gordon, and wished to be lionised by Fleet Street in the same way. On 10 December 1915, General Nureddin Pasha ordered his men to storm Kut. Townshend repelled the Ottoman assaulting force with heavy losses, though the Ottomans seized enough ground to build another line closer to the walls of Kut. On Christmas Day 1915 the Ottomans attacked again, breaking through at one point and seizing part of the old fort there before fierce British counter attacks drove them out. Major Charles Barber, the chief medical officer at Kut recalled how the Anglo Indian soldiers were tortured by "myriads" of lice, stating "Our wretched patients would sit for hours picking them off their blankets and shirts". These supplies, purportedly enough for a month at full ration, only ran out in April 1916, almost five months later. The dire reports fed the London press's portrayal of Townshend as a hero surrounded by Oriental hordes and in desperate circumstances, as he had been during the Siege of Chitral 21 years before; they also induced the British government to hastily dispatch a military relief force from Basra, under the command of Sir Fenton Aylmer. Aylmer found Kut surrounded by unexpectedly strong Ottoman defences under the direction of the newly arrived Goltz,
Nixon might have been able to relieve Kut had he done a better job of managing logistics. Townshend spent almost all of his time either in his headquarters, a two storey mud house, writing up messages or "gazing out across the Turkish lines from his observation post on the roof". Morale began to collapse among the Indians as more and more Indians began to desert, there were several cases of Indian soldiers killing their NCOs and many Indians began to engage in self mutilation to get themselves into the presumed safety of the hospital. Whenever news of German advances at the Battle of Verdun reached the Ottoman lines, the Turks would give a giant three cheers for Germany while Townshend was comforted when he received a message over the radio that the Russians had taken by storm the allegedly impregnable Ottoman city fortress of Erzerum, which he believed meant the Russians would soon relieve him. In late April 1916, Townshend came up with a desperate plan to bribe the Ottomans into letting him and his men leave Kut, an offer that Halil Pasha took up, engaging in talks with Captain Thomas Edward Lawrence of the Cairo Intelligence Staff, before publicising the British offer to humiliate them. Halil Pasha knew the Anglo Indian garrison was starving to death, and he had the upper hand. The Division ceased to exist at this point and was removed from the British Empire's Order of Battle for the remainder of the war. The German Emperor Wilhlem II praised Townshend's defeat in a press statement as a "shining monument to German Turkish brotherhood in arms", claiming that it was Goltz who had done most of the work at Kut, a statement which offended his Ottoman allies who disliked the implication of the Kaiser's press statement that they would have failed at Kut on their own, and needed German officers to lead them to victory. Townshend claimed that the siege of Kut had "saved us from simply being kicked out of Mesopotamia". Despite the whips of the guards who tried to keep their charges marching down the road, the POWs rushed to the bank of the Tigris to cheer their general on as he sped past them, shouting "Three cheers for our brave general! Hip hip hurrah!". It was the last time that most of Townshend's men were to see him. The Ottomans provided their POWs with a few hardened biscuits for food. Braddon wrote that after eating the biscuits "The following morning, they began to die. Frothing at the mouth, their bowels and stomachs disintegrating into a greenish slime, dehydrated and moaning, they died one after the other". British and Indian POWs were afflicted by enteritis from contaminated biscuits. This was the first and only time that Townshend expressed concern about how his men were being treated as POWs. About Townshend's behaviour in Constantinople, Dixon commented: <blockquote>Underneath the agreeable veneer lay a fatal flaw that showed itself in a ravenous, self destructive hunger for popular acclaim. Though its origins remain obscure, Townshend gave the impression of a man who at some time had suffered traumatic damage to his self esteem, which resulted in an everlasting need to be loved
During the war, the Ottoman state waged genocidal campaigns against the Armenian and Assyrian minorities, which attracted much unfavorable publicity around the world. The favourable treatment of Townshend was largely because he served the public relations needs of the Ottoman state as Enver cannily manipulated Townshend's obsessive need to have the great and mighty pay attention to him for his own advantage. Townshend's willingness to praise Enver Pasha in public for his generous hospitality and to issue press statements attacking the British for alleged mistreatment of Ottoman POWs in Egypt served to distract attention from what the Ottomans were doing to the Armenians and Assyrians. The three Allied governments further promised that once the war was won, they would put the Ottoman leaders responsible for the Armenian genocide on trial. However, post war reports surfaced regarding how badly the troops under his command had suffered at the hands of the Ottoman Army as POWs after their capture at the fall of Kut, thousands of them having died in Ottoman captivity, many having been brutalised and murdered. His niece, Tiria Vere Ferrers Townshend (daughter of his brother Ernest Edwin Townshend), then aged 17, was a survivor of the 29 May 1914 sinking of the ocean liner RMS Empress of Ireland in the Saint Lawrence River which took the lives of 1,012 passengers and crew. She was one of only 41 women to survive (out of 310 on board). Her aunt, who accompanied her, was lost. Sir Charles died in Paris, age 63.