The Dorsets destroyed every living thing

TCD MS 10516 folio 16 recto

TCD MS 10516 folio 16 recto

[15th August 1916] lah commanded by machine guns from one of our ships. Every one of these Arabs was caught [by] machine-gun fire in this nullah and killed. The men were soon ashore and in the villages; the gendarmes had wisely fled at the first news of our approach but the more tardy Arabs were raked with maxim fire in their attempts to escape. No quarter was given in the village; the Arabs gave us none. The Dorsets destroyed every living thing with the exception of the women and children. They searched every house. Some amusing incidents occurred. One Tommy, peeping into a Persian filter saw a man hiding inside; he just took a pace backward and shot the man through the wall of the filter. Another Tommy saw two women walking together who appeared unusually stout and were muffled up