photograph album

Transport crossing to Shaiba in April, 1915. (Page 68.) Water and mud eventually became too deep for wheeled transport ,(A.T.Carts), and these were replaced by "Pack" Mules. Shortly after this Lieutenant Orton organised a fleet of Ballams which plied from Zubair Gate to Shaiba with stores & rations whenever there was sufficient water on the Desert. When there happened to be a strong Southerly wind, the flood waters were blown back into the Lake & marshes, leaving a desert of mud, through which the boats could be pushed with the greatest difficulty. It was in these Ballams that the wounded from the Battle of Shaiba were evacuated to Hospital in Basra. During the evacuation the wind shifted to the South, and the Bullocks from the Bullock Battery were used to tow the boats in to Zubair Gate the last part of the way. Photographic print from notebook with photographs enlarged from vest pocket negatives, taken by Lt R.T. Frere, 2nd Battalion, Norfolk Regiment in Mespotoamia 1914-1915.