Battle of Qurna
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| Battle of Qurna | |||||||||
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| Part of World War I,Middle Eastern theatre of World War I,Mesopotamian Campaign | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 British Empire |
 Ottoman Empire |
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| Strength | |||||||||
| 6000 | 17000 | ||||||||
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The Battle of Qurna, fought on January 3, 1915, was a minor battle in the Mesopotamian campaign during World War I. In the battle, the Ottoman Army attempted to retake the city of Basra, which the British had captured on December 10.
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[edit] Background
By capturing Basra, the British had taken an important communications and industrial centre. The Ottoman's decided that it was vital to their war effort to recapture the city. The British moved most of their men back to Fao because they were short of men and they had decided that Basra was not that strategically important.
After the defeat at Basra, the Ottomans decided to take up a defensive position at the small town of Qurna to the south. Since both the Tigris and Euphrates join together at Qurna, it made for an ideal position to make a stand since the British would have to cross the two rivers[1]. The Ottomans marched south from Kut, with an army of 17000 men. The British had an army of 6000 men in Basra. Instead of defending Basra itself, the British marched out to block the Ottoman's path to Qurna. By the time the majority of the Ottoman army arrived at Qurna, the British had already dug earthworks and trenches along the outskirts of the town.
[edit] The Battle
On January 3, the Ottomans probed the British defenses. They had been under fire from Royal Navy vessels on the Euphrates while British troops had managed cross the Tigris[2]. Judging that the earthworks were too strong to be taken, the Ottomans surrendered the town of Qurna and retreated back to Kut. That day, British losses totaled only 29 while over 1,000 Ottoman Turks were taken prisoner[3].
[edit] Aftermath
Despite being more of a skirmish then a battle, the Battle of Qurna is important in that the Ottomans failed to retake Basra. This gave the British a secure front line in Southern Mesopotamia[4]. Following this battle, the Ottomans would continue to retreat instead of fighting the British, until the Battle of Ctesiphon, in November.
