Lieutenant-General Sir Fenton John Aylmer, 13th Baronet was an Anglo-Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross. He was in command of the first failed efforts to break the siege of Kut in 1916. From a military background, Aylmer was commissioned into the Indian Army, and immediately involved in fierce fighting on the north-west frontier. In a singularly heroic action, still in his twenties, he helped rescue Townshend's garrison at Chitral, spearheading the relief column. For his valorous conduct he was awarded the Victoria Cross, and rapid promotion through the officer class.
Commemorative plaque dedicated to Aylmer and his wife at Golders Green Crematorium
Battle of Sheikh Sa'ad
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The Battle of Sheikh Sa'ad occurred between 6–8 January 1916 during the Mesopotamian Campaign of the First World War. The battle took place along the banks of the Tigris River between the Anglo-Indian Tigris Corps and elements of the Ottoman Sixth Army. The engagement was the first in a series of assaults by the Tigris Corps to try to break through the Ottoman lines to relieve the besieged garrison at Kut.
British field artillery in action supporting the Anglo-Indian attack on the Ottoman positions during the Battle of Sheikh Sa'ad.
Hospital Ship No. 1, one of the few available, on the Tigris River in 1916 carrying British and Indian wounded back to the British clearing hospital at Falahiyah during the relief force's attempt to rescue the Kut garrison.