Wilson looked over his situation map, seeing that the lead battalions of the 5th Indian Division’s 29th Brigade had come up through the heart of the city, bound for the barracks where they thought they were to be fed and rested. But there would be no rest for the weary that morning, and no breakfast either.
“Alright,” said Jumbo. “I’ve got Reid’s 29th Brigade close at hand. I’ll send them over the main bridge to cover that sector. See if you can extend your line and make contact with them.”
Brigadier Alan Barker was no slouch. He had been with the Indian Army since the first war, fought in the Anglo-Afghan war, and slowly rose in the ranks until they gave him the 27th Brigade. He was known throughout India as “Tochi Barker,” and much respected by the men he commanded. He would later go on to distinguish himself in the fighting in Italy, but for now he had a real whirlwind on his hands.
He had only just reached the Locomotive Bay when he was aghast to see what looked like a full battalion of German troops forming up to attack the place. He was reluctant to give it up, but he knew it could not be held with the small platoon sized HQ staff he had at hand, and by extension, he knew that his brigade had been shattered by this ferocious and very heavy attack being put in by the Lehr Regiment.
Barker had no choice but to withdraw deeper into the rail yard, crossing the thick lines of the heavy steel railed tracks, past the fueling depot and workshops. Along the way, he came upon the remnants of a company from 4/8 Punjab Rifles, ordering them to hold the fuel bunker as long as possible. The help he had asked for had finally come, filing over the main bridge, called Jsar al Qitar at this time, and renamed the Alsarafiyah Bridge in 2021. Now, at a crucial moment, he could see the lines of the 29th Brigade moving forward from the bridgehead they had established on the west bank, and taking up blocking positions astride the main road.
Two more battalions of the Punjab Rifles advanced, catching a company of the Lehr Regiment that had broken through, well ahead of the rest of its regiment. The Royal Engineers that had fought so stubbornly for the Grain Factory found themselves cut off as they withdrew, but now they attacked to try and reach friendly lines, and soldiers of 2/9th Gurkhas joined in from the other side, hoping to open a hole and save their comrades.
Barker went out, watching the artillery firing from their new post near the central supply depot. He surveyed the left flank, mostly manned by Lt. Colonel Selby’s 28th Indian Brigade, which had a high proportion of solid Gurkha battalions in its ranks. That line was holding, from the town of Shalchiya, down to the Khir River that flowed on to the outskirts of the Airport Settlement and formed the southwest boundary of Al Muthana Field. He heard a battery of 25 Pounders firing from the edge of the airfield, and realized the Germans must be probing at that tributary for weak points. There would be no reserve for that sector if anything got through.
In fact, even with the timely arrival of Briggs’ 5th Indian Division from Kirkuk, the British were still stretched to their limit to hold the line and stop up gaps and breakthroughs. When General Briggs came up from the back of his division column, he learned that Wilson had already taken the two leading brigades and put them into action. Reid’s 21st Brigade had crossed to support Barker and cover the main bridge and Royal Ferry, and Langran’s 9th Brigade had been sent way off on the right flank to fill a gap between Ford’s 19th Brigade and the lines of Kingforce on the outer Bund and Army Canal line.
That left the General with only Finlay’s 10th Brigade, and one of his battalions had already been sent in to help halt the advance of KG Kufner, which had come through the Arab Hikmat and was threatening to flank the inner bund along another line of marshy ground. So Briggs had but two of Finlay’s battalions in hand, the solid 2nd British Highland Light, and 4/10 Baluch Rifles. Where would the next crisis point come?
Then word came from Kingstone that he had just greeted the 7th Armored Brigade, the cavalry riding to the rescue in the heat of this hard fought day. It had finished up in the south, boarded trains in Basra, and then moved by rail up to a point south of the city before offloading the tanks and vehicles for ground movement. The brigade had 32 M5 “Honeys,” 33 of the newer Shermans, and 24 older M3 Grants. That evening they would be approaching the city center after stopping at a fuel depot near the Al Jisir Bridge to top off. That gave Wilson and Briggs a little heart, though Jumbo wondered if the Germans would continue the fighting after dark.
They’re relentless, he thought. That Brandenburg division has the strength of two of my Indian divisions combined, and then some. But this attack from the north has me worried. 9th Armored Brigade has been expended. I’ll need to pull them off the line to fuel up and replenish ammo. Thank God for the 7th. I can put that unit in before dawn, and see if we can hold. They tried to pinch off everything we had at Al Zamiyah today, and almost succeeded. I’ve got six brigades committed in the north, and our lines are thickening up. What I need now is news from Basra. He rang up General Grover to see what was going on.
“Well,” said Grover, “we’ve only just come up, but the rail was cut, so we’ve had to detrain south of the city.”
“Who cut that bloody line?” asked Wilson.
“Arabs say that German Commandos infiltrated last night. There wasn’t much damage, but it would be six hours work to re-lay a section of that track, so I just told my boys that we’d hoof it from here. We’ll assemble just south of the Rashid Airfield.” That was the other big airfield, southeast of the city, and it would become very important now, as the Germans were already throwing artillery onto the main Al Muthana field west of the Tigris.
“Well how soon will you get here?”
“I’m afraid I can’t move out tonight. We’re still offloading the trucks and heavy equipment. It will be another24 hours, maybe less.”
“Good enough,” said Wilson. “We’ll need you, and it’s good to know you’re at hand. What about the 7th Indian?”
“They’ve got to hold out at Basra and Abadan. I think it best we leave them there. In another four or five days, the 18th Division ships in from Perth.”
“We may need them here as well,” said Wilson. “It’s been thick.”
“I understand, sir. We’re coming.”
But what else does Fritz have in the bag to throw at us, Wilson wondered?
Guderian was looking at the same question. Thus far, he had two good days of fighting, though his plan for day two had been foiled. Hube jumped the gun, he thought, but he achieved good results in spite of that enthusiasm. We did not expect they would have tanks here, but it seems they had something down south that came up last night. No matter, my panzers will still do the job. The attack by Konrad’s Lehr Regiment was outstanding. They nearly reached the main bridge, and I think they’ll get there in the morning. We’ve cleared Kazimiyah, taken that bridge, but they pulled out of the Al Zamiyah District before our pincers could close. 1st Brandenburg will cross at the bridge there tonight and mop up Al Zamiyah.
Tomorrow a good deal rests on Hube’s shoulders. His divisions will just have to grind their way into the city. If I had one more infantry division to cover their sector, I’d send both panzer divisions east and south in another wide envelopment. But I will probably stand with ten other officers bemoaning the lack of good infantry these days. The 78th Sturm Division has given us good support, but they can only cover so much ground. The British certainly do not lack for infantry. Even these Indian divisions fight surprisingly well. Those troops down near the rail yard, the men with those long flashing knives, have held their ground against every attack put in against them. That was another surprise.