Courage and Captivity:
The Gurkhas at the Siege of Kut
108 years ago the British garrison at Kut al Amara surrendered to Turkish forces. Between 5 December 1915 – 29 April 1916, the 6th (Poona) Division, which included the 2nd Battalion 7th Gurkha Rifles, were besieged in Kut.
They endured months of heavy shellfire, hunger and disease. They held on to the town despite this, only surrendering when they finally ran out of rations. Over 13,000 British and Indian soldiers were marched into captivity after the siege. Tragically, 4000 of them later died in Turkish prisoner-of-war camps.’
Although it was one of Britain’s worst defeats in the Middle Eastern theatre of the First World War, the Siege of Kut has been relatively forgotten.
Read about the siege, view animated battle maps from the clash at Ctesiphon and listen to quotes from soldiers in our online exhibition ‘Courage and Captivity:The Gurkhas at the Siege of Kut’.
