Battle of Wadi (1916)

Battle of Wadi
Part of the Mesopotamian campaign of World War I
A 1924 British map showing action at the Wadi
Date 13 January 1916 Location Hanna defile, 3.5 miles (5.6 km) east of Sheikh Sa'ad, Mesopotamia, present-day Iraq Result See aftermath
Belligerents
British Empire  India  United Kingdom	Ottoman Empire  German Empire (military commanders)
Commanders and leaders
Fenton Aylmer George Younghusband George Kemball	Colmar von der Goltz Halil Pasha
Strength
19,000	20,000
Casualties and losses
1,600 dead or wounded, numerous captured[1]	527 casualties[1] unknown, estimated minor

The Battle of Wadi, occurring on 13 January 1916,^[2] was an unsuccessful attempt by British forces fighting in Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq) during World War I to relieve beleaguered forces under Sir Charles Townshend then under siege by the Ottoman Sixth Army at Kut-al-Amara.^[3][4]

Pushed by regional British Commander-in-Chief Sir John Nixon, General Fenton Aylmer launched an attack against Ottoman defensive positions on the banks of the Wadi River.^[5][6] The Wadi was a steep valley of a stream that ran from the north into the River Tigris, some 6 miles (9.7 km) upstream towards Kut-al-Amara from Sheikh Sa'ad.^[7] The attack is generally considered as a failure, as although Aylmer managed to capture the Wadi, it cost him 1,600 men. The British failure led to Townshend's surrender, along with 10,000 of his men, in the largest single surrender of British troops up to that time. However, the British recaptured Kut in February 1917, on their way to the capture of Baghdad sixteen days later on 11 March 1917.^[8][9]