It is not clear when David Huskie joined his Battery in Mesopotamia, but it seems likely that David was conscripted and joined his unit in early 1917 following the disastrous siege and fall of Kut in 1916.

The General commanding Kut had been replaced (necessarily: he was captured at Kut) and was replaced by General Maude whose generalship meant that the war was prosecuted the war more effectively: lessons had been learned. Following the fall of Kut, Maude spent 1916 ensuring that, when he took to the field the campaign was as an effective campaign with, as far as it could be in the awful conditions of the war in Mesopotamia allowed. Maude introduced new methods and tactics, which culminated in a decisive defeat of the Turks in February 1917 and the capture of Baghdad in March 1917.

On this day, the Berlin-Baghdad railway was captured, and German schemes for Turkey were finished. Given the continually depressing news in France and elsewhere, this was a significant and newsworthy achievement. British forces (and Russians, advancing from the north and east) closed in on the Turks throughout the autumn of 1917, and into the Spring of 1918. Despite making great advances, however, and the additional pressure coming from the north-west where British forces in Palestine defeated the Turks, no decisive victory was gained.

It is not clear when David Huskie joined his Battery in Mesopotamia, but it seems likely that David was conscripted and joined his unit in early 1917 following the disastrous siege and fall of Kut in 1916.

The section below is predominantly the amazing work of Chris Baker of “The Long Long Trail” and who has spent years painstakingly working on the experience of the British Army in the Great War. Chris’ work is seminal, and the debt owed is fully acknowledged.

The General commanding Kut had been replaced (necessarily: he was captured at Kut) and was replaced by General Maude who fought a considered and effective campaign which showed the impact of lessons learned.

Following the fall of Kut, Maude instituted an effective training regime and introduced new methods, which culminated in a decisive defeat of the Turks in February 1917 and the capture of Baghdad in March 1917. The Berlin-Baghdad railway was captured, and German schemes for Turkey were finished.

Given the continually depressing news in France and elsewhere, this was a significant and newsworthy achievement. British forces (and Russians, advancing from the north and east) closed in on the Turks throughout the autumn of 1917, and into the Spring of 1918. Despite making great advances, however, and the additional pressure coming from the north-west where British forces in Palestine defeated the Turks, no decisive victory was gained. “Johnny Turk” was ever a formidable foe.

In March 1918, the Spanish Flu was beginning to impact on the war weary men in Mesopotamia.

The fall of Baghdad had appeared to mean the end of the war in Mesopotamia but the end of the war took a very long time.

As the war drifted slowly to its end, one enemy replaced another in the form of the Spanish ‘flu now recognised as a pandemic.

The earliest documented case was March 1918 in Kansas, United States, with further cases recorded in France, Germany and the United Kingdom in April. Two years later, nearly a third of the global population, or an estimated 500 million people, had been infected in four successive waves. Estimates of deaths range from 17 million to 50 million, and possibly as high as 100 million, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in human history.

David Huskie is most likely to have been a victim of the Spanish ‘flu.