<– Part 74 – December 19, 1915  | Part 75 – December 26, 1915 |  Part 76 – January 2, 1916 –>

The sun rose December 20 above Anzac cove and Suvla and shone upon empty trenches; it would appear that the Allied troops in the area have effected their withdrawal. Several ingenious devices were rigged to trick the Ottomans into thinking the trenches were still manned. One of them was a rifle whose trigger was tied to a bowl into which water dripped, causing it to fire at various intervals.

Geoffrey Spicer-Simson, commander of the British forces on Lake Tanganyika, shortly after the victory over the Kingani. He is on the far left, wearing a kilt.

In Africa, the fighting on Lake Tanganyika has scored another Allied victory December 26, when the British motor boats Mimi and Toutou (“Meow” and “Fido” in Parisian slang) captured the German ship Kingani after an 11 minute fight. The Kingani, having only a fore-mounted gun, was unable to target the more agile motor boats, who scored a direct hit on the single German gun, killing her captain and two officers. Additionally, two sailors were killed in the fighting. The British have renamed her Fifi.

 

Christmas Day in Senussi saw two British columns marching, one of which was sighted before sunrise by the tribal forces. Fighting raged all day, before the Senussi were repelled by artillery and machine fire. Delays in communication with the other column allowed the Senussi to escape at sunset.

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