FOOTNOTES:[24]Brigadier-General P.J.V. Kelly, C.M.G., D.S.O., 3rd Hussars. He commanded the Egyptian troops in the brilliantly successful little Darfur Campaign of 1916.[25]Brigadier-General L. Wilson, C.M.G., D.S.O., A.I.F.
[24]Brigadier-General P.J.V. Kelly, C.M.G., D.S.O., 3rd Hussars. He commanded the Egyptian troops in the brilliantly successful little Darfur Campaign of 1916.
[24]Brigadier-General P.J.V. Kelly, C.M.G., D.S.O., 3rd Hussars. He commanded the Egyptian troops in the brilliantly successful little Darfur Campaign of 1916.
[25]Brigadier-General L. Wilson, C.M.G., D.S.O., A.I.F.
[25]Brigadier-General L. Wilson, C.M.G., D.S.O., A.I.F.
CHAPTER XVII
DÉBÂCLE
Whilethe cavalry were racing for the Plain of Esdraelon on the 19th September the 21st Corps, continuing its wheel to the right, drove the enemy into the hills. The 5th A.L.H. Brigade, riding on the left flank of the Corps, and some distance in advance of it, approached Tul Keram about mid-day.
The orders to the brigade were to seize the town, if possible, or, failing that, to engage the enemy there, and endeavour to prevent him withdrawing his troops and guns till the arrival of our infantry. Knowing the moral effect on the Turks of a threat to their rear, General Onslow decided to throw a portion of his brigade across the Tul Keram-Nablus road, the only exit from the town to the east. He despatched the 14th A.L.H. regiment and part of the brigade machine-gun squadron, with instructions to find a way through the hills north of the town, and descend on to the road some two miles to the north-east. With the remainder of his brigade he approached the town from the north-west, and was met by a very heavy fire from the enemy there. Tul Keram was a railway and store depot of considerable importance. It had been fortified, and now served the enemy as a strong point, on which his troops, defeated in the coastal plain, might rally, and so save his right flank. He was, of course, still in ignorance of the fact that three divisions of cavalry were already well on their way up the coast.
As the 5th Brigade approached the town, the Royal Air Force swept down out of the blue sky, and commenced an intense and systematic bombing of the enemy positions around the town, and the closely packed column of transport and guns slowly retiring along the road to Nablus. The utmost confusion broke out in the enemy ranks. About three o'clock the 14th A.L.H. Regiment, which had moved with extraordinary rapidity, descended on the Nablus road about two miles from Tul Keram. The Turks were now faced simultaneously with the three things they most feared. Their retreat was cut off; they were being heavily attacked from the air; and they were threatened on both sides with a cavalry charge. The demoralisation on the road was complete. Not knowing the strength of the cavalry force which had suddenly appeared on the road in front of them, and evidently deceived by the volume of fire poured on them from our machine guns and automatic rifles, the enemy troops and transport on the road made no attempt to break through, but turned back towards Tul Keram. The persistent attacks of our aeroplanes soon destroyed all semblance of discipline in the column, and a disordered mass of fugitives streamed back into Tul Keram, increasing the confusion there. The Turks in the positions surrounding the town, however, still fought on gallantly enough, and General Onslow, unable to advance his brigade over the open ground without encountering losses which would not have been justified, contented himself with holding the enemy in check on the north, east and west, and awaited the arrival of our infantry. A brigade of the 60th Division came up about half-past five, having marched and fought over sixteen miles of heavy country since dawn, and rushed the town from the south-west.
General Onslow now reassembled his brigade, and succeeded in watering all the horses, which was something of a feat, considering the darkness and confusion. At two in the morning the brigade started off for its second objective, the Messudieh-Jenin Railway east of Ajje.
Regarded merely as a march, this expedition, carried out in the dark and without guides, over unknown and almost trackless mountain country, ranks as one of the finest episodes of the campaign. Unable to use the road or railway, along which Turkish reinforcements were known to be hurrying towards Tul Keram, the brigade struck straight across the mountains to the north-east, and, passed through Deir el Ghusn, Ellar, Kefr Ruai, and Fahme. From the last-named place a moderate pack road led through Ajje to the railway, which was reached at seven in the morning by the brigade headquarters and a demolition party, who blew up a section of the line.
Dawn found the brigade strung out over fifteen miles of country. Its work was done, and, as it would have taken several hours to reassemble the regiments at Ajje, the Brigadier at once turned back along the track by which he had come, picking up his scattered units on the way, and returned to Tul Keram. It was seven o'clock in the evening before the whole brigade was again concentrated there.
In accordance with the Commander-in-Chief's plan, the 20th Corps had taken no part in the advance during the first day, beyond seizing one or two tactical points, to facilitate its operations on the following day, but on the 20th it was thrown into the battle, and the whole line became hotly engaged. The enemy fought stubbornly, especially in the centre of his line, where most of the German troops were concentrated. His positions were of great natural strength, and had been excellently entrenched and wired during the summer. By nightfall, however, his resistance had been broken all along the front, and our infantry had advanced as far as the line Anebta (five miles east of Tul Keram)-Beit Lid-Funduk-Kefr Harries-El Lubban (on the Nablus-Jerusalem road, eleven miles south of Nablus) to Dome. The enemy had thus been turned out of nearly all his entrenched positions.
Owing to the breakdown of their communications, and the virtual destruction of their air force, the Turks had not yet realised that our cavalry were behind them, and that all their lines of retreat to the north were thus closed. The only way of escape still left open for their trapped armies was by the two difficult tracks from Nablus and Ain el Subian (on the Nablus-Beisan road) to Jisr el Damieh. Chaytor's Force was fighting hard in the Jordan Valley to reach and block the lower end of these roads.
Our infantry resumed the attack at daylight on the 21st. The 20th Corps made rapid progress, and, by nightfall, had established itself across the Nablus-Jisr el Damieh track about Beit Dejan.
On the 21st Corps front, the advance was slower. The enemy in this part of the field was not yet demoralised, and his rearguards put up a stubborn fight, especially about Nablus. The 5th A.L.H. Brigade, moving along the main road from Tul Keram, with an armoured car battery, was usefully employed protecting the left flank of the Corps during the day. General Onslow turned the Turks and Germans out of a series of strong rearguard positions astride the road, by using his machine guns and armoured cars on the road, to hold the enemy in front with theirfire, while dismounted parties from the brigade worked round his flanks. The French regiment particularly distinguished itself in this fighting, and earned generous praise from the Australians.
In the early afternoon some of the guns of the 3rd (Lahore) Division succeeded in reaching a position overlooking Nablus from the south-west, and their vigorous shelling, coupled with the converging attacks of the 10th and 53rd Divisions, drove the Turkish rearguards out of their positions. The 5th Brigade rode into the town hard on the heels of the retreating enemy, and took 700 prisoners. One squadron pushed on down the Jerusalem road, and gained touch with the 20th Corps cavalry regiment, the Worcester Yeomanry, about Balata. The following day the brigade marched to Jenin to rejoin the Australian Mounted Division, having accounted for 3500 prisoners during the three days.
Both at Tul Keram and in Nablus great quantities of valuable stores, which the enemy had been unable to remove or destroy, fell into our hands. Especially welcome were the many railway engines and trucks found intact at the former place, which were very soon employed on the repaired railway, carrying ammunition and stores to our troops. Here, too, a troop of the 15th A.L.H. Regiment rounded up and captured a detachment of the Turkish Field Treasury, with about £5000 in gold and a quantity of notes.
Throughout the day complete confusion had reigned in the enemy rear. Camps and stores were hurriedly abandoned or set on fire. Many heavy guns were dropped over precipices to save them from falling intact into the hands of the British. Driven out of their organised positions, and unable to keep touch with one another in this difficult, mountain country,the enemy regiments retired independently. Most of them made either for Beisan or Jisr el Damieh, but every wadi leading down to the Jordan was congested with troops. The confusion was increased by the repeated attacks of our aeroplanes, especially along the Nablus-Beisan road, which was packed with a dense column of troops and transport. Part of this column continued along the road to Beisan, where it fell into the hands of the 4th Cavalry Division. The greater part turned off at Ain el Subian, and made for Jisr el Damieh, along the Wadi Farah track. About a mile beyond Ain Shibleh, this track passes through a deep gorge. The transport at the head of the column was caught by our aeroplanes in this gorge, and heavily bombed. A general panic ensued. Drivers abandoned their vehicles, and fled into the hills; wagons, lorries, and guns were smashed or overturned, and in a short time the road was completely blocked. The remainder of the column turned off at Ain Shibleh, along a narrow track leading to Beisan. Still harassed by our aeroplanes, it broke up ultimately into isolated parties, which scattered into the hills, and were gathered in by the 4th Cavalry Division during the next two days.
Our infantry and the Royal Air Force had done their work well, in face of great difficulties. To the cavalry now fell the task of gathering up the remnants of the two Turkish armies.
There was little cavalry movement of importance on the 21st. The 4th Division established posts right across the Jordan Valley, east of the river, and pushed patrols along the roads leading south and south-west from Beisan. Shortly after dark, the first body of retiring enemy troops was encountered on the Nablus road. It was at once charged in the moonlight by the Central India Force (10th Brigade) and dispersed,leaving a number of prisoners in our hands. There was no serious fighting during the night, but the division had very hard work, and got over 3000 prisoners before daybreak.
mapnot right
Diagram illustrating the Situation on the evening or the 20th of November
The 5th Cavalry Division had sent the 14th Brigade to Jenin, at daylight, to assist the two brigades of the Australian Mounted Division there in dealing with the large number of prisoners, and to help protect the captured enemy stores from the natives. By the afternoon, however, the prisoners had been got away under escort to Lejjun, and the brigade was able to return to Afule. The 14th and 15th Brigades then established a line of pickets along the railway to near Beisan, in touch with the 4th Division.
Meanwhile the 13th Brigade, with 'B' Battery H.A.C., had been sent off early in the morning to reoccupy Nazareth.
The 9th Hodson's Horse marched straight up the Afule-Nazareth road with the guns, and entered the town from the south. The other two regiments, leaving the road some distance south of the town, made their way through the hills to the Tiberias road, and attacked from the east and north. All three regiments attacked dismounted. There was a good deal of fighting of a difficult nature in the narrow, tortuous streets of the town, but most of the enemy troops remaining after our raid of the previous day had already evacuated the town, and those still left were soon overpowered. By ten o'clock the 13th Brigade had possession of the town. The roads leading west, north, and east were then picketed, and strong patrols were pushed out as far as Seffurie and Kefr Kenna.
Shortly after midnight a Turkish battalion, marching from Haifa, attacked the outposts of the brigade on the Acre road. The 18th Lancers promptlycharged the Turks in the moonlight, and chased them for two miles down the road, killing sixty with the lance and taking over 300 prisoners.
The Australian Mounted Division remained in the neighbourhood of Jenin and Lejjun during the day.
The large numbers of prisoners taken by the cavalry during the past twenty-four hours were a serious encumbrance, and the feeding of them became a very difficult problem. The Corps ration convoy that arrived at Jenin on the 21st had to hand over all its rations to them. As our own men carried three-days men's and two-days horses' rations on the man and horse, they did not actually have to go hungry, but the food question had become acute, and, until the prisoners could be got away, no further move forward could be contemplated. Fortunately, on the following day, it was found possible to send most of them back to Kakon, near Tul Keram, where they were taken over by a brigade of the 60th Division.
The Commander-in-Chief motored to Lejjun on the morning of the 22nd, and met General Chauvel.
'Well, how are you getting on?' was his greeting.
'Pretty well, Sir, pretty well,' replied the General; 'we've got 13,000 prisoners so far.'
'No ... good to me!' exclaimed the Chief, with a laugh; 'I want 30,000 from you before you've done.'
He was to have over 80,000 from the Corps before the operations ended.
The 5th Cavalry Division concentrated at Nazareth on the 22nd, preparatory to an advance on Haifa and Acre, its place at Afule being taken by the 3rd A.L.H. Brigade. The 5th A.L.H. Brigade rejoined the Australian Mounted Division at Jenin during the day.
In the early hours of the morning an enemy column, with transport and guns, was reported by our aeroplanes to be moving north along the Ain Shibleh-Beisan track, its head being then nine miles south of Beisan. This was part of the force that had been caught and heavily bombed by our aeroplanes the day before in the gorge of the Wadi Farah, as it was trying to escape towards the Jordan.
The 4th Cavalry Division at once sent a force from Beisan along the Ain Shibleh track to intercept the column, and despatched Jacob's Horse over the bridge of Jisr el Sheikh Hussein to push patrols down the track which follows the Jordan on its east bank, so as to secure any parties which might escape across the river. At the same time the 20th Corps cavalry regiment, the Worcester Yeomanry, was ordered to advance northwards from Ain Shibleh, supported by infantry, to collect stragglers, and to drive any formed bodies into the arms of the 4th Cavalry Division.
Our airmen then proceeded to attack the column with bombs and machine guns, and, in a short time, had completely broken it up. The enemy scattered in panic into the hills in small parties, which were rounded up by the 4th Division next day. The Worcester Yeomanry rode as far as the gorge where the ill-fated column had been caught by our aeroplanes, and here its farther advance was stopped, as the track was completely blocked by overturned vehicles and the dead bodies of men and horses. On one stretch of the track just here, under five miles long, eighty-seven guns and 900 motor lorries and other vehicles were afterwards found by the infantry, when clearing up the area.
About mid-day the 11th and 12th Light Armoured Car Batteries were sent to occupy Haifa, which wasbelieved to have been evacuated by the enemy. With them went the General commanding the artillery of the Cavalry Corps, in a large and beautiful Rolls-Royce car, with the Commander-in-Chiefs Union Jack on the bonnet, and a proclamation in his pocket to read to the peaceful inhabitants.
He met with a warm reception. As the cars neared the town, several enemy batteries opened fire on them, while machine guns on Mount Carmel swept the road. The batteries had evidently registered carefully, for almost the first salvo hit the General's car, knocking it into the ditch and smashing the flag. The General himself, with his staff, had to take cover in the same ditch, and quickly too, and there they lay, getting the proclamation covered with mud, till the armoured cars succeeded in retrieving them. It was a shocking affair, and showed a sad lack of respect on the part of the enemy. The 'Haifa Annexation Expedition,' as it was irreverently called, returned to Afule in somewhat chastened mood, but fortunately without any serious casualties.
The chief movement of the day took place in the Jordan Valley. Early in the morning the New Zealand Mounted Brigade succeeded in getting astride the Nablus-Jisr el Damieh roads at El Makhruk, after a sharp fight, taking 500 prisoners, including a divisional commander. About an hour previously the 38th Royal Fusiliers, one of the two Jewish battalions with the force, had captured the enemy position covering the river ford at Umm el Shert, while, about half-past ten, the New Zealand Brigade, with a West Indies battalion, seized the bridge at Jisr el Damieh, and crossed to the east bank. In the attack on the bridgehead the New Zealanders and the 'coloured gentlemen' both charged the Turks simultaneously, and had a severe hand-to-hand struggle before achieving their object. The 2nd A.L.H. Brigade also crossed the river at Ghoraniyeh, and, in conjunction with the 20th Indian Infantry Brigade, drove in the Turkish outposts, and, by nightfall, was facing the main enemy position at Shunet Nimrin.
Early in the night it became clear that a general retirement of the Turkish IVth Army had begun, and orders were issued for the force to follow it vigorously on the morrow.
aircraft
German aircraft captured intact at Afule. Mount Tabor in the background.
enemy
In the hands of the enemy! Some of our Horse Artillery guns captured in the second trans-Jordan raid.(From an enemy photograph.)
CHAPTER XVIII
DESTRUCTION
Nextday, September the 23rd, Chaytor's Force was on the move at daylight, following up the retreating IVth Army east of the Jordan. The 3rd A.L.H. Regiment (1st Brigade), with the 2nd B.W.I. Regiment, had a sharp fight at the ford of Mafid Jozeleh, half way between El Damieh and Ghoraniyeh, where the Turks had left a rearguard. The enemy was dispersed, and the Australians crossed the river at six o'clock. The remainder of the 1st A.L.H. Brigade crossed at Umm el Shert, and moved on El Salt up the Wadi Arseniyet track. The 2nd A.L.H. Brigade, having crossed the Jordan at Ghoraniyeh, pressed on up the Wadi Kefrein, and seized Kabr Mujahid at five o'clock, rounding up the small force there after a lively fight, and then turned north along the very difficult mountain track towards El Sir. Meanwhile the New Zealand Brigade, having crossed at El Damieh, rode hard up the mountain track, and occupied El Salt about seven in the evening. The only opposition met with was from a small, wired-in post on the El Damieh-El Salt track. A brigade of Indian infantry reached Shunet Nimrin in the evening, and found it evacuated by the enemy. One battalion of the B.W.I. Regiment and one squadron of cavalry were left at El Damieh, to gain touch with patrols of the 4th Cavalry Division moving down the Jordan.
Orders were issued to the force in the evening byG.H.Q., to push on next day, harass the enemy, and try to cut his line of retreat to the north; also to gain touch with the Arab Army advancing from the south.
The 4th Cavalry Division also had a busy day. Early in the morning our aeroplanes reported that the enemy had found a ford over the Jordan about six miles south of Beisan and was crossing the river in large numbers. The 11th Brigade, with the Hants Battery R.H.A., was at once sent off to intercept them, and moved south along both banks of the Jordan. The 1/1 County of London Yeomanry and the 29th Lancers marched along the west bank, and Jacob's Horse east of the river. At half-past eight, patrols of the 29th Lancers, approaching the ford of Makhadet Abu Naj, seven miles south-east of Beisan, were fired on by a party of Turks covering the passage of a large force of the enemy over the river. A considerable portion of this force was already across. The 29th Lancers and part of the brigade machine-gun squadron engaged the Turks on the north, while the Yeomanry pushed round the left flank of the enemy force, in order to take it in rear. The ground was very difficult, and the Yeomanry were subjected to a considerable fire from a low hill on the west bank, on which the Turks had a number of machine guns. This hill was the central point of resistance of the enemy bridgehead.
As soon as the Yeomanry were clear of the enemy's flank, the 29th remounted and charged the hill. The charge was completely successful. Large numbers of the Turks were speared, and 800 prisoners and no less than twenty-five machine guns were taken. Like all the work of these veteran Indian cavalry regiments in the campaign, this charge was admirably carried out, but that it succeeded in getting home inthe face of such a potential volume of machine-gun and rifle fire is an indication of the state of demoralisation to which the enemy was now reduced.
Meanwhile, on the east bank, Jacob's Horse, which was a little way behind, rode up and instantly charged the large force of Turks on that side. This charge, however, was held up by a deep wadi, and the intense fire of the enemy compelled our troops to retire and take cover. The regiment re-formed, and again attempted to charge the enemy, but was again stopped by bad ground, and suffered severe casualties.
The Hants Battery, on the west bank, coming up just at this moment, immediately galloped into action, and opened a rapid and accurate fire on the masses of Turks across the river. It was at once hotly engaged by two concealed enemy batteries on the east bank, and in a few minutes every one of the guns had been hit. None were put out of action, however, and all continued firing most gallantly. The enemy's fire was so heavy that General Gregory ordered a troop of cavalry out into the open to try and draw the fire of the Turkish guns, and so enable the battery to withdraw and take up a concealed position. Before the guns could be moved, however, the situation was cleared by one of the Yeomanry squadrons, which had worked its way south of the enemy position. This squadron succeeded in crossing the river at Makhadet Fath Allah, and, wading across the river, charged and captured the enemy guns.
Meanwhile a squadron of the 29th had been sent across the river, a little farther north, to assist Jacob's Horse. Thus reinforced, the regiment attacked again, and this attack, coupled with the loss of their guns, broke the resistance of the Turks. Most of them surrendered. A few succeeded in escaping for thetime, amid the broken ground on both banks of the river. 3000 prisoners, including a divisional commander, ten guns, and thirty machine guns fell into our hands.
After the action, the brigade continued its march south, to Ras el Humeiyir, where it bivouacked for the night, with outposts south and west, along the Wadi el Sherar and east of the Jordan.
During the night a troop of the 29th Lancers was sent off into the hills to the west, to try and gain touch with the 20th Corps, about Khurbet Atuf. This troop marched all night, along a very difficult footpath, and met the 20th Corps cavalry regiment (Worcester Yeomanry) at Atuf early in the morning. It rejoined the 11th Brigade near Ras Umm Zoka during the day.
The task assigned to the 5th Cavalry Division on the 23rd was the capture of Acre and Haifa. The 13th Brigade, with a Light Armoured Car Battery and a light car patrol, left Nazareth at five in the morning. MarchingviaSeffurie and Shefa Amr, the force reached Acre about mid-day, and captured it without difficulty, the small enemy garrison showing little inclination to fight. 260 prisoners and two guns were taken here.
The remainder of the division left Nazareth at the same hour, and reached the Kishon railway bridge, near El Harithie, about mid-day. The 14th Brigade remained here, while the 15th Brigade, with 'B' Battery H.A.C., moved on Haifa along the Afule-Haifa road, which skirts the north-eastern edge of the Mount Carmel Range. There were only two regiments with the brigade, as the Hyderabad Lancers were absent, escorting prisoners back from Lejjun. They rejoined the brigade late in the afternoon, just after Haifa had been captured.
The Mysore Lancers, advance guard to the brigade, reached the village of Belled el Sheikh about ten o'clock, and, on emerging from the trees that surround the village, came under heavy fire from a number of guns on Mount Carmel, and from machine guns and rifles in the hills north-west of the village. Patrols sent out to the north drew fire from a large number of machine guns about Tel Abu Hawam, and concealed among trees and shrubs near the main road south of that place. It was evident that the position was strongly held.
General Harbord had arrived at Belled el Sheikh, and received the report of his advance guard. He had a difficult task before him. South of the road the rocky wall of Carmel rose steeply, 1500 feet above the plain. To the north, the country was flat and open, and afforded little or no cover for troops, except along that portion of the Nahr el Mukatta (the river Kishon) which runs east and west a mile and a half north of Belled el Sheikh, which was bordered with trees and scrub. The Wadi Ashlul el Wawy is practically dry at this time of year, but the Nahr el Mukatta is a perennial stream, the banks of which are very marshy.
The Brigadier decided that the first thing to be done was to silence the guns on Mount Carmel. He accordingly despatched a squadron of the Mysore Lancers, with a couple of machine guns, to climb the mountain by a goat path, which follows the Wadi el Tabil from Belled el Sheikh, and joins the road running along the backbone of the range. This squadron was ordered to move along this road to the north, locate the guns, and attack them. With the remainder of his force the Brigadier decided to make a mounted attack from the east on the enemy positions about Tel Abu Hawam, supported by hisguns and machine guns from the south-east. 'B' Battery H.A.C. came into action close to the road, about half a mile north of Belled el Sheikh, and the remainder of the machine-gun squadron, with two squadrons Mysore Lancers, a little farther north, along the Acre Railway. The 4th squadron Mysore Lancers was sent up the road running north from near El Harbaj, with instructions to turn westwards at Tel El Subat, and make for the mouth of the Nahr el Mukatta. It was then to push along the sea shore, so as to take the enemy positions in reverse. The Jodhpur Lancers took up a position of readiness, about 500 yards north-east of Belled el Sheikh, preparatory to making a dash for the wooded portion of the Mukatta. They were to cross this, and then wheel to the left, and charge the enemy on his left flank.
These dispositions were soon completed, and the troops then set themselves to wait until the Mysore Lancers' squadron had dealt with the enemy guns on Mount Carmel. Meanwhile our artillery and machine guns searched the palm groves and scrub about Tel Abu Huwam and along the banks of the Mukatta. Observation was difficult, as the enemy was well concealed.
Shortly before mid-day General Harbord received a welcome reinforcement in the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry, which had been sent up from El Harithie. He at once despatched a squadron of this regiment to the assistance of the Mysore Lancers' squadron on Carmel.
Desultory firing continued for the next two hours, but there was no sign of any slackening of the enemy's artillery activity. At last the Brigadier came to the conclusion that his troops on Carmel had either been unable to fulfil their task of silencing the enemy guns,or had lost their way. Time was running on, and he decided that he could wait no longer. The Jodhpur Lancers were ordered out to the attack.
Moving off in column of squadrons, in line of troop columns, they cantered out into the open towards the stream, coming under intense fire as they crossed the Acre Railway. The fire, however, appeared ill-directed, which was probably due to the vigorous action of our artillery and machine guns supporting the attack.
Owing to the exposed nature of the ground, it had not been possible to reconnoitre the Mukatta beforehand, and, when the Jodhpur Lancers reached it, they found it quite impassable. Two ground scouts, who jumped into the bed of the stream, disappeared instantaneously into the quicksands. The regiment, was, however, now committed to the attack, and it was impossible to turn back. Changing direction left, the four squadrons charged straight at the enemy.
The leading squadron, 'B,' galloping over the two branches of the Wadi Ashlul el Wawy, dashed into the enemy machine guns, killed the crews, and opened the defile between the Wadi Selman and the mountain. The second squadron, 'D,' charged and captured the enemy guns and machine guns about Tel Abu Hawam and north of it. The remaining two squadrons galloped through the defile, straight on into the town. Meanwhile, after clearing the defile, 'B' squadron made its way along the lower slopes of Mount Carmel, and charged into the German Colony west of Haifa, capturing several guns, and killing large numbers of Turks and Germans. 'D' squadron, after clearing up the Tel Abu Hawam area, galloped up the east bank of the Wadi Selman and along the beach, entering the town on the north-east. Allfour squadrons thus entered Haifa about the same moment.
As soon as the charge got home, the two squadrons Mysore Lancers, who had supported the attack with their fire, mounted, and followed at a gallop into the town. Of the two detached squadrons of this regiment, that on the north had been held up about half a mile west of El Suriyeh. This squadron now mounted, and charged a body of the enemy in position near the mouth of the Mukatta, capturing two guns and 100 prisoners.
The squadron on Mount Carmel, after riding nearly six miles over very bad country, had at last located the enemy guns at Karmelheim, much farther north than had been expected. Dropping his machine guns and all his Hotchkiss rifles on the track, to provide covering fire, the squadron leader led the remainder of his troops away to the left to charge the guns. Owing to casualties on the way up the range, and to some of his men having been delayed by the difficulties of the track, he found that, after providing for his Hotchkiss rifles, he had only fifteen lances for the charge. Nevertheless, he decided to attack at once, rightly judging that even an unsuccessful charge would probably divert the fire of the enemy guns long enough to permit the Jodhpur Lancers to make their attack in the plain. His machine guns and Hotchkiss rifles had got close to the guns unseen, and now opened a sudden and accurate fire on them. The fifteen men then galloped in from the flank, and actually succeeded in silencing the battery. The crews of two of the guns were killed, but the battery escort then came up, and it might have gone hardly with the gallant little band of cavalry had not the squadron of the Sherwood Rangers arrived just in the nick of time to complete the work. By a fortunate coincidence, this charge took place just as the Jodhpur Lancers attacked in the plain.
map
1351 prisoners, seventeen guns, and eleven machine guns were collected at Haifa after the action. The captured artillery included two six-inch naval guns, which the Germans had mounted on the top of Mount Carmel, to engage our warships in the event of an attempted landing.
The Turks had fought well, firing until they were ridden down, but once our cavalry were through the defile, the fight was practically over. They galloped through the town, riding down with the lance any bodies of the enemy who showed fight, and, in twenty minutes, had overcome all opposition.
The Australian Mounted Division had a day of comparative rest. The 3rd A.L.H. Brigade relieved the 5th Cavalry Division at Nazareth, and the rest of the division remained at Afule, sending patrols eastwards as far as Beisan, to bring in the prisoners taken on the two previous days by the 4th Cavalry Division. Towards evening the 'bag' began to arrive, and, long after darkness fell, the endless column of captives was still winding its way up the Valley of Jezreel.
Most of these prisoners had marched over twenty miles since their capture, and no one knows how many more before they fell into our hands. Their dragging feet raised a heavy cloud of dust, through which they had trudged all the long, hot march, and they came in raging with thirst. In anticipation of their arrival, several large canvas tanks had been set up and filled with water, and elaborate arrangements had been made by the capable and energetic water officer of the Australian Division. Each man was to file past the tanks, have a drink, fill his water bottle, and move on to the concentration area witha gentle sigh of satisfaction. The water officer had eight orderlies. There were 8000 prisoners, and, as soon as they smelt the water, the 8000 charged the eight. The charge was successful, and the prisoners thereupon all tried to getintothe water together. In a few seconds the tanks were trampled down, and the frenzied Turks struggled and fought with one another in the darkness round the muddy ruins. Eventually they had to be driven back at the point of the sword. More water was procured, and the prisoners were marched up to it in small parties under escort. It took all night to supply them all.
The following day the 4th Cavalry Division continued its 'mopping up' operations in the Jordan Valley.
Early in the morning an observation post of the London Yeomanry, who were on outpost duty, observed a large force of the enemy making for the ford of El Masudi. A squadron at once galloped for the ford, but the enemy got there first, and held it up. Another squadron, coming up in support, several times charged the Turks debouching from the hills, and captured a large number of them. The Yeomen had the greatest difficulty in dealing with their prisoners, who, after surrendering and throwing down their rifles when charged, repeatedly picked them up again, and went on fighting.
The Hants Battery now came up, and got into action at close range against the enemy holding the ford. Its rapid and accurate fire completely disconcerted the demoralised Turks, and the 29th Lancers took prompt advantage of the fact to charge them. The enemy, worn out and dispirited, made but a poor fight of it, and the action was soon over. 4000 Turks, including Rushdi Bey, Commander of the 16th Division, were taken prisoner, and another1000 were rounded up later on in the course of the day. Very few escaped.
The horses of the 11th Brigade were now in a very exhausted condition, and the ammunition of the battery was running low. General Barrow, therefore, ordered the Brigadier only to continue his southward movement as far as Ras Umm Zoka and the Wadi Kafrinji, sending patrols along the Jordan, to gain touch with Chaytor's Force.
This action completed the destruction of the VIIth and VIIIth Turkish Armies. A few stragglers escaped across the river, to wander miserably in the barren, waterless country to the east, at the mercy of hostile Arabs. With the exception of these, the entire enemy force west of the Jordan had been captured or killed, and all its guns, transport, and stores had fallen into our hands.
The IVth Army, east of Jordan, and the 2nd Corps (Hedjaz Force) about Maan, remained to be dealt with. Both these forces were in full retreat to the north, the former pursued by Chaytor's Force and the northern portion of the Arab Army, the latter harried by the southern detachment of the Arabs. As the Hedjaz Railway had been cut at Deraa, no supplies could reach these enemy forces, and they had to depend for their food on a sparsely populated country, already almost denuded of supplies by Turkish requisitions, and inhabited by bitterly hostile tribes.
As the action of Chaytor's Force formed a separate episode in the operations, it will be convenient to follow its fortunes to the conclusion of its work.
On the night of the 23rd, the dispositions of the Force were as follows:—
New Zealand Brigade in El Salt. 1st A.L.H. Brigade approaching El Salt, along the Wadi Arseniyettrack. 2nd A.L.H. Brigade on the Wadi Kefrein track, a few miles west of Ain el Sir. Infantry at Shunet Nimrin. The whole force resumed the advance vigorously at daylight on the 24th. The New Zealanders encountered the Turkish rearguards at Sweileh at seven in the morning, and the 2nd Brigade at Ain el Sir at the same hour. In both places there was a sharp fight before the enemy was dislodged. The Turkish IVth Army was not yet disorganised, and was retreating in good order, fighting every step of the way.
At night the Anzac Division held a line north and south, a few miles east of Sweileh and Ain el Sir, and the infantry had reached El Salt. During the night a party from the New Zealand Brigade raided and cut the railway near Kalaat el Zerka. At six o'clock next morning the cavalry advanced straight on Amman, with orders to press into the town if possible. If unable to seize the place, they were to hold the enemy till the arrival of the infantry. At eleven o'clock the New Zealanders made an attempt to gallop the town from the north-west, but were held up by a steep cliff. Two mountain batteries arrived half an hour later, and the division then went in dismounted, in a frontal attack. It was of the utmost importance to keep fighting the Turks, so as to prevent them from breaking off the action and retiring. For this reason no attempt was made to outflank them, as the necessary movement to carry out a flanking attack would, in that very precipitous country, have entailed much time, of which the Turks would certainly have availed themselves to disengage their forces, and make good their retreat. As it was, Amman was not captured till half-past four in the afternoon, and the time spent in clearing up the town precluded any possibility of a further movement forward that night. The place had not fallen without a sharp fight, costing fairly heavy casualties, but, of the opposing forces, the Turks suffered far the more severely, and left 600 prisoners in our hands.
Covered by the good fighting of its rearguards, the Turkish IVth Army had now got some distance to the north of Amman. General Allenby, therefore, decided to leave it to the 4th Cavalry Division and the Arab Army, and directed General Chaytor to remain in the Amman area, and intercept the retreat of the enemy 2nd Corps from the Hedjaz.
Our aeroplanes had located this Corps on the evening of the 25th, some fifteen miles south of El Kastal, hurrying north along the railway. On the following morning, General Chaytor sent the 2nd A.L.H. Brigade southwards, to gain touch with the Turks, and to destroy as much of the railway as possible. Patrols from the 5th A.L.H. Regiment got as far as Ziza Station, about four miles south of El Kastal, where they blew up a portion of the line. The regiment remained at Ziza for the night, and the rest of the brigade took up a position across the railway, on some high ground north of Leben Station.
Now that Amman was in our hands, the only water available for the enemy, between El Kastal and Deraa Junction, was in the Wadi el Hammam, seven miles north of Amman. The enemy had dropped a rearguard here, from the IVth Army, to secure the water supply for his Hedjaz Force. The 1st A.L.H. Brigade was despatched on the 26th to dislodge this rearguard, and occupy the wadi. The brigade had a couple of brisk fights with the Turks, and drove them off, capturing about 400 prisoners and several guns, and then took up a line along the wadi, covering the water areas.
On the morning of the 27th, therefore, the 2ndA.L.H. Brigade was in position astride the Hedjaz Railway, north of Leben Station, with one regiment pushed out as far as Ziza; the 20th Indian Infantry Brigade was in Amman, with the New Zealand Brigade on the Darb el Haj, east of the town; and the 1st A.L.H. Brigade was along the Wadi el Hammam and at Kalaat el Zerka.
About half-past eight in the morning the head of the enemy corps was seen approaching Ziza. Prisoners, captured by the 5th A.L.H. Regiment during the night, had stated that the Turkish Force included the Maan garrison, and numbered about 8000 men. This information was subsequently found to have been exaggerated.
Though still retaining its cohesion, the enemy force was in a highly nervous state. During its retreat from Maan, which had been made by forced marches, it had been harried without cessation by the Sherifian camelry. Not strong enough to give battle to such a large Turkish force, the Arabs, mounted on fast trotting camels, had contented themselves with carrying out a series of raids, in which they had killed a considerable number of Turks, and captured about 300 prisoners and twenty-five guns. The tribes of the districts through which they passed flocked to the standard of King Hussein, moved partly by their hatred of the Turks, and, at least as much, by their desire for loot. Like the men of all semi-civilised races, the Arab prizes a good weapon above everything, and the news that German Mauser rifles were to be had in unlimited numbers at the expense of a few casualties, soon raised the whole country. Consequently, by the time the Turks reached El Kastal, they had, in their rear and on both flanks, a formidable force of Arab fighting men, grown bold by repeated minor successes.
Early in the afternoon of the 28th, General Chaytor summoned the Turkish force, by a message dropped from an aeroplane, to surrender by nine o'clock next morning. It was pointed out to the enemy commander, that all sources of water supply as far north as Deraa were in our hands, and he was promised a most unmerciful bombing unless he complied with the order.
No reply was received to this message till the following day, when a Turkish officer, with a small escort, succeeded in penetrating the fringe of blood-thirsty Arabs surrounding the force, and met Colonel Cameron, commanding the 5th A.L.H. Regiment, to whom he brought the surrender of the enemy commander with all his force. The Turkish General made the unusual request that his men might be allowed to retain their arms until they arrived at Amman, as he was convinced that the Arabs would attempt to rush in and murder the whole of his force if the arms were given up, and he was doubtful if the small British force on the spot could prevent this.
While this parley was proceeding, a deputation arrived from the Beni Sakhr Arabs, our quondam allies—and deserters—in the second trans-Jordan raid. These gentry now coolly demanded that the Turkish force should be handed over to them to 'protect,' as it was their right to deal with it. Misunderstanding their motives, Colonel Cameron assured them that the Turks would be well looked after by us, whereupon the sons of Ishmael became greatly excited, waved their weapons wildly, and uttered the most blood-curdling threats. Colonel Cameron temporised with them as best he could, and sent an urgent message to hurry up the other two regiments of the 2nd Brigade, which were marchingtowards Ziza. They arrived at five o'clock, and, as the Arabs were now openly hostile to us, the Turks were allowed to retain their arms. Under the supervision of our officers, they entrenched a line of outpost positions round the station, and these positions were then held by our men and their Turkish prisoners side by side! The Arabs made several attempts to rush the lines during the night, but were driven off by British and Turkish machine-gun and rifle fire. It would be interesting to know if there is any previous instance of prisoners of war assisting their captors to hold the latter's own allies at bay.
It is only fair to the forces of the Emir Feisal to say that the 'allies' whom we successfully held off through the night were none of his men. As soon as the enemy force had surrendered, the Arab regulars had hurried north to rejoin their comrades pressing after the IVth Turkish Army.
The New Zealand Brigade arrived at Ziza next day, and remained in charge of the station, to guard about 500 Turkish sick and wounded and a large amount of rolling stock and captured arms and ammunition, till the railway had been repaired. The Arabs, frustrated in their amiable designs on the Turkish prisoners, drew off disappointed, and followed their compatriots towards Damascus. The 2nd A.L.H. Brigade then escorted the prisoners, just over 4000 in number, to Amman, whence they were evacuated a few days later across the Jordan.
This ended the operations of Chaytor's Force, which remained about Amman and El Salt to rest and recuperate. Since the beginning of the operations the force had contributed to the bag about 11,000 prisoners, fifty-seven guns and 132 machine guns, besides large quantities of rolling stock, ammunition, and other stores.
In the last three weeks of September the Anzac Division had evacuated just over 3000 men from sickness alone. 2700 of these were cases of malignant malaria, a terrible scourge that was with us all through these operations. The long period spent in the Jordan Valley was no doubt responsible for this heavy sick rate. The division had lost a large number of men in the months preceding September, and it was now reduced to considerably less than half its war strength. Weak and reduced in numbers as they were, and suffering from the lassitude engendered by their prolonged stay in the valley, the Australians nevertheless acted throughout the operations with the greatest energy and determination, and set an unrivalled example of toughness and cheerfulness.
map
CHAPTER XIX
THE ADVANCE ON DAMASCUS
Asthe Turkish VIIth and VIIIth Armies and the 2nd Corps had now been entirely destroyed, and the IVth Army was in full retreat, the Commander-in-Chief determined to push on with his cavalry and seize Damascus.
Apart from the moral effect likely to be produced on the Turks by the capture of this city, its occupation by our troops was a necessary corollary to the co-operation of King Hussein with our army. Damascus is an Arab, and particularly a Bedouin, city. From the time of Mohammed, it has been the focus and centre of Arab political life, constantly both reinforced and kept at the same level of civilisation by intercourse with the tribes of the desert, till to-day they form four-fifths of the total population.
It is an open secret that General Allenby had been urged by the amateur strategists of Downing Street to make a cavalry raid on the city, supported by the forces of the Emir, but he had steadily refused to commit his cavalry to this hazardous enterprise until he had dealt with the Turkish Army. Now, however, the way was clear, and he determined to push on with all speed.
The advance was to be made in two columns. The Australian Mounted Division and the 5th Cavalry Division were ordered to marchviaNazareth and Tiberias, crossing the upper Jordan just south of Lake Huleh, and march up the Tiberias-Damascusroad, across the Hauran. The 4th Cavalry Division was to cross the Jordan at Jisr Mejamie, north of Beisan, and proceedviaIrbid and Deraa Junction, and thence up the Hedjaz Railway, joining hands with the Arab Army about Deraa.
In order to increase to the utmost the mobility of the troops, all transport, even to the regimental water-carts, was left behind. Only the guns and ammunition wagons and a few light motor ambulances per division accompanied the force. The arrangements as to food and forage carried on the man and horse were the same as in the 1917 campaign. When this two days' supply was exhausted, the cavalry were to live on the country. Later on, after the capture of Damascus, and when our line of communications had been organised, tea, milk, and sugar were sent up by lorry to Damascus, or by sea to Beirût and Tripoli, but, except for this, the Corps subsisted entirety on the local resources of the country from the 25th September till the administration of the conquered territory was finally handed over to the French more than a year later.
The orders for the advance were received on the 25th of September, but certain preliminary movements had taken place on the previous day. Thus the 7th Infantry Division arrived at Jenin on the 24th, preparatory to taking over Afule, Nazareth, and Haifa from the cavalry. The 4th A.L.H. Brigade, with one regiment of the 5th Brigade, left Afule on the evening of the same day to marchviaBeisan to the village of Semakh, at the southern end of the Sea of Galilee. The enemy had a small force here, engaged in evacuating the considerable quantities of stores at Deraa. These were sent by rail to Semakh, and thence by boat to Tiberias, where lorry columns awaited them, and shipped them onto Damascus along the Hauran road. The Central India Horse (10th Brigade), who had relieved the 19th Lancers at Jisr Mejamie on the 23rd, had reconnoitred the village on the following day, and found it strongly held. The 4th A.L.H. Brigade was ordered to capture the place, and then rejoin the Australian Division at Tiberias.
On the 25th of September the 4th Cavalry Division concentrated at Beisan, with the 10th Brigade at Jisr Mejamie. The Australian Mounted Division, less the 4th Brigade, left Afule early in the afternoon, and had concentrated at Kefr Kenna, some five miles east of Nazareth, about ten o'clock that night. A regiment of the 3rd A.L.H. Brigade, supported by two armoured cars, was sent ahead along the Tiberias road to reconnoitre the town. The 5th Cavalry Division, which was not relieved at Haifa by the infantry till early the next morning, left that place at once, and reached Kefr Kenna about five in the evening.
The 4th A.L.H. Brigade, having bivouacked at Jisr Mejamie on the night of the 24th, approached Semakh just at daylight on the following day. At half-past four the advance guard, consisting of the 11th Regiment and the brigade machine-gun squadron, came under heavy machine-gun and rifle fire from the railway station. Patrols from the regiment located the enemy holding an entrenched position south of the village (which lies on a bare, flat plain), with posts extending across this plain to the hills on either side.
General Grant decided to attack at once, and ordered the remainder of his brigade to close up. The machine guns and one squadron of the 11th Regiment at once came into action south of the town, and opened a hot fire on the enemy positions,particularly on a sort of fort that had been built by the Germans out of railway material. The other two squadrons of the 11th charged from the east, one on each side of the railway. The charge was driven home, over the enemy positions and into the village, where the Australians dismounted, and went in with the bayonet.
On the arrival of the rest of the brigade, the 4th Regiment was sent in mounted on the west. After charging into the town, these troops also dismounted, and continued the fight on foot.
The enemy, stiffened by the large number of German troops, resisted desperately, and some of the fiercest hand-to-hand fighting of the campaign took place in this village. We learnt afterwards that Liman von Sanders had paid a hurried visit to the place in a car, after flying from Nazareth, and had given orders that it was to be held to the last man, so as to clear the ammunition and stores from Deraa for the defence of Damascus.
Gradually the defenders were driven back through the narrow streets of the village, till only the railway 'fort' still held out. This was garrisoned chiefly by Germans, who had a number of machine guns covering all approaches. One of these guns was located in a railway culvert, and, as a troop of the 12th Regiment was working towards it, the crew suddenly stood up and held up their hands, shouting out: 'We surrender!' Being unaccustomed to the ways of the Hun, our men got up and walked towards the gun in the open. When they were about fifty yards away, the crew dropped to their knees, at a given signal, and opened a murderous fire on our men, killing or wounding nearly all of them. The few who escaped worked round to the other side of the railway, and, crawling through the culvert, fell uponthe treacherous crew from behind, and killed them all.
About the same time, another troop of the same regiment encountered a German machine gun in charge of an officer. As our men approached, the officer stood up and waved a white handkerchief, whereupon the subaltern in command of the troop went up to him unsuspectingly. When he was about two paces away, the German pulled out his automatic and deliberately shot the unfortunate officer dead.
These two pieces of treachery met with a just retribution. The enraged Australians stormed into the fort, deaf now to all offers of surrender, and bayoneted the defenders almost to a man. About 150 Germans and several hundred Turkish prisoners were taken in the action, and some 200 corpses, mostly those of Germans, were left on the position to be looted by the natives. None of our men would put spade to the ground to bury them.
Two motor boats were lying at the pier when our troops attacked. One of these succeeded in escaping to Tiberias, where it was abandoned by the crew, and burnt. The other was set on fire by Hotchkiss rifle fire, and blew up.
As soon as the action was over, a squadron from the brigade was sent forward along the lake road towards Tiberias. This squadron gained touch with the regiment of the Australian Division advancing from Nazareth, and the two detachments captured Tiberias, which was lightly held, before dark, with about 120 prisoners.
The operations now resolved themselves into a race for Damascus between our cavalry and the Turkish IVth Army. The country about ten miles south of Damascus is favourable for defence against a force advancing from that direction, and the enemycommand hoped, if the IVth Army could reach this position first, to be able to delay our troops long enough for help to arrive from Aleppo, and thus save Damascus.
The survivors of the German G.H.Q. troops and garrison of Nazareth had retired,viaTiberias, to the Jordan at Jisr Benat Yakub, just south of Lake Huleh. Crossing the river here, they blew up the bridge behind them, and took up a strong position on the east bank, overlooking the only known fords. They were joined, on the morning of the 26th, by a few hundred Turkish troops who had been hurriedly collected in Damascus, and sent down in motor lorries across the Hauran. If this force could hold the crossing for twenty-four hours, there was a chance of the Turks winning the race to Damascus.
The Australian Mounted Division left Kefr Kenna at midnight on the 25th, and, marching all night, reached the hill of Tel Madh, overlooking Tiberias, at dawn. Continuing the march, after a short halt to water and feed, the division arrived at El Mejdel, on the lake shore four miles north of Tiberias, in the early afternoon. In order to give time for the 5th Division to close up, and for the 4th A.L.H. Brigade to rejoin from Semakh, the Australians bivouacked here for the night. Patrols were sent forward as far as Jisr Benat Yakub, and the rest of the men spent the afternoon bathing in the lake.
Meanwhile, the 4th Cavalry Division, having crossed the Jordan at Jisr Mejamie, on the morning of the 26th, sent the 10th Brigade ahead as advance guard, with orders to push on towards Deraa as fast as the difficult nature of the ground would allow. The remainder of the division followed at a considerable distance.
nazareth
Nazareth, from the north.Note the Red Crescents on the roofs of the houses.
artillery
Horse Artillery entering Tiberias, on the race for Damascus.
After the fall of Amman, the enemy IVth Armyhad hurried northwards along the Hedjaz Railway, and, by the morning of the 26th, was passing through El Remte, with a strong flank guard thrown out to the west. Late in the afternoon the 10th Brigade located this flank guard holding a position astride the Beisan-Deraa road, along a ridge from Beit Ras, through Irbid, to Zebda. The country was very difficult and broken, and intersected with wadis.
A reconnaissance carried out by the 2nd Lancers, the vanguard regiment, indicated that Irbid was held in strength, while Beit Ras and Zebda were occupied to protect the central portion of the enemy position, and were not so strongly held. The Brigadier decided to encircle Irbid from both flanks. He directed the 2nd Lancers to work round to the north of the town, between it and Beit Ras, which latter place was apparently very lightly held, and the Central India Horse to seize Zebda, and then endeavour to get astride the Deraa road behind the enemy position. The Berks Battery R.H.A. came into action just off the road, some two miles west of Irbid, with the Dorset Yeomanry in reserve behind it.
The regiments moved off at once, and commenced to work round the enemy's flanks. Half an hour later, a squadron of the 2nd Lancers attempted to charge the Irbid position from the north-west. Night was approaching, and the officer in command doubtless considered himself justified in taking the risk of a charge, in the hope of breaking the Turks' resistance before the coming of darkness enabled them to retire. But the horses were very tired, the country was broken and stony, and no previous reconnaissance of the ground was possible. The charge was met by the enemy with very heavy machine-gun fire, and was brought to a stop. The squadron sufferedseverely, two troops being practically wiped out before it reached cover again.
The Turks at Irbid had been retreating rapidly for three days, harassed by the Arabs, and theirmoralewas not high. But they had not, as yet, suffered any severe defeat, and they were in considerably better case than the miserable remnants of the VIIth and VIIIth Armies, with which our cavalry had been engaged since the 20th of September. This fact would seem to have been overlooked by the 2nd Lancers. Moreover the enemy was in considerable strength. Natives reported on the following day that there had been not less than 5000 Turks at Irbid. This was manifestly an exaggeration, but the mere mention of such a number indicated that there had been, at any rate, a large body of them there. The failure of the charge taught a lesson that is liable to be forgotten by cavalry when pursuing a broken and demoralised foe; namely, that, for a small body of horse to charge an enemy force of unknown strength, without previous reconnaissance of the ground, and without any fire support, is to court disaster.
The rest of the regiment continued to work gradually round the enemy's right flank. Nightfall found them some distance to the north-east of the village, where they put out pickets and remained during the night.
Meanwhile the Central India Horse, advancing more warily, occupied Zebda, after some sharp fighting, and then attempted to penetrate Irbid dismounted from the south-west. The attack was driven back by the enemy with some loss, and the regiment took up a position south of the village, and engaged the Turks with machine-gun and rifle fire. One squadron continued to work eastwards, and, by the time darkness descended, had nearly reachedthe Deraa road. This squadron formed a defensive post near the road, and stood to till daylight.
The 12th Brigade spent the night at El Shuni, on the Wadi el Arab, six miles east of the Jordan, and the rest of the division at Jisr Mejamie.
From the summit of the ridge near Beit Ras, just before sunset, our troops had seen the Arab Army, twenty miles away, on the far side of Deraa. After their raids on the railway at this place, between the 16th and 18th of September, the Arabs had moved east into the wild fastnesses of the Hauran. From here they had made several raids on the IVth Army, harassing the Turks' right flank, and forcing them to abandon much of their transport and artillery. On the day and night of the 26th, the Arab camelry, led by Lawrence, pushed rapidly northwards, cutting the railway at Ghazale and Ezra, ten and twenty miles north of Deraa, and reached Sheikh Saad, fifteen miles west of Ezra, on the morning of the 27th. Here they engaged and defeated an advanced detachment of the IVth Army, capturing 500 Turks and a number of German officers, and then entrenched themselves astride the Damascus road to await the coming of the remainder of the army.
At daylight on the 27th, Irbid was found to have been evacuated during the night. The 10th Brigade at once pushed on towards El Remte, with the Dorset Yeomanry as advance guard. At half-past ten, patrols from this regiment encountered the enemy in position astride the road, just west of El Remte. The position was not so strong as that at Irbid, and the country was more open.
A quarter of an hour later, the Dorsets reported the enemy to be retiring from the position to the south-east. The Brigadier directed the regiment to occupy the ridges on the left bank of the WadiRatam, overlooking the village from the south-west, and to make a demonstration against the enemy, in order to cover the assembly of the remainder of the brigade, which was to advance under cover of the high ground immediately north of El Remte, and cut off the enemy's retreat to Deraa. The Berks Battery came into action west of the village, to support this move, and to take advantage of such targets as offered.
While these movements were taking place, the Yeomanry were heavily counter-attacked by the enemy troops that they had supposed to be retiring. The attack was pressed vigorously, and the Dorsets were forced back some distance. A signal message was sent to brigade headquarters asking for assistance, but, before the message could be acted upon, Lieutenant Mason, skilfully withdrawing his squadron in the advanced firing line, mounted it, and charged the counter-attack. The Turks were utterly surprised by this sudden charge. A number of them were killed with the sword, and the rest driven back in confusion into the village. The Dorsets then continued to work round to the south, but were held up shortly afterwards by heavy machine-gun fire from a fortified stone house.
Just at this moment, a body of enemy cavalry was observed galloping away from the village to the east. The Yeomanry were unable to pursue them, but they were effectively shelled by the Berks Battery, and dispersed.
The Central India Horse had by now reached a point north-east of the village, from where they espied the Turkish infantry retiring in some disorder. Charging instantly, they went through the Turks, killing many with the lance, and rounding up 200 prisoners. This charge completed the rout ofthe enemy force, the survivors of which scattered in all directions.
The 10th Brigade now received orders to await the arrival of the rest of the division at El Remte. The 12th Brigade came up about half-past five in the evening, and the 11th some two hours later. Patrols from the 2nd Lancers, on outpost duty, gained touch with the Arab Army during the night.
At dawn on the 28th, the brigade moved out to the hills east of El Remte to cover the assembly of the division, which then marched to Deraa. The advanced troops reached the town at seven in the morning, and were met by Lawrence and Sherif Nasir. The Arab troops had arrived there about midnight, and found the place evacuated and in flames. They at once sent mounted scouts to the north, who located the main body of the enemy forces retiring towards Mezerib, ten miles north-west of Deraa. The road from Mezerib to Damascus runs through Sheikh Saad, where Lawrence's camel corps was lying in wait for them.
CHAPTER XX
THE ADVANCE ON DAMASCUS (Continued)
Whilethe 4th Cavalry Division was treading on the heels of the enemy east of the Jordan, the Australians had not been idle. Leaving El Mejdel soon after daylight on the 27th, they reached the Jordan at Jisr Benat Yakub about mid-day. The news that the bridge had been destroyed, and that the crossing was held by the enemy, had been brought back by the patrols that had reconnoitred as far as the river the night before.
The division had no easy task before it. Napoleon rated the forcing of a river crossing as one of the most difficult operations in war. In this case the difficulties were increased by several factors. West of the river the ground sloped gently upwards for about 3000 yards, in a wide expanse of plough and grass land, unbroken by a single tree or bush. On the east the ground was much steeper, thus giving good command of the river, and was thickly covered with scrub and innumerable big boulders, which afforded excellent protection to the enemy. The river was deep and very swift, and the only known ford, some few hundred yards south of the bridge, was commanded by the fire of numbers of enemy machine guns. The only cover on the west bank was afforded by a small group of buildings close to the bridge, and by the insignificant ruins of the castle of BaldwinII.(Kusr Atra), a few hundred yards farther down stream.
A local native stated that he thought the south end of Lake Huleh was shallow enough to be waded by mounted men, and it was accordingly decided to send the 3rd Brigade, by a long detour, to attempt a passage here. To the French troops was assigned the task of endeavouring to reach the buildings at the west end of the bridge, from where they could engage the enemy with rifle and machine-gun fire, and, possibly, force a passage over the river. The remainder of the 5th Brigade was to reconnoitre for a ford farther south, and, if successful in finding one, to cross the river, and get astride the enemy's line of retreat. One regiment of the 4th Brigade, which had rejoined the division at El Mejdel, accompanied the 5th Brigade. The rest of the 4th did not arrive till the evening.
While the two brigades were moving to the north and south, the two batteries of the division, in action due west of the bridge, amused themselves by knocking out the enemy guns. Having silenced these, they turned their attention to a column of motor lorries that had brought some of the Turks from Damascus, and were now waiting to take the Germans back again, when they judged it expedient to retire, and leave their allies to be captured. Two of the lorries were knocked out, and the remainder chased out of range. Our guns were then occupied with the more serious business of registering such of the enemy machine guns as had been located.
While thus engaged, the two batteries received orders to report to the 3rd and 5th Brigades respectively. Following instructions from the brigadiers concerned, they limbered up, and moved off to accompany the brigades moving north and south. Owing to the difficulties of the country over which they had to move, and the long distance they wererequired to go, it was nearly two hours before they were in action again.
The French regiment, moving over the open, dismounted and widely extended, reached the buildings with some loss, but was unable to attempt the ford, in face of the very heavy fire from the east bank. No artillery support was available, as our batteries were on the move.
The 3rd Brigade scouts found Lake Huleh quite unfordable, but one regiment succeeded in working its way dismounted down to the river bank south of the lake. It came under very heavy fire here—indeed the water in the river was bubbling with machine-gun bullets—but the men gradually worked south by twos and threes, towards what looked like a possible crossing just north of the bridge.
Meanwhile the regiments with the 5th Brigade, after riding for two miles south of the bridge, without finding any sign of a ford, waded boldly into the river at a likely looking place, and succeeded in struggling across. Arrived on the other side, they found themselves involved in a perfect maze of precipitous wadis running in every direction, in a formation of old lava, broken into huge, jagged boulders. They wandered about in this wilderness for the rest of the afternoon and evening, and only gained the Damascus road after dark, too late to intercept the retiring enemy. The threat to their communications, however, had had its invariable effect on the Turks, and, as soon as darkness fell, they retreated hurriedly. All the Germans, and as many Turks as could find room, piled themselves on to the lorries. The rest of the Turks had to walk.