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Show BRITISH FORGE IN ASIA MINOR rams London War Office Makes Announcement After With holding- the News for Two Days t (Spc a Cab t A ntngemen h Lo don Da j Teleg aph and n na ona Ne a Se e , AMSTERDAM Dec 4 A Con l stantmople dispatch to the Vos i slsche Zeitung says thaj; the failure ! of the British in Mesopotamia was j caused, by the participation in the . fighting of Arahs -whom the Brit ' lsh thought faithful, hut who sided with the Turks at the last moment 0 ! LONDON Dec 4 1 30 p m The British army n Mesopotam a is m re treat Off cial announcement was made today that the forces of General 1 Townshend were ret r ng to Kut el J Amara 2 The text of the off al statement J General Townshend ren a ned n oc pit on ol the 1 attlef eld at I Itesilon oat n off al counter atta Is 1 p ha 1 o pletc I the en al o no le ind of lbOO ) r boncrb tt iro he onemj 1 t n e oo hca J o t,c id tbp a ot T k si e fo ce n euts let u thdre J Heavy British Losses I It s reiorted that o r total cas a ualt es n these a tions amounted to 4 6 No report is male of any i pol t cal off cer be ng wounded as ' was alleged n the Turk sh off al taterr ent 1 O the n ght of No ember 30 Decc er 1 C eneral Townshend to ght a rear h a 1 act on aga nst greatl s i e o T rk si forces Or a a t ph th act on are est nated to ha been 150 of all rallli8 , VI a Two r er boats -nere d sabied by shell fire and had to be aban doned General Townshend remarks of of the stead ness of the troops and states that the ret re ont was ar ed o t n 1 crfe t order By the latest pporth C e eral Townsl end nas w tl a few es of I t el Vm a pon wh h os t on he s ret r ng Berlin Dispatch Confirmed , The Brit sh announcement confirms 1 a Berl n w reless dispatch of two days j ago to the effect that the BntiBh were j be ng forced back n the direct on of Kut el Amara lOo m les south of Bag , dad The w reless message quoted an off c al Turk sh report which sa d the , ' Br t sh were flee ng m 1 so der after j los ng oOOO off cers and men n three lays' f ght ng The Br t sh attempted to n ake a stand at al z but were . aga n routed The defeat of the Br t sh p ts an end for the t n e be ng to the r hope of captur ng Bagdad the obect e of the r can pa gn In the r ad ance they occ pel Ctes phon, on the T gr s e ghteen m les be low Bagdad They were compelled to ret re on account of lack of water and on atten pt ng to resume the advance on Bagdad were confronted w th a strongly re nforced T irk sh army re s It ng in the battle reported from Ber ' ews of the lefeat of the Brit sh was withheld from the publ c two days by the censor wh h c ty appeared a few weeks ago to be almost w thin their grasp Having advanced during October and November through the desertof Irak to the very environn ents of Bagdad the Br t sh force s now ret r ng upon K t el imara e ghty m les southeast of Ctes phon, the scene of the battle fo ght in the latter part of November in wh ch the British troops met the r firBt ser ous heck The pos t on therefore of General Townshend s force is much the same as" n September after the battle of Kut el Amara Accord ng to a recent a count large Turkish re nforcements supplementing the forces wh ch already outnumbered the Brit sh forces four to one were flung aga nst the Br tish troops retir ng down the T gr s and made a Br t sh stand out of the ques t on |