4 DECEMBER 1915, Page 15

Further details of the battle of Ctesiphon, near Baghdad, have

been published. The first British retirement for water was only temporary. On Thursday week General Townshend returned to the battlefield to remove dead and wounded. The earlier reports stated that eight hundred prisoners had been taken by our troops, but it was found afterwards that no fewer than thirteen hundred had been marched back to Lajj. Our wounded numbered about two thousand five hundred, and the number of dead has not yet been announced. Thezo were heavy losses in proportion to the size of our forces—only one Britieh division seems to have been engaged—but the enemy was extremely hard hit. His strength was estimated at four divisions, Prisoners stated that one of these was practically wiped out, and this was confirmed by British observers. On the approach of Turkish reinforcements being reported, General Townshend, having completed his work on the. battlefield, again retired to a position lower down the river.