guns and trenches at a range of 3500 yards, 7th (Meerut) Division began its attack. Most of the Turkish artillery fire was directed at the British guns rather than the infantry, but the attack still made little progress. The divisional artillery had to be concentrated before the next attack, and bad weather on 14 January delayed this. Meanwhile, the Turks had slipped away to their next position of strength at Hanna, and pursuit was hampered by the weather. On 7 February the detachment at Butaniyah was withdrawn, 1/2nd Sussex Bty covering the retirement. By the beginning of March the relief force had been reinforced, including 1/3rd Sussex Bty, and a new advance against the Hanna position was begun. 1/1st and 1/3rd Sussex Btys remained with the weak force left to contain the enemy and guard the British camp and bridges, so they played little part in the Battle of Dujaila, which was another failure. For the third relief attempt, on 5 April, 1/1st and 1/3rd Sussex Btys were with the concentrated corps artillery, which was organised into separate counter-battery, enfilading, breaching and barrage groups. However, the Turks had abandoned their trenches and the attack hit 'thin air'. The force pushed on and made a rushed attack on poorly-reconnoitred positions at dawn the following day. The artillery fire was misdirected in the poor light, and the attack was bloodily repulsed at Sannaiyat. A series of deliberate attacks on the Sannaiyat position failed to break through, though they got to Bait Isa. On 18 April the Turks put in a strong counter-offensive, against which the artillery caused terrible casualties, especially when the Turkish infantry retreated from the unbroken British line. A renewed British attack on 22 April failed to break through, despite the concentration of artillery, and shortly afterwards the garrison of Kut surrendered. India 1/I Home Counties Bde was withdrawn to India in July 1916. On return to India the 1/1st and 1/2nd Sussex Btys went to Lahore where they were attached to 1/I Wessex Bde RFA in 3rd Lahore Divisional Area, while 1/3rd Sussex Bty went to Sialkot under II Mountain Brigade RGA in 2nd (Rawalpindi) Division. In December 1916 the 1/1st and 1/3rd Sussex Btys, now at Multan and Delhi respectively, joined with the 1/4th and 1/5th Sussex Btys (from 1/II Home Counties Brigade) to form the I Combined Home Counties Brigade in 3rd Lahore Divisional Area. During 1916