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diff --git a/old/64455-0.txt b/old/64455-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 877875e..0000000 --- a/old/64455-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5799 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Australia in Palestine, by Various - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Australia in Palestine - -Author: Various - -Editor: Henry Somer Gullett - Charles Barrett - David Crothers Barker - -Release Date: February 05, 2021 [eBook #64455] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Richard Tonsing, MFR, and the Online Distributed Proofreading - Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from - images generously made available by The Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AUSTRALIA IN PALESTINE *** - - - - - AUSTRALIA IN PALESTINE - - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration: - - GENERAL SIR EDMUND H. ALLENBY, G.C.B., G.C.M.G. -] - - - - - AUSTRALIA - IN PALESTINE - - -[Illustration] - - SYDNEY - ANGUS & ROBERTSON LTD. - 89 CASTLEREAGH STREET - 1919 - - _Nineteenth Thousand_ - - - - - Printed by - W. C. Penfold & Co. Ltd., 183 Pitt Street, Sydney - London Agents: The Oxford University Press - - - - - TO THE MEMORY - OF - FALLEN COMRADES - -[Illustration] - - - - - Editors’ Note - - -This book owes its publication to the warm interest taken in its -initiation by a Committee comprised of the G.O.C., A.I.F., in Egypt; the -G.O’s.C. Anzac and Australian Mounted Divisions and Brigades, and a -number of other senior A.I.F. officers; and, later, to the generosity of -the many contributors of paintings, sketches, photographs, verse and -prose. - -“Australia in Palestine” is in no sense intended as a complete picture -of the Australians’ part in the Great Campaign. It is merely a Soldiers’ -Book, produced almost entirely by soldiers in the field under active -service conditions to send to their friends in Australia and abroad. An -edition has also been published for sale to the general public, and any -profits derived from it will go to one of the A.I.F. funds. - -Thanks are due to our many contributors, and in particular to Mr. James -McBey, the Official British Artist in Palestine, for his fine portrait -of General Allenby (specially drawn for this book) and other sketches; -to Captain Hodgkinson, British Press Officer, for permission to use many -British official photographs; to Mr. Jeapes, British Official Cinema -Photographer, for the loan of many snapshots; and to Sergeant E. A. -Hodda, A.I.F., who took charge of the business arrangements, and to -whose keen interest and ability our obligation is substantial. - -We have also to thank Major N. D. Barton, 7th A.L.H. Regiment, and -Messrs. H. M. Somer and Sydney Ure Smith for the valuable assistance -they have given as Committee of Publication in Australia. - - H. S. GULLETT } Editors. - CHAS. BARRETT } - - DAVID BARKER, Art Editor. - -[Illustration] - - - - - CONTENTS - - - Page - Preface (Lieut.-Gen. Sir H. G. Chauvel) xiii. - - Fighting for Palestine (H. S. Gullett) 1 - - Anthem Bells (“Gerardy”) 60 - - Palestine Poppies (Charles Barrett) 61 - - Farming in Arcady (H. S. G.) 64 - - Standing To (Brentomman) 69 - - A Waler’s Story (E. L. D. Husband) 71 - - The Horses Stay Behind (“Trooper Bluegum”) 78 - - One Too Many (“Anon”) 79 - - The Light That Failed (“Sarg”) 83 - - A Night March (“Aram”) 87 - - A Gloomy Outlook (“Aram”) 90 - - Reconciliation (“Gerardy”) 91 - - Mail Day (“Wil Cox”) 92 - - A Day Over The Lines (H. Bowden Fletcher) 94 - - Mounts and Remounts (“Acrabah”) 99 - - Concerning Medical Blokes (“Larrie”) 102 - - The Signal Service (“Ack-Vic-Ack”) 109 - - Battle Song (“Gerardy”) 114 - - The Little Bint of Wady Hanein (“Camp Follower”) 115 - - Algy, Misfit (“Billzac”) 121 - - Palestine (“Trooper Bluegum”) 123 - - The Camel Brigade (“Trooper Bluegum”) 125 - - Resting (“Tralas”) 132 - - The Mukhtar’s Goats (“2469”) 137 - - The Batman (W. M. W.) 139 - - Damascus (H. W. D.) 140 - - Malaria (“Koolawarra”) 144 - - Fall Out The 1914 Men (“Bataggi”) 145 - - Old Horse o’ Mine (T. V. B.) 149 - - Concerning Machine Guns (“Sarg”) 150 - - Delivered! (“Gerardy”) 153 - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration] - - - - - ILLUSTRATIONS - - - COLOUR PLATES - - Page - General Sir Edmund H. H. Allenby, G.C.B., G.C.M.G. iii. - - Jerusalem, from below the Mount of Olives 4 - - Romani. Mount Royston in the distance 14 - - Magdhaba, showing the Wady Bed about one mile from Turkish - buildings 26 - - The Road to Jericho 38 - - The Dead Sea (Sunrise) 42 - - Australians on the Road to Jerusalem 30 - - An Australian Flying Squadron in Palestine 50 - - Jaffa 54 - - Australians prior to the fight for Nalin 54 - - Anzac Ridge, Gaza 56 - - National Types 70 - - Evening amongst the Judean Hills 78 - - A Camp in the Desert 78 - - Got Him Cold 94 - - The End of the Scrap 96 - - Convalescent 106 - - A Signal Office in the Field 110 - - Some Souvenir 124 - - Buying Oranges, Jaffa 138 - - - PHOTOGRAPHS, Etc. - - Lieut.-General Sir H. G. Chauvel, K.C.B., K.C.M.G. xv. - - Jaffa 4 - - Map of Ottoman Empire 6–7 - - A Brief Halt Richly Earned 9 - - Jerusalem from the Air 9 - - Damascus from the Air 10 - - 3rd L.H. Camp at Belah 10 - - In a Village Street 14 - - Map of Northern Sinai 18–19 - - Turks marching out of Jerusalem (1914) 23 - - Gaza 23 - - The Mount of Temptation 24 - - All the World Over 24 - - Turkish Prisoners at Beersheba 29 - - Street Market, Jerusalem 29 - - Jericho, showing garden oasis 29 - - Light Horse crossing Jordan 29 - - In the Jordan Valley 30 - - Spring Water, Clear and Cold 30 - - Map of Palestine 34–35 - - Ismailia 38 - - In the Jordan Valley 41 - - Shopping in Jericho 41 - - “Baksheesh” 42 - - A Meal outside the Bivvies 42 - - Scotties on a Route March 42 - - Major-Gen. Chaytor receives Arab Chiefs 46 - - Jerusalem 46 - - Map of Syria 48–49 - - Orange Seller, Jaffa 53 - - In the Shade 53 - - The Village Well 54 - - Native Plough and Team 54 - - Harvest Time 65 - - Ploughing as of Old 65 - - Native Stock 65 - - The Franciscan Monastery 66 - - Lake of Tiberias 66 - - Outposts 70 - - Jordan Valley Dust 70 - - 5th L.H. Brigade entering Nablus 73 - - Watering Horses, Es Salt 73 - - Horses Thirsty 74 - - Light Horsemen in Judean Hills 74 - - Wady Nimrin 81 - - Arab Agents 81 - - German Prisoners in Jericho 81 - - Meal Time 82 - - “She’s Boiling” 82 - - Defences in the Ghoraniyeh Bridgehead 85 - - The Brickmaker 85 - - A Typical Arab Village 86 - - 4th L.H. Brigade Watering Horses 86 - - Roman Fort, Jericho 88 - - Horses under cover 89 - - A.L. Horse in Camp 89 - - 2nd L.H. marching through Khan Yunis 89 - - Turkish Prisoners at Es Salt 97 - - Jericho 97 - - Nazareth from the Air 98 - - “A Light Horse Type” 101 - - Mounting First Guard in Jericho 107 - - Halt and Rest 107 - - Church and Tomb of the Virgin 108 - - Jaffa Gate, Jerusalem 108 - - Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem 108 - - Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem 108 - - Brig.-General Ryrie inspects the “Bully” 119 - - Brig.-General Cox on River Jordan 119 - - A Wallad of Palestine 120 - - “Tower of the Forty” 123 - - Mosque of Omar 124 - - The Midday Halt 126 - - Brig.-General C. L. Smith, V.C., M.C. 127 - - Our Water Supply 127 - - Watering Time, Camel Brigade 129 - - “Prepare to Mount” 129 - - Camels bearing Supplies on the Philistine Plain 131 - - Bedouins Captured at Hassaniya 133 - - Street Market, Jerusalem 133 - - Bedouin Village 134 - - Turkish Prisoners, Nablus 134 - - Mrs. Chisholm’s Canteen at Kantara 146 - - Bethlehem 147 - - Troopers entering Jericho 148 - - Damascus 148 - - Finish 154 - - - - - Preface - - -“Australia in Palestine” should prove of great interest to the people of -Australia, and especially to those whose lives have been spent outside -the great cities, for it includes a record of the achievements of their -“very own”—the horsemen of Australia, and of the Flying Corps and the -Anzac Section of the Imperial Camel Corps, which were recruited from -them, and co-operated with them in the greatest war yet known to -history. - -The Australian Light Horseman—and under this name I include the Field -and Signal Engineers and Medical Services connected with him, who come -from the same stock—is of a type peculiarly his own and has no -counterpart that I know of except in his New Zealand brother. His -fearlessness, initiative and endurance, and his adaptability to almost -any task, are due to the adventurous life he leads in his own country, -where he has been accustomed to long hours in the saddle, day and night, -and to facing danger of all sorts from his earliest youth. Perhaps these -qualities are inherited from his pioneer parents. His invariable good -humour under the most adverse conditions comes from the good-fellowship -and camaraderie which exists in the free and open life of the Australian -Bush. His chivalry comes from the same source, and it is one of his -strongest points. In other words, the life he has been accustomed to -lead has fitted him to become, with training and discipline, second to -no cavalry soldier in the world. - -As far as Australia is concerned, the Palestine Campaign may be said to -have commenced with the crossing of the Suez Canal by the Anzac Mounted -Division at Kantara on the 23rd April, 1916, to re-occupy Romani and the -western end of the Katia Oasis Area. The mounted troops of Australia and -New Zealand had already proved their extraordinary adaptability to -circumstances as infantrymen in the hard school of Gallipoli, but it yet -remained for them to show their value as cavalry. The occupation of -Romani was followed by long and trying marches in the Desert of Sinai, -during the hottest summer known in Egypt for many years, after an -elusive enemy who did not appear in any force until July, 1916, when he -advanced on Romani preparatory to his second attack on the Suez Canal. -The disastrous defeat inflicted on the Turkish arms at Romani, and the -pursuit which followed, not only demonstrated the inestimable value of -the horsemen of Australasia as cavalrymen, but opened the way for the -advance to the Eastern Frontier of Egypt which ended the enemy’s menace -to Egypt. The systematic advance of the British Force from Romani to the -Egyptian Border was covered by Australian and New Zealand horsemen, -British Yeomanry and the Imperial Camel Corps, ably assisted by the -reconnaissance of the R.F.C. and Australian Flying Corps. The victories -of Magdhaba and Rafa completely cleared the enemy from Egyptian -territory and opened the way for our advance into Palestine. The -operations which began with the capture of Beersheba and concluded with -the capture of Damascus and Aleppo, and eventually led to the complete -surrender of the Turkish Forces, are dealt with in this volume, and I -will say no more of them than that the brilliant part in those -operations played by the Australian and New Zealand mounted troops has -more than upheld the reputation they established on the battlefield of -Romani. - -The splendid record of the 1st Squadron of the Australian Flying Corps -speaks for itself. It was formed in Egypt and has grown with the -campaign to a state of efficiency which places it second to none of the -same arm. - -The casualties in action in this campaign have been light compared with -the results achieved. In a very large measure this was due to the dash -of the troops, which saved heavy losses on many occasions; but many -brave fellows have given their lives through diseases contracted in -areas which the exigencies of the service required to be occupied and -fought in. - -Before concluding, I would like to say a word for the Medical Services, -which have endured the same hardships as the combatant arms, and always -performed their duties cheerfully and efficiently under the most adverse -conditions. - -[Illustration: H.G. Chauvel.] - -[Illustration: - - LIEUT.-GENERAL SIR H. G. CHAUVEL, K.C.B., K.C.M.G. -] - - - - - Fighting for Palestine - - Three Years’ Campaigning - - -If the Turks had not aspired to the capture of the Suez Canal, and the -reconquest of Egypt, they might still have been in quiet possession of -the whole of Palestine. This campaign, so rich in brilliant exploits and -so appealing to the imagination of the people of the world’s three -greatest religions, was the direct result of Turkish aggression. -Prompted by Germany, the Turk had, early in 1915, penetrated Central -Sinai and, moving down the ancient route of the Wady Muksheib, attempted -with a very inadequate force to cross and hold the Canal. He was easily -driven off by a British force, which included a few Australian units. -That was before our attack upon Gallipoli. It was not until the -following year, when the heroic failure on the Peninsula had removed the -menace to the heart of his Empire at Constantinople, that the enemy was -able to attack Egypt with an army that gave him any promise of success. - - - AROUND ROMANI - -Soon after the return of the Australians from Gallipoli, in 1916, at a -time when the future of the Light Horse, which had fought as infantry at -Anzac, was in considerable doubt, the Turk appeared in strength in -northern Sinai. Thirty or forty miles across the desert from Port Said, -there is a widely-scattered area marked here and there by hods, or -little palm groves, which tell of the presence of water at shallow -depth. The Romani area, as it is generally called, has always been of -prime importance to the armies which, since the dawn of history, have -marched east and west across the Sinai Desert between Egypt and Syria -and Persia, and lands even further afield. Napoleon rested there before -that precarious leap at El Arish which nearly cost him his army. Ancient -invaders of Egypt always refreshed their thirsty and desert-worn troops -around Romani before sweeping down upon the rich prize of the Nile -Delta. - -In 1916 the Turks began their forward operations by a raid in great -strength, which beat down the resistance of Yeomanry posts at Katia and -Oghratina. At that time, the organization and training of the Anzac -Mounted Division was being completed at Salhia, west of the Canal. The -2nd Brigade, under Brigadier-General Ryrie, was immediately rushed out -to Romani, where it was found that the enemy had temporarily withdrawn -further east. - - - THE TURKISH ADVANCE - -Steps were taken at once by the British Command to make the Romani area -secure. The remainder of the Anzac Mounted Division, commanded by -Major-General Chauvel, went out in support of the 2nd Brigade; British -infantry followed. The railway was pushed vigorously forward. The 1st -and 2nd Light Horse Brigades, with their camp at Romani, were engaged in -ceaseless reconnaissance in force. Taking the task alternately in -24–hour shifts, they kept substantial touch with the enemy, who was all -the while adding to his numbers, bringing up guns over the desert from -El Arish, and pressing steadily onward. By the beginning of August a -line of infantry strong posts extended at a right angle towards the -north from the sea, covering Romani to the east. There we were -invincible; so the Turk, moving swiftly and in strength, to the number -of about 18,000, on the night of 3rd August attempted a great flanking -movement past the south-western flank of the infantry line. His scheme -was to drive in behind the infantry and Romani, cut our railway and -other communications with the Canal, and envelop our entire forward -force. Anticipating this move, however, General Chauvel had that night -placed the 1st Light Horse Brigade, under the temporary command of -Brigadier-General Meredith (General Cox being absent on sick leave in -England), on a line of outposts joining up with the desert end of the -infantry line, and thence swinging towards the Canal at a right angle. -This disposition completely frustrated the enemy, and won us the battle -of Romani. - - - FIGHTING IN THE DARK - -The Turkish vanguard reached the Light Horse posts soon after midnight -and attacked immediately. For hours an extraordinary hand-to-hand fight -was waged in the dark among the sand dunes. The Light Horse line, ten -times outnumbered, was pressed steadily back, but maintained an unbroken -front to the enemy host. Soon after dawn the 2nd Light Horse Brigade, -temporarily commanded by Brigadier-General Royston, a South African -veteran (General Ryrie being absent on leave in England), was galloped -forward in support and, dismounting, carried on the fight while the -Regiments of the 1st Brigade passed through them to the rear for a brief -breathing-space. All that day, the 4th August, the Turks gained ground -on this flank, and at the same time kept our infantry in their posts by -heavy shelling and a demonstration in strength from the east. A small -number of infantry available was put in to support the Light Horse line, -which, by nightfall, had been pushed back so close to the camp that some -units were served with tea by the regimental cooks as they fought. But -the end was now in sight. The New Zealand Mounted Rifle Brigade, and a -Brigade of Yeomanry, both under Brigadier-General Chaytor, supported by -a British infantry force, came swiftly down on the Turkish left flank, -which was high in the air. By nightfall we knew that the battle of -Romani was ours. At dawn next morning there was a slashing general -attack with the bayonet. The enemy’s line broke, his retreat became a -rout, and only the physical impossibility of getting speed out of our -horses, many of which had been without water for nearly fifty hours, -saved the whole Turkish army from destruction. The horses, burdened with -an average load of 240 to 250 lbs., and often up to 280 lbs., laboured -gallantly, but slowly, over the deep, hot sand. - - - KATIA - -[Illustration] - -Many thousands of prisoners, several guns, great quantities of munitions -and other material were captured; but it was not until the retreating -Turk had reached the large palm area around Katia, six miles away, and -had been able to re-form his firing line in a reserve position there, -that we were able to collect our scattered Brigades and give him fresh -battle. The fight at Katia was drawn. On our side it was marked by a -stirring charge of the 1st and 2nd Light Horse Brigades and the New -Zealand Mounted Brigade, in an unbroken line across the sands. In the -preceding weeks the horses had frequently been watered in the hod at -Katia, and this, doubtless, contributed to the spirit they displayed in -the charge. The three Brigades, however, which had the support of a -Brigade of Yeomanry, were compelled by heavy fire from the enemy -batteries to dismount and fight on foot. The 3rd Light Horse Brigade, -under Brigadier-General Antill, which had undertaken a wide flanking -movement on the south, was held up by the enemy in Hamisah, where, in a -brilliant little engagement, they smashed the Turk and took 440 -prisoners, with a trifling loss on our side. The delay, unfortunately, -kept the 3rd Brigade off the Turkish left flank at Katia, and enabled -him stoutly to resist the frontal assault of the Australians and New -Zealanders. Towards nightfall the engagement was reluctantly broken off. - - - BIR EL ABD - -Touch was maintained with the retreating Turks, and, a few days later, -the same Brigades again engaged them at Bir el Abd, some fifteen miles -further east. Once more a gallant dismounted frontal attack was made by -our forces, but again the 3rd Brigade on the flank was obstructed, and -its enveloping mission frustrated. In the main fight, which was much -hotter than that at Katia, our men pressed in close with the rifle. The -Turk was strongly supported by guns and machine guns in a very -advantageous defensive position, and the Australians and New Zealanders -were unable to reach him with the bayonet. The engagement was marked by -many splendid acts of heroism and self-sacrifice, but it was doomed to -be indecisive. The Turks evacuated the position the following day and -were pursued to the edge of the oasis area, withdrawing with the remnant -of their shattered Romani army to the neighbourhood of El Arish, fifty -miles away. - -After the fight at Bir el Abd there was ceaseless heavy reconnaissance -and patrol work for the Light Horse, as the railroad, and with it the -full strength of what was now an established British army of invasion, -moved slowly, though inexorably, across the desert. On 21st December the -Light Horse and Imperial Camel Corps entered El Arish and received a -demonstrative greeting from the Arabs of that old village. - - - ON THE FLANK - -During these Romani operations, fraught with so much significance for -Palestine and Egypt, the extreme right of the British line was entrusted -to Colonel C. L. Smith, V.C., M.C., afterwards Commander of the Camel -Brigade, who had under him a composite force made up of the 11th Light -Horse Regiment, from Queensland, a London Regiment of Yeomanry and four -companies of “Camels,” drawn from Australia, Scotland and Wales—a truly -Imperial lot. A Turkish force, reported to be three thousand strong, was -moving down from Magara in a south-westerly direction, with the -intention of cutting in between Romani and the Canal. This estimate of -enemy strength proved to be exaggerated, but our column had some sharp -little fights against superior odds, and its work was warmly commended -by the Commander-in-Chief. At Awedia the Camel companies went into -action for the first time since their hurried formation; but as most of -the Australians were old Light Horse and infantry veterans from -Gallipoli, they were not strange to fire, and, like the remainder of the -Australians fighting at Romani, they rejoiced in open warfare after the -confined trench work of the Peninsula. A day or two later, the column -fought sharply at Hilu and Baud, each time mauling the enemy severely -and contributing substantially to the general disaster in store for the -Turks. - -[Illustration: - - JERUSALEM, FROM BELOW THE MOUNT OF OLIVES - - _By Lieut. G. W. Lambert_ -] - -[Illustration: Jaffa] - - - MAGDHABA - -On the night of the 22nd December, the Anzac Mounted Division, made up -of the 1st and 3rd Light Horse Brigades, commanded by Generals Cox and -Royston, the New Zealand Brigade (General Chaytor), and the Imperial -Camel Brigade (General Smith, V.C.) which included a majority of -Australians, moved upon the Turkish post at Magdhaba, twenty-three miles -away up the Wady El Arish. Again marching all night, they came at dawn -within striking distance of the garrison settlement. Deploying swiftly, -they soon had Magdhaba surrounded, and, galloping in as close as the -Turkish fire, which came in strength from a number of well-concealed -entrenched positions, permitted, dismounted and pressed forward in troop -rushes with the bayonet. - -The chief trouble for the Anzac Mounted Division at Magdhaba was the -supply of water for the horses. If the Turks could not be smothered by -nightfall, a withdrawal was imperative, for it was impossible to -contemplate another day’s fighting with the horses still thirsty. In a -country like this, where all the chargers are brought from far overseas, -horseflesh must not be lightly thrown away. The struggle for Magdhaba -was, therefore, as at Rafa a fortnight later, a struggle against time, a -gamble against daylight. The Division, with the Imperial Camel Corps, -fighting still under the able command of Major-General Chauvel, scored -just on the call of time. As the day was closing vital Turkish strong -posts fell almost simultaneously to our assaulting units on three sides -of the settlement. In a wild rush the encircling troops overwhelmed the -Turks, and met—with an extraordinary mingling of units coming in from -every point—in the centre of the ring of battle. The survivors of the -Turkish garrison, some 1250 officers and men, were made prisoners. Our -total casualties were fewer than 150. Darkness fell swiftly, and, in the -early hours of the night, there was an amazing scene as the prisoners -were collected, and officers and men sought their units and searched for -their led horses. Before midnight the Division was re-formed and, with -the exception of a few squadrons left to clear the battle-ground and -escort the wounded, our victorious little force was riding—for the -second night in succession—back to water and rest at El Arish. As they -tracked along in the darkness there were whole squadrons with not a man -awake—a strange Christmas Eve! - -[Illustration: OUTLINE MAP OF OTTOMAN EMPIRE AND ADJOINING COUNTRIES] - - - RAFA - -Next came Rafa. On the evening of 8th January the Anzac Mounted -Division, made up of the Brigades which had fought a few days before at -Magdhaba, strengthened by the Camel Brigade and a Brigade of Yeomanry, -cleared camp near El Arish and, riding all night, appeared before Rafa -at dawn. The Turks held a strongly entrenched position consisting of -three main systems of redoubts with many outlying rifle-pits on high -ground, culminating in a knoll. On this knoll was a solitary tree, -visible for many miles; and this, roughly speaking, was our objective. -As at Magdhaba, the enemy was rapidly surrounded by Brigades moving at -the trot and the gallop. Then the horses were raced back to places of -safety, and the circle closed in on foot. The ground was more open than -at Magdhaba, and our advance lay up long, bare slopes, swept by enemy -fire. All day the cordon drew closer. Again, until the last moment, -there was uncertainty as to whether the Turk could be smashed before -nightfall. Again our horses were without water. And again victory came -at sundown; this time after a series of long, sustained charges with -fixed bayonets in the face of expert Turkish riflemen and German machine -gunners, shooting at their best over specially prepared zones of fire. -Rafa was a grim, deadly fight, waged up to the moment when our -exhausted, but still excited, troopers jumped down on the Turks in their -trenches. - -That spirit of mercy which has distinguished so many Australian fights -was shown here at its best. The Turks, who had shot at our men -mercilessly and effectively until they charged home into the very -trenches, then dropped their rifles and held out their hands—to have -them warmly shaken by Australians! Such incidents, occurring frequently -as they have in this campaign, may not be according to the rules of war, -and the psychology disclosed may be difficult to follow; but the -recollection of them, while it always moves our men who were concerned -to shamefaced laughter, must clearly be a source of lasting -gratification. At Rafa, practically every Turk who survived was made a -prisoner, and we also secured many guns and much war material. Even in -more marked degree than Magdhaba was Rafa placed to our credit at the -eleventh hour, for not only was our force threatened by the lack of -water and the approach of darkness, but heavy enemy reinforcements were -rapidly approaching. - -[Illustration: - - A BRIEF HALT RICHLY EARNED -] - -[Illustration: - - JERUSALEM FROM THE AIR -] - -[Illustration: - - DAMASCUS FROM THE AIR -] - -[Illustration: - - 3rd L.H. CAMP AT BELAH, A FAVOURITE RESTING GROUND BY THE SEA SOUTH OF - GAZA -] - -This marked the passing of the desert. On the evening of the night march -which brought us close to Rafa, our troops were still in the waste in -which they had spent nearly a year without a glimpse of civilization or -verdure. Travelling all night through the heavy sand, they came, just -before dawn, on sounder going for their horses, and daylight showed them -a wide, rolling landscape, gay with brilliant winter flowers—the fringe -of Palestine. - - - DESERT ADVENTURES - -No survey, however incomplete, of this fine campaign should fail to -mention the countless little desert expeditions in Western and Central -Sinai, in the early days of the fighting. These had various purposes. -Sometimes they were political, but more than once they led to sharp -fighting. The first time Australians were actually engaged east of the -Canal was when the 9th Light Horse Regiment (chiefly South Australians, -with a few Victorians), by a long night march and clever manœuvre, -swooped down and bagged the Turkish outpost garrison at Jifjafa. Then -there was a fine dash by the 11th Light Horse Regiment to Nekhl, the -British pre-war administrative centre in Sinai. Later, two interesting -expeditions were made up the Wady Muksheib, the ancient and central -route across Sinai by which the Turks came in their feeble attack on the -Canal, early in 1915. The drawback of that route was the shortage of -water, and along the Wady bed some ancient power had excavated huge -cisterns which filled during the rains. These cisterns are still intact. -Once, the Light Horsemen pumped them out, and so closed the route for -that season to the Turks; going out again, they sealed and covered them -so as to make their rediscovery by the enemy very difficult. - -Australian units from the Camel Brigade more than once rode across the -desert to Akaba, at the head of the Persian Gulf. In October, 1916, a -force marched thirty-five miles across the sandhills from Bayud to -Maghara, and engaged in a vigorous reconnaissance in the foothills below -the almost inaccessible, high-built Turkish garrison position. As an -instance of the man-power and transport necessary to maintain a force in -action on the desert for even a few days, the details of this little -enterprise are remarkable. The column contained only 1100 rifles, and -the operations covered but a few days; but no fewer than 7000 camels, -2300 horses and (including natives) 5000 men were employed to provide -supplies of food and water for the force. - -All these little side-shows necessitated long night marches across -countless desert hillocks. To the untrained eye, one square mile of -country in Sinai is indistinguishable from any other square mile, even -by daylight. At night all movement was by compass and the stars, and the -task of our guides was complicated a hundredfold by the constant change -of route imposed by the steepness of many of the sand dunes. Very early -the Light Horseman displayed that apparently inborn sense of direction -which, almost alone, would have made him famous in this campaign. After -a brief trial, the native guides provided by the Imperial authorities -were found to be too slow and uncertain, while, if the enemy was close, -fear usually reduced them to a state of imbecility. As soon as this was -recognized, the whole of the guiding was done by our own officers, many -of whom developed a certainty of location, whatever the circumstances, -which amounted almost to inspiration. - - - FIRST GAZA - -[Illustration] - -Ten weeks after Rafa, on 26th March, came the first battle of Gaza. The -scheme for the capture of this old gateway of Palestine proper was -similar to that which succeeded so decisively at Rafa and Magdhaba. We -were to move by night and envelop and isolate the town, with a view to -its capture before the Turk could bring up reinforcements. But it was a -far bigger enterprise than the two earlier raids. Modern Gaza is a -fairly compact old town, which, before the war, contained 30,000 -inhabitants. Most of the houses are of mud and straw, but there are also -many substantial modern residences. The little city is graced by many -mosques and minarets. Standing on a low hill on the inland edge of the -wide belt of sand dunes, which, on this coast, everywhere fringe the -Mediterranean, it is bounded on the north, east and south by an -occasional fine orange grove, wide areas of olives and an intricate -network of huge, sprawling cactus hedges surrounding hundreds of tiny -fields. The Turks were soundly dug in, and well supported by many guns -in commanding positions, while the irregular system of cactus hedges -made an ideal barrier between them and the naked plain over which the -attacking troops had to advance. - -Since Rafa a notable change had taken place in our force. The mounted -troops had been reinforced by the arrival of large numbers of Yeomanry -and, for the first time in the campaign, a substantial force of infantry -was available for frontal attack. Marching in the darkness, part of our -army surrounded Gaza, while a strong mounted force took up positions to -the east and north to prevent the intervention of heavy Turkish -reinforcements, which were within easy striking distance. British -infantry attacked from the south and east. On their right flank was a -Brigade of Yeomanry. Next came the New Zealanders, and on the extreme -right, pushing in from the north, with their flank on the sea, was the -2nd Light Horse Brigade, with Brigadier-General Ryrie back in his old -command. Unfortunately, a heavy morning fog prevented the infantry from -getting into grips with the Turk in the earlier part of the day. - - - AMONG THE CACTUS - -The mounted troops, moving faster, galloped first through the scattered -groves of olives and then pressed forward, still on their horses, amidst -the maze of cactus hedges. For our men it was a wonderful day of -detached, individual fighting. Exact conformity was impossible. -Regiments and squadrons, and even troops, fought wild little -hole-and-corner combats of their own. There was much excited -steeplechasing over the cactus. At times, our men and the Turks fought -each other from either side of a hedge a few paces in width, the enemy -on foot and our troops firing from their horses. Then the Light Horse, -dismounting, hacked their way through the cactus with their bayonets, -and did effective work with the steel. Our machine gunners, advancing in -rushes in front and to a flank of the 2nd Brigade, maintained a clever -and deadly covering barrage. - -The fighting was marked by countless fine incidents. One Light Horse -squadron gallantly rushed an important Turkish observation post. The New -Zealanders, assisted by a Light Horse troop, took a number of enemy -guns. Swinging one of these round, and sighting through the open barrel -at point blank range, they demolished with a single shot a stone house -containing a number of troublesome Turkish riflemen. By nightfall, both -the infantry and mounted troops had won into the outskirts of the town, -and captured large numbers of prisoners. But the garrison was still -strong, and heavy Turkish reinforcements were closing in rapidly from -three directions. We had missed by a hairsbreadth. The fight was broken -off and our men, suffering a sense of disappointment scarcely less than -that felt at the evacuation of Gallipoli, were withdrawn. - - - SECOND GAZA - -Three weeks later, on 19th April, the second battle of Gaza was fought -on a long line extending from the sea eastward towards Beersheba. The -Australians fought dismounted out on the right flank, and the day was -the bloodiest our men have known in their Palestine fighting. For many -hours they pressed forward in thin lines, up long, bare slopes, in the -face of heavy and well-directed high explosive, shrapnel, machine gun -and rifle fire. In places they made substantial headway and bent the -Turks back. At one point, since known to fame as “Tank Redoubt,” two -Australian companies of the Camel Brigade, co-operating with the British -infantry on their flank, won temporary possession of a main key in the -enemy line. Many splendid deeds distinguished this day’s hard fighting; -they will rank with the best performances of Australian infantry in the -war, and the exploit of the “Camels” at the Tank Redoubt with the -greatest achievements of British arms in any age. But the Turk, though -badly shaken, stood firm. The simple fact was that, in this -Gaza-Beersheba line, which lent itself admirably to stout defence, we -had encountered enemy forces so superior in number and equipment, that -further advance was, for the time, physically impossible. - - - BEERSHEBA - -Between then and the end of the following October, when the Turkish -position was shattered, significant additions were made to our strength. -We were reinforced by some Divisions of infantry, and many guns of -different calibre, while the Desert Mounted Corps was formed from the -old Desert Column, consisting of the Anzac and Australian Mounted -Divisions, and a Yeomanry Division. During this period, too, General -Allenby arrived from France as Commander-in-Chief. In the great attack -which demolished the enemy’s strong defensive system on this line, the -Turk was out-witted and outfought. By a wide detour, covering several -days and notable for its long, exhausting marches, and the remarkable -performances of the Engineers in the development of water in desert -areas, the Anzac Mounted Division appeared as a bolt from the blue to -the south-east of Beersheba, on the morning of 31st October. Beersheba -marked the end of the Turkish line of defence. Seen from the surrounding -hills, the scattered modern town, with its wide, dusty streets planted -with straggling eucalyptus and pepper trees, is not unlike some western -townships in Australia. It lies in a basin below the southern end of the -Judean Range, and had been strongly fortified by the enemy. The attack -from the south-east, however, was a complete surprise to the Turk. - -[Illustration: - - ROMANI. MOUNT ROYSTON IN THE DISTANCE - - _By Lieut. G. W. Lambert_ -] - -[Illustration: - - IN A VILLAGE STREET -] - - - GALLOPING THE TRENCHES - -In the early morning the New Zealanders moved swiftly to the assault of -Tel es Saba, a formidable mound, bristling with machine guns and rifles. -At the same time, the 1st Light Horse Brigade went in to the south on -the New Zealanders’ left, while the 2nd Light Horse Brigade dashed away -on a long gallop under heavy shell-fire, and took up a position to the -north, to cut off the retreat of the Beersheba garrison along the road -leading over the Central Range, through Hebron and Bethlehem, to -Jerusalem. After very heavy fighting on foot, over broken ground, the -New Zealanders, supported by the 1st Light Horse Brigade, scaled and -captured Tel es Saba. The day was well advanced. Beersheba had not -fallen, and it was patent that, if we relied upon a dismounted attack, -the town would certainly resist until nightfall; which would have given -the enemy an opportunity to adjust his forces and perhaps upset our -whole offensive. Four miles away to the south-east, the Australian -Mounted Division was in reserve, and, shortly before sunset, -Brigadier-General Grant received orders to attack the town with the 4th -Light Horse Brigade. Between him and Beersheba lay a definite system of -strongly-held Turkish trenches. As it was recognized that time did not -permit of a dismounted advance, the decision was made to go in mounted, -at a gallop. This hazardous enterprise of galloping infantry into an -entrenched position was entrusted to the 4th Regiment, from Victoria, -and the 12th Regiment, from New South Wales. - - - A FAMOUS CHARGE - -Moving off at a trot, and soon quickening the pace to a gallop, the -regiments swept in a bee-line towards Beersheba. They were soon under -heavy shell and machine gun fire, but this only served to speed the -horsemen. Charging wildly down on the Turks, despite heavy rifle fire, -leading troops of Light Horsemen jumped the advanced trenches at a -gallop, going clean over the Turkish bayonets. Once within the enemy -trench system, part of the force dismounted, and, jumping down with -their bayonets among the startled enemy, soon cleared the position. -Meanwhile the mad gallop of the other squadrons was continued through -enemy resistance into the very heart of the town. The Turks were thrown -into hopeless disorder, and, believing that the handful of Australians -formed but the advance guard of a great cavalry force, put up an -indifferent fight. Upwards of 1100 were captured, but the darkness, -which fell immediately after our horse clattered into the town, enabled -many more to escape. Nine field guns and a large quantity of material -fell into our hands. The Light Horsemen had charged with fixed bayonets, -not that they could make any use of them on horseback, but for the moral -effect upon the enemy. This magnificent enterprise, establishing as it -did that Turkish nerves were not proof against a resolute body of -galloping horse, led to highly important results in the Great Drive -which followed. The Yeomanry, who were equipped with cavalry swords, a -privilege not then enjoyed by any of the Australian Light Horse, routed -greatly superior numbers of Turks in a series of charges which rank with -the greatest performances of British regular cavalry. - - - UP THE PHILISTINE PLAIN - -A few days after Beersheba the Turkish line was broken by the infantry -at Sheria, and again between Gaza and the sea. The mounted men were -turned loose on the heels of the retreating enemy, and the wild stern -chase was continued for nearly fifty miles. The speed of the horsemen -was regulated chiefly by difficulties of transport and water supply; but -all the way the Turk fought clever rear-guard actions, making therein -especially effective use of his strong equipment of machine guns. The -Australians’ work was fast and bold throughout. There were scores of -fights by night and day, which brought credit to the staff work and -Brigade and Regimental fighting. Up till then it was the grandest -cavalry drive in the war, and perhaps it has no equal in any campaign of -the past. When the British forces came to a halt on a line running -roughly from the coast a few miles north of Jaffa eastward to the -mountains, the cessation of the pursuit was due not to enemy resistance, -but to the impossibility, at that time, of extending our lines of -communication any further. During this great cavalry drive, the Desert -Mounted Corps, which embraced all the mounted troops, was under the -command of Lieut.-General Sir H. G. Chauvel, who enjoys the distinction -of being the first Australian to rise to the leadership of a Corps. And, -with the 3rd Light Horse Brigade under General Wilson and the 4th under -General Grant, the four Australian Mounted Brigades were, for the first -time, all under Australian commands. - - - JERUSALEM AND JERICHO - -In the wars of the ancients, cavalry and chariots were always used down -on the Philistine Plain, while the Judean Hills were regarded as -practicable only for infantry. It is the same to-day. The Great Drive on -the Plain finished, the British infantry, with Yeomanry dismounted, -moved eastward through the narrow passes and up the harsh, rocky -hillsides of Judea towards Jerusalem. The Turks stubbornly resisted our -capture of the Holy City, and the fighting, at times, was bitter and -bloody in the extreme. But the gallant little Londoners, to whom fell -the honour of most of this significant advance, won their way steadily -forward. Only one Light Horse Regiment, the Western Australians, played -any immediate part in the operations which, on 9th December, culminated -in the surrender of Jerusalem. - -A few weeks later, the 1st Light Horse Brigade and the New Zealanders -marched secretly, at night, from Bethlehem by steep mountain tracks, -and, co-operating with the 60th (London) Infantry Division, after a -sharp fight at Nebi Musa captured Jericho. This exploit was -distinguished, as the Anzacs’ work in the campaign has always been, by -the remarkable work of our guides. A squadron of the 1st Brigade had the -honour of being the first to enter the village; but the winning of the -Jordan Valley, like the capture of Jerusalem, was, in the main, due to -the solid fighting qualities of the men of London. To-day, all through -the Judean Hills, you come upon little wooden crosses which tell of the -spirit and self-sacrifice of our good ally, the fighting Cockney. - - - AMMAN - -A brief pause, and then, the Desert Mounted Corps Bridging Train (B -Troop, Australian Engineers) having thrown the first bridge across the -Jordan, the Anzac Mounted Division, together with the Imperial Camel -Brigade and, once again, the Londoners, made their famous rush for the -Hedjaz Railway, far out across Jordan to the east, where the Plateau of -Moab begins to merge into the sand of the wide Arabian Desert. This -expedition, which, so far as the Colonials were concerned, fell chiefly -upon the 2nd Light Horse Brigade, the New Zealanders and the Camels, was -perhaps the severest we had had since crossing the Canal. Rain fell -almost unceasingly for many days. The mountain tracks were so narrow and -broken that the Brigades, travelling only by night, moved in single -file, leading their horses and camels. The weather was piercingly cold. -Men were wet through for several days and nights in which they knew no -sleep, and were almost ceaselessly engaged in heavy fighting. In these -circumstances, the destruction of some miles of the railway, and the -safe withdrawal of the force, was an especially good performance. - -[Illustration: OUTLINE MAP OF NORTHERN SINAI] - - - ES SALT - -A few weeks later practically all the Australian mounted troops, with -the exception of the Camels, again crossed the Jordan, and, cutting in -behind the Turks after some rare mountaineering feats in the darkness, -took possession of Es Salt, a considerable Turkish base. In this -enterprise, the 3rd Light Horse Brigade particularly distinguished -itself, the 8th Regiment of Victorians alone taking prisoners equal to -at least twice their fighting strength. The same Regiment also captured -thirty machine guns and large quantities of other war material. - - - JORDAN VALLEY - -During the spring and summer, which were spent in Jordan Valley, there -were many highly successful little defensive fights. One of these, in -which the Turkish attack fell mainly upon the 2nd Light Horse Regiment -of Queenslanders, left nearly two hundred enemy dead within a few chains -of our barbed wire. At about the same time, the foe assaulted the -Musallabeh knoll, on the other side of the river, held by the 1st -Battalion (Australians) of the Camel Brigade, and got to close quarters, -in which bombs and bayonets, and even stones and hands were freely used -on both sides. The Turks were beaten off with some hundreds of -casualties. - -On 12th July, a day on which the shade temperature stood for hours at -120 degrees, a stout attempt was made by a considerable force of German -infantry against the 1st Light Horse Brigade under Brigadier-General -Cox, on this same Musallabeh sector. Our line there was a series of -small strong posts over a long and broken front. The Germans, advancing -in the dark, penetrated between two of the posts, and actually reached -the centre of our advanced position. A feature of this fight was that -every little post, except one which was overwhelmed, successfully -resisted the German attack, although all were surrounded and isolated -for hours. In some, practically every officer and man became a casualty. -The Germans were routed by a brilliant counter-attack of the 1st Light -Horse Regiment (New South Wales), which was in reserve, and the affair -cost the Germans 360 prisoners and about 1,200 casualties. Our losses -were slight. Troops from four States, Tasmania, South Australia, -Queensland and New South Wales, shared in the victory. On the same day, -also in Jordan Valley, a troop of Queenslanders, men from the 5th Light -Horse Regiment, twice left their lines with bombs, and, surprising enemy -forces many times their number, brought in forty-five prisoners, and -they had killed and wounded as many more in the fight. The casualties -suffered by the troop were one officer and two men slightly wounded. Two -cars of No. 1 Australian Light Car Patrol also took part with the -Imperial Service (Indian) Cavalry in a brilliant counter-attack east of -the Jordan. - - - PREPARING FOR DAMASCUS - -The long, distressing summer in Jordan Valley died hard. In September, -when the Anzac Mounted Division was there, the hottest days of the whole -year were endured. The various mounted troops had held the Jordan sector -in turn, those in reserve enjoying brief periods of rest on the bracing -uplands about Solomon’s Pools, a little to the south of Jerusalem. There -the sunny days were cool, and at night men who had known little sleep -down on the Jordan rejoiced in the mountain mists and the unwonted -comfort of their blankets. - -In the course of the year there had been another interesting change in -the composition of General Allenby’s army. Many of the Yeomanry and -British infantry had gone to other battle fronts, and in their place -came one hundred thousand Indian horse and foot. Many of our Light -Horsemen had fought beside the Gurkhas and other Indians on the -Peninsula; some of us had seen the Indian cavalry in France in the early -days of the war; but to most of the Australians the Indians were -strangers. To-day, after a few months and a stirring campaign together, -the bond between the two races is a remarkably strong one. - - - AUSTRALIA’S NEW FRIENDS - -The Australian soldier has, for a man of insular breeding, shown an -extraordinary capacity for making friends. He has an easy way with -peoples of all races and colours. In France he is completely at his ease -among the French peasantry; and he saunters through the Arab villages in -Palestine as familiarly and as confidently as he used to walk the -streets of his townships and cities at home. His old enemy the Turkish -ranker is his admired personal friend. But the strong bond which sprang -up so quickly between the Light Horseman and the Indians was perhaps the -strangest of all his new war friendships. They were divided by colour, -the language barrier was absolute, and, most unpromising of all, there -was the barrier of caste, which prevented the devout Indian from sharing -his rations, and so made little acts of camp hospitality impossible. But -the barriers, although they seemed impassable, were miraculously -surmounted. The Indians made no secret of their admiration of the Light -Horseman as a past-master at the game of combined mounted and dismounted -fighting, while the Australian was genuinely appreciative of the -splendid soldierly qualities of the highly-trained regular Indian -cavalry. Moreover, nearly all the Indians rode Australian horses! - -Every trooper in Palestine knew that a great campaign would be launched -in the early autumn. General Allenby would, according to the camp-fire -strategists, “hop in” during the brief season between the extreme heat -and the beginning of the heavy rains in November. Further, the C. in C. -would, in all probability, assail the enemy line at the full of the -moon, so that we should have light for the great cavalry night marches -that were anticipated. But it is doubtful whether any soldier in -Palestine, who was not in the official secret, forecasted a scheme so -bold as that General Allenby had resolved upon. Certainly, none dared to -hope for a triumph so dazzlingly swift and complete. - - - THE WONDERFUL FORTNIGHT - -The great campaign opened at dawn on the morning of 19th September, -1918. A fortnight after General Allenby flung his artillery bombardment -at the enemy line, the great Turkish and German force in Western and -Eastern Palestine had been destroyed, and our prisoners numbered 75,000. -Of the 4th, 7th, and 8th Turkish Armies south of Damascus only a few -thousand foot-sore, hunted men escaped. Practically every gun, the great -bulk of the machine guns, nearly all the small-arms, and transport, -every aerodrome and its mechanical equipment and nearly every aeroplane, -an intricate and widespread telephone and telegraph system, large dumps -of munitions and every kind of supplies—all had, in fourteen swift and -dramatic days, been stripped from an enemy who for four years had -resisted our efforts to smash him. It was a military overthrow so sudden -and so absolute that it is perhaps without parallel in the history of -war. And it is still more remarkable because it was achieved at a cost -so trifling. - -[Illustration: - - TURKS MARCHING OUT OF OLD CITY OF JERUSALEM AT BEGINNING OF WAR, 1914 - - (_Captured German Photograph_) -] - -[Illustration: - - GAZA -] - -[Illustration: - - THE MOUNT OF TEMPTATION -] - -[Illustration: - - ALL THE WORLD OVER -] - -It was a stupendous result, gained by a simple scheme. The strategy was -strikingly bold, but perhaps the most impressive thing about General -Allenby’s triumph was the superb manner in which his plan was carried -through. The campaign went with a bang from the moment the line was -broken until Damascus, more than 150 miles distant, was taken. It -galloped all the way. There was never a moment’s indecision, never a -semblance of fumbling. Here was a British Army at its best, every man -efficient, every man enthusiastic. - -The scheme was obviously the conception of a confident leader of horse. -General Allenby is a cavalryman, and he had under his command the most -powerful cavalry force in the war. And he knew the quality of his -mounted men. All of the Australians and New Zealanders and Yeomanry had -been in the sixty-mile drive from Gaza, of the previous year, and most -of them had been in the saddle in Egypt and Palestine for two and a half -years. The dashing Indian cavalry had been with him for many months and -had given many examples of their speed and love of battle. Again and -again in the summer their advanced patrols had galloped down bodies of -Turks, and their terrible use of the lance in those little actions had a -highly useful effect on Turkish nerves. The cavalry was General -Allenby’s special weapon for the campaign, but in addition, he had a -substantial and fit force of veteran infantry. He had, too, a -particularly brilliant lot of airmen, and in his supply services he -possessed a vast organization of railway, motor, camel, horse, mule and -donkey transport, which was efficient and resourceful in the highest -degree, and had already performed miracles. - -Altogether the British Army of Palestine was, when the final campaign -opened, as near to perfection as any force ever was. All ranks were -veterans and all were animated by that spirit which every army feels -when confident of victory and happy in its leaders. - - - A BOLD SCHEME - -This was the scheme. We faced the Turks on a fifty-mile line running -from a point on the Mediterranean coast about twelve miles north of -Jaffa south-eastward across the Plain of Sharon, thence eastward over -the Mountains of Samaria at a height of 1500 to 2000 feet, falling to -1000 feet below sea-level where it crossed the Jordan Valley, and -terminating in the foothills of the Mountains of Gilead. The Sharon -Plain sector was some fifteen miles in length, across Samaria fifteen -miles, and the stretch in the Jordan Valley about eighteen. The Turkish -position was a strong one. On Samaria, or the Central Palestine Range, -south of Nablus, the enemy had ideal defensive country, rugged and -broken, yet well served by rail—on the north-west to Haifa, and on the -north-east across the Jordan at Beisan and by way of Damascus to Turkey; -he had also good roads to Haifa and to Damascus by way of Nazareth. - -To push the Turk on the mountains by a frontal attack would have meant -at best the gradual withdrawal of his forces. In Jordan Valley the -enemy’s safety lay in the fact that his guns on the foothills of either -side covered the limited ground which was practicable for horse and -transport. And, even if we had galloped up Jordan Valley, it would have -been extremely difficult from there to swing in behind the Turkish -position on the Central Range. General Allenby took the Plain of Sharon -for his great enterprise. Forty miles behind the Turkish position the -Jordan Valley and the Plain of Sharon are joined to the Esdraelon -Plain—the old Plain of Armageddon. In other words, the Jordan and Sharon -and Esdraelon formed a half-circle round the main central Turkish -position on the mountains. All the enemy lines of communication led -across Esdraelon. If we could seize the Plain swiftly, cut the railways -and hold the roads, the Turkish army west of the Jordan was in our -hands. It was a scheme calculated to test the mettle of any army. If we -were to succeed, every branch of the service had to show at its best. -First our airmen had to destroy or drive off the German aeroplanes and -so keep the enemy ignorant of our plans; then the artillery barrage had -to make the way possible for our infantry; in its turn, the infantry -had, in one rush, to drive a gap for our cavalry, and the cavalry, -galloping through the gap, had to cover fifty miles and reach Esdraelon -Plain on the night of the first day. Lastly, the cavalry must hold the -communications they had cut, and to do so, they had to be fed. The -transport necessary for feeding tens of thousands of men and horse had -to travel almost as fast as the cavalry. The scheme had to go through to -time-table or it might not go through at all. If the artillery had -failed to do its work in a swift half-hour’s bombardment, or if the -infantry had faltered, the enemy would have had time to redistribute his -forces, and General Allenby might have been robbed of his victory. - -[Illustration: - - MAGDHABA, SHOWING THE WADY BED ABOUT ONE MILE FROM TURKISH BUILDINGS - - _By Lieut. G. W. Lambert_ -] - -[Illustration] - - - CAMOUFLAGE - -General Allenby took no chances. He followed the sound principle of -fighting under the best possible conditions. By the aid of clever and -greatly successful bluff, the Commander-in-Chief delivered his smashing -blow at an unexpected point of the Turkish line. The enemy was led to -believe that the British offensive would fall on the eastern sector. -While a huge force of cavalry, artillery and infantry was being smuggled -by night marches to the Plain of Sharon on the west, active and amusing -camouflage preparations were being made in the Jordan Valley. For -instance, many dummy camps were brought into existence, and large -numbers of realistic canvas horses were tethered in them. Mules drawing -sledges were driven about in the dust to suggest heavy traffic. Fast’s -Hotel at Jerusalem, then being conducted for officers by the Canteen -Board, was ostentatiously emptied of its inmates, two sentry-boxes were -placed at the entrance, and a whisper was started in the bazaars that -the hotel would be General Allenby’s advanced headquarters during the -coming offensive. Simultaneously, the Arabs east of the Jordan made -realistic sham preparations for an attack on Amman, out on the Hedjaz. -They put down a big base, engaged in bold reconnaissance, and cut the -line between Amman and Damascus. The deception of the enemy was -complete. We know now that he expected and prepared for the blow on the -east, and was stiffening his defences there until a few hours before our -bombardment opened on the west, near the Mediterranean. - -The airmen materially assisted in this hoodwinking. During the eight -weeks preceding the offensive, the German air service was practically -driven out of the sky. Fifteen machines were destroyed or forced down -and enemy aerodromes were bombed. So complete was our ascendancy that -not an enemy plane was seen over the threatened sector for eight days -before the offensive began. - -Blind as to our movement of troops, and mistaken by fifty miles as to -where his line was to be assailed, the enemy’s plight was further -accentuated by the destruction of his communications on the very evening -of the bombardment. Pulling out at night from their sham camp near -Amman, the Arabs rushed away up north, and cut the railway and telegraph -communications between Deraa and the great Turkish base at Damascus. -This left the enemy on his whole front without supplies for the fight. -Other telegraph lines further west were severed at the same time, and a -bomb from an Australian plane on the night before our advance destroyed -his great forward telephone exchange at Nablus, which dislocated all his -lateral communications. When our guns opened at dawn on 19th September, -the Turks were already in a desperate plight. - - - THE NIGHT BEFORE - -On the night before the bombardment there was an atmosphere of perfect -confidence in our camp close behind the line. Every man was moved by the -prospect of a successful adventure, which would give vast immediate -results and have an incalculable influence on the world war. The -tropical intensity of Jordan Valley, where the Australian Brigades, with -one exception, and some of the British and Indian cavalry had spent the -whole summer, had left its mark. We had suffered much from malaria and -other fevers, which, it was feared, might recur when we moved into the -cooler north. The horses were, if not in poor condition, certainly on -the light side; but these things were forgotten as the critical day -approached. The Australian Mounted Division, commanded by Major-General -Hodgson, and now made up entirely of Light Horse, except for one -dashing, picturesque regiment of French Colonial regulars, had recently -been armed with swords. The period of training in the new arm was very -brief—for many Regiments only a few hours; but the men taking very -keenly to it, soon reached a high standard of efficiency. Every trooper -was excited at the thought of a true cavalry charge. The Anzac Mounted -Division was still in the line in Jordan Valley. - -During many nights before the push every road on the coastal sector was -crowded with slow-moving, well-ordered traffic. By day all was normal, -except for significant glimpses of camps in the wide olive groves around -Ludd, and in the orchards and orange groves about Jaffa. But as darkness -fell the whole countryside would become thronged with masses of horse -and foot and guns, and every kind of transport, groping their way -through blinding clouds of dust. The roads were impassable outside the -organized columns; the night was loud with the shouts of drivers -speaking divers languages. A few hours before the great push began this -night traffic culminated in a general move northward, the cavalry moving -up close behind the infantry, and the supplies following the cavalry. -Every road was massed with motor-lorries and horse transport; every -track with endless strings of camels. Each unit in the great army was -pressing up as closely as possible to the starting gate. - -[Illustration: - - TURKISH PRISONERS AT BEERSHEBA - - STREET MARKET, JERUSALEM - - Inset—JERICHO - Showing the pretty little Garden Oasis - - LIGHT HORSE CROSSING JORDAN -] - -[Illustration: - - IN THE JORDAN VALLEY -] - -[Illustration: - - SPRING WATER, CLEAR AND COLD -] - -The bombardment opened at dawn, a heavy barrage. For half an hour the -startled Turks were battered in their trenches. Then, abruptly, the -bombardment ceased. “Now the infantry,” said a Brigadier of horse “and -then!...” - - - THE ADVANCE - -Our battalions leaped forward as the gunnery died away, and carried the -Turkish trenches after a brief struggle. They simply overwhelmed the -enemy riflemen, and even the German machine gunners and Austrian -artillerymen, after a wild burst of bad shooting, were forced to flight -or submission. Within half an hour the infantry had made a gap for the -great force of Indian and Yeomanry cavalry waiting near the coast, and -soon afterwards they opened another a few miles inland. The expectant -horsemen jumped off like thoroughbreds from the barrier. - - - THE GREAT RIDE BEGINS - -They rode away in the sunrise, the advanced squadrons trotting out after -the ground scouts, the flank patrols galloping wide; Brigade after -Brigade rode out over the rolling sandhills. The men were eager, the -horses fought for their heads. The swords of the Yeomanry flashed and -Indian lances glinted from each successive skyline. It was like a war -scene of the picture galleries. Quickening the pace, the Regiments raced -on past our guns, most of which were already limbered-up for the -pursuit. The infantry, busy with their prisoners, cheered them as they -passed, and soon they were speeding down on Turks who had fled from the -onslaught of the infantry. But their sport with sword and lance was -brief. In this Sharon sector, the enemy had no forward reserves, no -second-line trenches. The Turkish front here had depended for its safety -on a one trench system. From the crossing of the trenches until they -reached the Esdraelon Plain, late in the night, the cavalry encountered -no resistance. Once or twice they sighted small bodies of the enemy and -made for them at the gallop. But the Turks would not give battle. Before -the campaign was three hours old there began the long series of almost -bloodless surrenders which were to be the most amazing feature of the -sleepless fortnight. - -The perfection of our organization was revealed very early. The cavalry -was scarcely clear of the trench system before scores of field guns were -rumbling in their wake. And, pressing on after the artillery by many -tracks, good and bad, went mile after mile of camels and wheeled -transport. Where the cavalry went the supplies must follow; and the -cavalry rode from forty to fifty miles between sunrise and midnight. -With nothing to check them, their pace was controlled only by the -endurance of their horses. The men rode light; they carried only one -blanket, and that as a saddle-cloth. Tent sheets and waterproofs were -forbidden. It was a wild ride against time. But horses were loaded with -three days’ rations, and few carried less than 250lbs.—many of them more -than 280lbs. - - - ESDRAELON PLAIN - -At dawn next morning the Yeomanry were across the Esdraelon Plain and in -Nazareth, where they caught most of the garrison of 3000 and the whole -population still in their beds. They secured the town at the expense of -eighteen casualties. By noon the Esdraelon Plain was in our hands, and -the Turkish Army in Western Palestine left without a line of -communication or retreat, except at Beisan on the north-east corner of -the trap; and the capture of Beisan was already assured. How completely -the enemy was deceived, and how light were his forces on the sector -broken for the cavalry, is shown by the fact that on the first day, -although our horse travelled fully forty miles on a wide front, only 900 -prisoners were taken by them. Next day, as the net closed round the -forward enemy forces on the Central Range, and they attempted to retreat -across the Esdraelon Plain, our cavalry took upwards of 12,000. - - - DOOMED TURKISH ARMY - -At the beginning of the second day, we contained the Turkish western -army on the south, west and north. The Anzac Mounted Division, which is -two-thirds Australian and the balance New Zealanders, and a light -infantry force, all under Major-General Sir E. W. C. Chaytor, were moved -up the Jordan Valley on the east of the Turks and so the net was -completed. But the task of the Anzacs was difficult. Before they could -move, the enemy guns dominating the narrow ground on either side of the -river had to be silenced or shifted. This meant that the Turks had to -begin their retreat on the Samarian Range before the Division could race -them for the crossings. Not until the second day did this come about, -and then the Anzacs, riding fast, closed the fords and the Turkish -Western Army was doomed. Forty hours after the fight commenced, as the -second day was closing, the enemy began to stream down the tracks -leading on to the Esdraelon Plain from his forward mountain position. He -had already abandoned guns and transport, a tragedy which he owed mainly -to the appalling havoc wrought with bombs and machine guns by our -airmen. - -At dusk on the second day a large force was reported to be heading -towards Jenin, on the northern edge of the Esdraelon Plain. General -Chauvel, who was directing the battle from Megiddo (now Lejjun), the -actual site of ancient Armageddon, at once ordered the 3rd Light Horse -Brigade to move to the attack. An hour later, the Brigade had captured a -mass of prisoners, who subsequently counted out at more than 7000; and -we had the first evidence of the demoralization of the enemy. As the -Brigade approached Jenin, with the 10th Light Horse Regiment (Western -Australians) leading and the 9th (chiefly South Australians) working -round to the rear of the village, the Turks ran out and surrendered in -thousands. We had one officer and one man wounded. The only shots fired -at us came from nine German riflemen, who fought to a finish, although -two of our machine guns were laid on them at a range of sixty yards. The -plan had put our troops into certain positions and the Turks, as at sham -fight, recognizing the checkmate, were surrendering without bloodshed. -Any resistance which followed on the long ride to Damascus came almost -entirely from the Germans. - - - CUT OFF - -An endeavour has been made in the preceding pages to show how the -galloping cavalry cordon was thrown round the main enemy position on the -Samarian Range. Before the close of the second day, our horsemen, -stoutly armed with machine guns and automatic rifles, in addition to -rifle and sword and lance, and further strengthened by many batteries of -horse artillery, held all the roads and railways behind the Turks and -Germans. The enemy was practically cut off from supplies and retreat. -Worse than that, he was already irretrievably smashed by the attack of -the British and Indian infantry on his front. Recoiling from this blow, -and hastening to reach the Esdraelon Plain before the cavalry completed -the net, he was caught by our airmen in narrow mountain passes, -subjected to terrible bombing and harassing machine gun fire, and forced -to abandon most of his guns and transport. At the same time, the 5th -Australian Light Horse Brigade under Brigadier-General Macarthur Onslow, -accompanied by one regiment of French cavalry, was thrown in during the -first day on his right flank, about halfway between the old front line -and the Esdraelon Plain. The Australians, moving very fast, scattered -with their swords a force several thousand strong north of Tul Keram and -took two thousand prisoners. Then, riding all night, they cut the enemy -frontline railway close behind Nablus. A few hours later, the Brigade -captured Nablus itself. - -[Illustration: OUTLINE MAP OF PALESTINE] - - - TERRIBLE AIR WORK - -But before this the airmen had commenced their work in the passes. When -our infantry broke the enemy’s line on the Plain of Sharon, many -thousands of Turks, who were on the foothills eastward of the gap our -cavalry had galloped through, had endeavoured to swing round and retreat -to the highlands of Samaria. But the movement was at once detected by -the Australian airmen. The Turks, with their transport, were seen to be -heading for a narrow defile leading up from Tul Keram to Anebta. Using -their wireless, the airmen called up aerodromes where dozens of British -and Australian pilots were awaiting the signal. The doomed column, -extending over upwards of two miles, was deep in the pass when the first -flight arrived with its bombs. Beginning on the leading troops and -vehicles, the airmen, flying low, had, in a few minutes, blocked the -narrow track. Pilot after pilot, flying in perfect order, dropped his -bombs, and then, assisted by the observers, raked the unfortunate Turks -with machine guns. Their ammunition exhausted, the airmen sped back to -their aerodrome for more, and returned again to the slaughter. Some -pilots made four trips on that day. While the airmen attacked the -column, the 5th Light Horse Brigade came up over the hills on either -side of the track, and caught the Turks with their swords as they -attempted to escape. Blocked in front, the battered, distracted -procession closed up and telescoped, and fires broke out among the -massed and broken vehicles. - -Still more appalling, because of the greater magnitude of the disaster, -was the fate of a column between Balata and Fermeh on its way down the -range towards Beisan, on the Jordan. Flying over Samaria, you appreciate -the opportunities which this retreating army offered to the airmen. The -stony hills are not so rugged as in Judea, but they are still too steep -to permit masses of troops to move off the narrow roads. These roads -wind along beside the wadies and are flanked nearly all the way by -abrupt hillsides. The Balata column contained the bulk of the enemy’s -forward transport. It stretched, slow-moving and in full view from the -air, over seven or eight miles of the confined track. An Australian -reconnaissance pilot sighted it soon after dawn and, an hour later, -dozens of British and Australian bombers and machine gunners, flying -within a few hundred feet of the ground, were smashing it to splinters. -Again they began at the head, and forced the helpless drivers to pile up -from the rear. For hours the bombing was continued. Here the airmen -worked unaided by any other arm of the service, and they had wrecked or -disabled the whole of the transport before the infantry came up from the -south and took the dazed survivors. The broken material afterwards -collected in the pass included 90 guns, 840 four-wheeled and 76 -two-wheeled horse and cattle vehicles, 50 motor-lorries and a large -number of miscellaneous transport, such as water carts and travelling -kitchens. The horror of the scene during the bombardment and afterwards -need not be dwelt upon. As the bombs rained down with pitiless -regularity, scores of lorries and wagons were overturned and dashed to -pieces as they went hurtling down into the rocky beds of the wadies. -Included in the column were large formations of infantry, and these and -the drivers, rushing from the track to escape the bombs, were shot down -by airmen. These air attacks were repeated many times on a similar scale -in the first two days. - - - FINE STAFF WORK - -Rarely have the various services of an army worked in such perfect -accord. The infantry drove the enemy from his front, the Australian and -French cavalry, at the same moment, struck from the flank at his very -heart at Nablus; as he attempted to retreat in good order, the airmen -wrecked him from the skies, and, in a few hours, turned his army into a -shell-shocked rabble, with few guns or munitions, and little food. The -wretched Turks, in their tens of thousands, urged on by officers, came -at last to the outlets into the Esdraelon Plain. When first the cavalry -galloped down upon them, and they surrendered in hordes without the -least attempt at resistance, we were astonished. It was not until we -learned what had happened in the mountains that we understood the tragic -state of their morale. - -The air force achieved a notable victory. They had not only inflicted -very heavy losses, but had incalculably lessened the task of both our -infantry and cavalry. They had prevented the Turk from fighting -effective rear-guard actions against the pursuing infantry, and had -hammered him so soundly that he was incapable of any attempt to burst -through our cordon of cavalry. Without this help from the airmen, -General Allenby must still have won a great victory; but it would have -been much short of the sensational one achieved. Progress must have been -much slower, and our casualties heavier by many thousands. - -Before the fight was two days old our aeroplanes were using aerodromes -captured from the enemy. At one point on the march to Damascus, when we -were a hundred miles from our starting-place, a number of airmen came up -and established a flying ground abreast of our cavalry advance guard. -Throughout the operations an air-post service was maintained between the -leading troops and General Headquarters. An Australian Brigadier and a -Colonel of the Light Horse, who were in hospital far down the line when -the campaign opened, surprised their troops by alighting from aeroplanes -in their midst, a hundred miles from our starting-point. - - - GERMANS FIGHT WELL - -The few thousand Germans who were with the Turkish 7th and 8th Armies -west of the Jordan met the same fate as their allies; nearly all were -destroyed or captured. But one must give the Germans credit for a stout -resistance. Throughout, they fought resolutely to avert the great -disaster, and if all of them did not continue the struggle to the death, -it must be remembered that they were in a desperate situation. They -handled nearly all of the hundreds of machine guns, which were the most -formidable weapons possessed by the enemy. All the way to Damascus they -fought stout rear-guard actions. - -Having the great body of Turks on Samaria safe, and most of them already -accounted for, General Allenby decided to clear Haifa; the operation -demonstrated the relative morale of the Turks and Germans. A flying -reconnaissance of armoured cars and smaller cars of the Light Car Patrol -was pushed into the outskirts of the town. About three miles from the -town our force saw the heads of a party of Turks in a strong redoubt two -hundred yards from the road. The armoured cars halted and swept the -Turkish parapet with their machine guns. The white flag was at once -hoisted, and about eighty Turks came out without firing a shot. Two -miles further on, the British came upon an Austrian battery of light -field guns, supported by German machine gunners. Our little probing -expedition was at once brought to a standstill, and was not sorry to -pull out. Next day the Indians and Yeomanry, supported by horse -artillery, rode into the town, and again the only opposition came from -the Austrians and Germans. “We tried to cover the Turks’ retreat,” said -a captured German officer, “but we expected them to do something, if -only keep their heads. At last we decided they were not worth fighting -for.” - -[Illustration: - - THE ROAD TO JERICHO - - _By Lieut. G. W. Lambert_ -] - -[Illustration: - - ISMAILIA -] - - - EAST OF JORDAN - -Before Haifa fell our troops were moving swiftly east of Jordan. A -Division of Indian and Yeomanry cavalry crossed the Jordan about Beisan -and rode eastward. Simultaneously, the Anzac Mounted Division forded and -swam the river further to the south, and moved on Es Salt and Amman. The -Australians and New Zealanders were familiar with the country. This was -their third expedition to the Plateau of Moab and the heights of Gilead. -They knew every goat-walk on the steep mountain side. This time they had -come to stay; the Fourth Turkish Army on the East was to share the fate -of the 7th and 8th Armies on Samaria. The tactics employed on both sides -of the river were broadly similar. General Allenby depended for success -upon the speed and stamina of his horses. Before the operations -commenced, the Turk held a defensive position which was roughly an -extension of his line west of the Jordan. He was strong in the foothills -of Gilead; on the mountain he had his base at Es Salt, and at Amman he -had a substantial force guarding a vital series of tunnels and viaducts -on his Hedjaz railway. Beyond the railway the Eastern Palestine Range -flattens out on the wide desert, which extends right across to the -Euphrates. On the fringe of the desert was the Army of the Sherif of -Mecca, a picturesque, galloping, thrusting, well-armed force. The Arabs -harassed the Turk by day and night, repeatedly dashing in and cutting -his railway and telegraph communications with Damascus. When attacked, -they would fade away into the wide desert and leave the slow-footed Turk -in the air. While the Anzacs marched upon Es Salt and Amman, the Arabs -made a detour in the desert, appeared on the flank of the enemy north of -Deraa, and cut the railway where the Hedjaz line junctions with the line -which supplied the Turks west of the Jordan. - - - THE RACE FOR DAMASCUS - -Meanwhile the Indian and Yeomanry Division had crossed Eastern Palestine -and reached Deraa, where it joined hands with the Arab army. Then the -Arabs, the Indians and the Yeomanry sped on towards Damascus. There was -still a chance of escape for some 20,000 Turks, who had moved northwards -of Deraa before the arrival of our forces. These struggled gamely -towards Damascus, hoping either to make a stand at that great base or to -escape by rail to the north. But General Chauvel still had in hand the -Australian Mounted Division and a strong force of Indians and Yeomanry, -which had returned to the Jordan after the capture of Haifa. With the -Australians leading, he marched from Esdraelon Plain north-east across -Jordan for Damascus. Then ensued one of the grand races of the war. Our -tired horses were called upon for the heaviest work of the lightning -campaign. Marching by Beisan, the 4th Light Horse Brigade, after a stiff -fight—the most expensive cavalry fight in the campaign—took Semakh, and -then, co-operating with the 3rd Brigade, which had come down from -Nazareth, occupied Tiberias. After a day’s partial rest, during which -our men swam and fished in the blue waters of Galilee, the Australian -Division marched swiftly for the Jordan crossing, a few miles south of -Lake Huleh. But the enemy was now seized of our intention, and the -German machine gunners put up a fine resistance. Their stand at Semakh -aimed at preventing us reaching Damascus before the 20,000 Turks, who -were retreating from the direction of Deraa, and to give time for the -removal of as many military stores as possible from the city. South of -Lake Huleh, also, the Germans fought well and delayed us for a few -hours. We then ran through as far as Kunneitra, but, a few miles further -on, were again held up by machine guns and a field battery. - - - GREAT-HEARTED HORSES - -Our horses had covered, with marching and fighting, an average of thirty -and forty miles a day. Thousands of Australian-bred animals must have -covered some 400 miles in twelve days, a very fine performance when it -is remembered that they carried a load exceeding an average of 250lbs. -and had been on short rations. On our ride to Damascus, the excellent -work of the staff was demonstrated again. As the advance guard of the -4th Light Horse Regiment (Victorian), travelling north-east, came within -view of the green and generous plain of Damascus, we saw, some eight -miles away on our right, and moving north-west, a great converging -column of the fugitive Turks from Deraa. Nearly all of these were -captured, the Germans once more fighting well with their machine guns. -But even the Germans had now almost given up hope, and on this last day -before Damascus, and in the two days which followed, they abandoned -their machine guns, and fled at the galloping approach of the -Australians. That evening many thousands of prisoners were captured by -the 3rd and 5th Australian Light Horse Brigades, and the city was -enveloped. - -[Illustration: - - IN THE JORDAN VALLEY - - SHOPPING IN JERICHO -] - -[Illustration: - - “BAKSHEESH” -] - -[Illustration: - - A MEAL OUTSIDE THE BIVVIES -] - -[Illustration: - - THE DEAD SEA (SUNRISE) - - _By Lieut. G. W. Lambert_ -] - -[Illustration: - - SCOTTIES ON A ROUTE MARCH -] - - - ABANA GORGE - -At dusk, in the Abana Pass, which leads out from Damascus towards -Beirut, another disaster befell the enemy. Here, a column many miles in -length was committed in a deep and narrow and singularly beautiful -gorge. The floor of the gorge is less than a hundred yards across, and -it is crowded with the Abana River—a rushing, mountain torrent,—a -railway and a road. The river banks are overgrown with trees and bushes; -the railway and road cross and re-cross the tumbling stream. On either -side rise the gaunt cliffs of the desert. In this brief survey it is -impossible to describe the fight between the long enemy column and the -handful of dismounted Light Horsemen of the 3rd and 5th Brigades, who -were perched in pockets of the cliffs on either side. The Germans, -working their machine guns from the tops of motor wagons and lorries, -fought to the death. Three hundred and seventy officers and men were -killed, and fell among the dead and dying horses in the wild tumult of -the chaotic column. We had scarcely a man hit. That ended the attempt to -leave Damascus by the west; but the enemy was streaming out by the north -along the road to Aleppo. Their run, however, was brief. Early next -morning the 3rd Light Horse Brigade—the first force to enter -Damascus—was in hot pursuit. The German machine gunners again attempted -a rear-guard, but they could not withstand the charges of the elated -Light Horsemen. Thousands of prisoners and hundreds of machine guns were -taken by the Brigade. - -On the morning of 1st October a squadron of the 4th Light Horse Regiment -received orders to patrol into the city. Winding along the crooked lanes -between the irrigated orchards and gardens, it came upon the great -Turkish barracks, swarming with troops. The Turks did not at once -surrender, and the squadron leader, before attacking, awaited the -arrival of the remainder of the Regiment. Then followed a fitting -termination to the wonderful, and practically bloodless, British ride. A -few hundred of the 4th Light Horse took nearly 12,000 prisoners in -Damascus before noon, together with dozens of field pieces and scores of -machine guns. Scarcely a shot was fired. There was no formal surrender; -each body of men laid down its arms as the Australians rode up. - - - EXULTANT ARABS - -The Victorians entered the city and joined up with the exulting Arabs. -These two forces, which had started hundreds of miles apart with two -mountain systems intervening, were mingled together in the midst of the -swirling, madly-excited populace. To the Arab, Damascus was the dazzling -prize, the promised reward. Here he was to proclaim and set up his -government. Riding forth from his tent on the desert, or his little mud -village, he was, in Damascus, the lord of a city of 250,000 souls—the -oldest city in the world, and distinguished by the richness and strange -character and beauty of its surroundings. Fired with pride, his long -robes touched with brilliant patches of silk, he rode the streets on his -sprightly desert horse, caparisoned with richly woven Persian -saddle-bags. His scabbard of gold and silver flashed in the sunlight, -and he fired his rifle freely at the skies. Ameer Feisal, the third son -of the Sherif of Mecca, who was soon to be proclaimed the new ruler, -rode into the city. The Arabs of the city gave an almost fanatical -greeting to the Prince. - - - THE GALLOP INTO DAMASCUS - -Although the Victorians secured the great haul of prisoners, the first -troops to enter Damascus were the Light Horsemen from Western Australia, -who, also, had had the distinction of being the first mounted men to -enter Jerusalem, in December. The Western Australians found their way -into Damascus by accident, and their ride was one of the most dramatic -and picturesque incidents of the campaign. - -The 3rd Light Horse Brigade, to which the Western Australians belong, -spent the night in the Abana Gorge, a few miles from Damascus, to the -west along the Beirut Road. Brigadier-General Wilson was under orders to -move at dawn and seize the road leading from the city northward towards -Aleppo. It was hoped that a track would be found around the outskirts of -the town, but this proved impracticable. The Brigade, therefore, with a -troop of scouts leading, and the Western Australians following, came -down the Abana Gorge, clearing a track through the shambles of dead -Turks and Germans and hundreds of camels and horses, heaped on the road -in the fighting of the evening before. It soon became plain to the -officer second in command of the Western Australians, who was riding -ahead with the scouts, that the only way to the Aleppo road lay through -the heart of Damascus. The city had not surrendered, and he did not know -how many of the enemy it contained. But he decided on the bold course, -and pressed on. As the scouts passed the outskirts of the city, riding a -narrow road with the river on one side and a prolonged, mud-built garden -wall on the other, there was a sudden burst of Turkish rifle fire. No -one was hit, and the officer in command, checking the scouts until the -advanced squadron of Western Australians came up, ordered drawn swords, -and dashed on at a gallop. Across the river, two or three hundred yards -away, were thousands of Turks at the barracks. For a moment, the enemy -decision was in the balance. But the sight of the great Australian -horses coming at a gallop (the Turks and natives never ceased to marvel -at the size of our horses), the flashing swords, and the ring of shoes -upon the metal, turned the scale. “The shooting by the Turks,” said one -of our officers, “gave way, in a second, to the clapping of hands by the -citizens.” - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration: - - MAJOR-GEN. CHAYTOR RECEIVES A DEPUTATION OF ARAB CHIEFS NEAR AMMAN -] - -[Illustration: - - JERUSALEM -] - -The Australians rode hard, scattering the excited people from their -track. The firing increased, but its character had changed. The shots -were now coming from native Arabs, who were expressing their feelings, -in the popular Arab way, by blazing at the heavens. Across the river -ahead, in front of the large new Town Hall, a huge crowd was assembled, -and clattering over a bridge, the cavalry pulled up at the steps of the -building. Instantly, there were hundreds of eager horse-holders, and an -intense demonstration of goodwill. The East was greeting the victors of -the day. Three officers, all carrying their revolvers, entered the -building, and demanded the civil governor. They were at once taken -upstairs to that personage, a trim, little middle-aged Turk, who greeted -them with complete calm and much dignity, and begged to know their -wishes. He was told that a great British force of cavalry was entering -the town, and that he would be held responsible for good order and the -protection of property; the shooting in the streets must instantly -cease. The Governor replied that there was nothing to fear from the -civil population, that the shooting was merely the expression of an -excess of feeling, and that the British wishes would be respected in -every way. He then begged the Australian officers to accept his -hospitality. - -A reliable guide was obtained and the party hurried forward. As the -Australians continued their ride through the city they received the -honours traditionally lavished on conquerors. The stalls were emptied of -their incomparable grapes and pomegranates, which were handed up to the -passing horsemen. Crowds hung to their stirrups and ran along with their -hands on the bridle reins. They were smothered with perfumes. Every man -who smoked enjoyed a gift cigar. Dark-eyed women and pretty girls -appeared in every window, some of them the wives, doubtless, of Turkish -soldiers, timidly, and showing no pleasure; others boldly waved their -hands, smiled their welcome, and threw down scents and other favours. - -[Illustration: OUTLINE MAP OF SYRIA] - - - VETERANS - -It was a wonderful hour for our young Australian countrymen. But the -long war had made them into reserved men of the world, and the streets -of old Damascus were but a stage in the long path of the war. They rode, -very dusty and unshaved, their big hats battered and drooping, through -the tumultuous populace of the oldest city in the world, with the same -easy, casual bearing, and the same quiet self-confidence that are their -distinctive characteristic on their country tracks at home. They ate -their grapes and smoked their cigars, and missed no pretty eyes at the -windows; but they displayed no excitement or elation. They had become -true soldiers of fortune. And their long-tailed horses, at home now, -like their owners, on any road in any country, saw nothing in the -shouting mob or banging rifles, or the narrow ways and many colours of -the bazaars, to cause them once to start, shy, or even cock an ear. The -3rd Brigade rode out to a series of ugly, but highly successful, actions -with stout rear-guards of German machine gunners. Few men, in any age, -have passed through twenty-four more adventurous and gratifying hours -than they during this first day around Damascus. - - - BEAUTIFUL DAMASCUS - -The district of Damascus is an irrigation settlement on a vast scale, -set in the midst of comparative desert. So rich and close are the -orchards, and so tall the plantations of poplars and other decorative -trees, that, looking over the city from the neighbouring hills, all you -see of the city of 250,000 people are the stately minarets of its many -mosques and the roofs of the larger residences of the rich. Immediately -to the west of the town rises the bare, glaring mountain side, and to -the east and north and south of the green expanse of gardens you ride -out upon the harsh and treeless plain. Damascus owes all its wealth, -even its very existence, to the torrential Abana River, which, surging -down from Anti-Lebanon, bursts from the mountain gorge on to the plain -and, splitting up into several beautiful streams, has made a rural -paradise on the edge of the Arabian wilderness. - -[Illustration: - - AUSTRALIANS ON THE ROAD TO JERUSALEM -] - -[Illustration: - - AN AUSTRALIAN FLYING SQUADRON IN PALESTINE - - _Photos, in colour by Capt. Frank Hurley_ -] - -In Palestine the troops looked in vain for the Promised Land “flowing -with milk and honey.” The Plain of Philistia was fertile, but apart from -the few Jewish and German colonies, and the orange groves about Jaffa, -it was, with all its natural possibilities, a land bare and neglected, a -reproachful ghost of a great life that is gone. But Damascus was a prize -worth the winning. Here, after nearly three years of desert and -exhausted, unfruitful regions, was an area good to look upon, and -teeming with an active people. Few of us were sorry that we had at last -outrun our supplies, or rather, that the huge capture of prisoners had -somewhat strained the wonderful commissariat which had so gallantly kept -at the heels of the galloping cavalry, and that a brief halt was -necessary for the Australian Mounted Division. For a month some of the -Regiments were in camps in the gardens around the city, and man and -horse never accepted rest more gratefully. After thirteen days on bully -and biscuit, it was good to know fresh meat and bread again; the mutton -was of the best, and the bread, if dark and coarse and heavy, was still -a long way ahead of biscuit. We were too late for the famous Damascus -apricots, but there were grapes for the multitude, and pears and apples -and pomegranates, and, also, raisins and other dried fruits and -specialties in Eastern sweetmeats. Best of all, every camp was within -sight and sound of many running waters. - -Noisy little streams crossed our path a hundred times a day. Follow one -along, and it suddenly disappeared into an underground passage, to burst -forth like a spring a hundred yards away. In the streets, many of the -gutters are river-fed waterways, and, to reduce the dust, the tired -civic authorities block the drains and cause an effective little flood, -which is extended by boys splashing with their hands. You buy grapes at -the stalls, and carry them a few yards to dip into the waters of a -mountain stream. But Damascus is dirty and insanitary. Without the purge -of the Abana waters, flushing through it and under it, the city would -die of its filth in a single summer. And even with its beautiful streams -it proved a false friend to great numbers of Australians. The Australian -Mounted division suffered more sickness in the Damascus area than -anywhere else in the campaign. - - - THE ANZACS’ PART - -In most of the operations which cleared Sinai and Palestine of the Turk, -the lead was entrusted to the veterans of the Anzac Mounted Division. In -this last and greatest campaign of all, the Division found itself away -from the spectacular side of the enterprise. A trusty mounted Division -was needed for the subsidiary, but highly important, work on Moab and -Gilead, east of Jordan, and the choice fell upon the Anzacs. - -The Australians and New Zealanders complained about their luck. But -their task made one strong appeal to them. Twice before they had been -across the Jordan, and twice they had returned leaving not a few of -their men in enemy graves. The two great raids over the river, early in -the year, were brilliantly successful, as raids. Each time our purpose -was achieved. But each time our men broke off the fight strongly against -their inclination, and prayed for the day when they would get orders to -go over and see the job through, and stay. Old Amman, the ancient -Philadelphia, was especially coveted by our men. There, in March, 1918, -we had fought for days over sodden ground in extreme winter weather and -come away, the railway having been well broken, just after the New -Zealanders had won into the town. This time, Australians and New -Zealanders competed, in a sporting way, for first entry, and the 5th -Light Horse Regiment, from Queensland, narrowly gained the honour. - -At the outset, the Anzacs, and the small infantry force operating with -them, made up chiefly of the Jewish Battalion, the British West Indians -and troops from India proper, had no chance of breaking out of our -bridgeheads east of the river. Their orders were to keep in very close -and firm touch with the enemy, and to demolish him as soon as he began -to withdraw in consequence of his defeat on Samaria. Also, this Jordan -Valley force was to push northwards up the Valley, and complete the -cordon round the two Turkish armies on Samaria. Both missions were -admirably accomplished. While the New Zealanders and infantry were -advancing up the Valley, the Australians were probing the strongly -entrenched and wired positions along the Moab and Gilead foothills, -across the river. As soon as the Turk moved the two Australian Brigades -pounced upon his rear-guard, and fought him as he climbed the narrow -wady tracks up on to the tableland. Meanwhile, the New Zealanders, -crossing away to the north at Jisr el Darnie, ascended the goat-track -which leads from there to Es Salt, and, for the third time in the -campaign, that old stone-built town was in Australasian hands. - -All the way our men had evidence of the success of the British bluff. -The Turks’ defences on the foothills, and higher up, were particularly -strong. Had our main attack gone that way, the fight would have been -very bitter, with the enemy in a strong natural position. But now the -Turks were compelled to abandon their stronghold because of their -disaster in the west, and, also, because the Arabs had broken their -communications to the north, and were joining hands with a British and -Indian cavalry Division right across those communications. As the -Australians passed Shunet Nimrin, they discovered a long-range navy gun -lying on its side, a piece known to them as “Nimrin Nellie” and “Jericho -Jane,” with which the Turk had often made our camps near Jericho dusty -and unpleasant. - -[Illustration: - - ORANGE SELLER, JAFFA -] - -[Illustration: - - IN THE SHADE -] - -[Illustration: - - THE VILLAGE WELL - - NATIVE PLOUGH AND TEAM -] - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration: - - JAFFA -] - -[Illustration: - - AUSTRALIANS PRIOR TO THE FIGHT FOR HEIGHTS OF NALIN - - _Photos, in colour by Capt. Frank Hurley_ -] - - - AMMAN CAPTURED - -It was not until our men were far across the tableland, and close to -Amman, that the enemy showed fight. There our advance guard came under -machine gun fire; but the Division’s rapid advance on the town was not -stayed. As the scene of the severe March fighting came into view the -Australians appreciated the disaster which had so suddenly fallen upon -the Turkish arms. In March, the only possible approaches to Amman led -through hurricanes of machine gun fire, together with shells from -several field batteries. But now, the broken foe, although he fought -gamely at this particular spot, was quickly out-witted and out-classed -by Light Horse manoeuvre, and soon the Australians, after trifling -casualties, were riding in the streets of the squalid modern village, -and marvelling at the glory of the ancient Roman amphitheatre. Contact -with the Roman in this hour of our triumph did us good. It subdued our -vanity. In these far outposts of the old Roman Empire, on the very edge -of the barbarian desert, the massiveness of the stone-work and the fine -quality of the decorative carving proclaimed to the least imaginative -mind the culture and mighty physical achievements of our great rivals in -the task of Empire building. “The splendour that was Rome” is told far -more convincingly in distant Amman and Baalbek than in the ruins of Rome -itself. - -[Illustration] - -The Australians took 350 prisoners in Amman, and the New Zealanders -another good bag as the Turks attempted to escape to the north. But the -chief, and by far the most amusing, exploit of the Anzacs’ campaign, -fell to the 2nd Light Horse Brigade under General Ryrie, at Ziza, about -twenty miles to the south. News came through that a large Turkish force, -which had been far to the south on the Hedjaz railway at Maan, was in an -entrenched position at Ziza, and a regiment of Queenslanders rode down -to spy out the land and, if possible, to smash them. The C.O. reported -that he was in touch with 5000 Turks, who wished to capitulate, but they -would not lay down their arms until they were sure that a great force of -hostile Arabs, by whom they were surrounded, would be kept away from -them. So the Colonel of the Queenslanders suggested that the whole -Brigade should hurry down to assure the Turks of their safety. General -Ryrie at once decided to go, and the twenty miles were covered in less -than three hours. - - - ARABS AND TURKS - -The Brigade arrived shortly before dark, and an extraordinary situation -was discovered. The Turks were in a strongly defended position around -the village. They were made up, in the main, of Anatolians, regulars and -the cream of the Ottoman army. Moreover, they were well armed and -capable of a good fight. Our Brigade was not complete and was -outnumbered by about ten to one. The Turkish commander rode out to meet -the Australian Brigadier. “I will surrender,” he said, “if you will -protect us against the Arabs.” “Certainly,” said the Brigadier. “The -Arabs are our allies; if you surrender, you have nothing to fear.” But -the Turkish leader would not be convinced, and he demanded that the -Australian force should be greatly increased before his men gave up -their arms. Otherwise, he would be pleased to fight. General Ryrie was -anxious to complete the surrender and save casualties, and the -Australians and Turks spent the night together in arms around the same -camp fires! - -Next morning, the Turks laid down their arms and marched as prisoners to -Amman. The incident was an interesting sidelight on the feeling of the -Turk towards the Arabs, whom he has so long governed. But it is a highly -significant fact that, in the long campaign, the Arabs took 17,000 -Turkish prisoners, and the Turks not a single Arab. To the Arab, the -Turk has been an enemy in arms. To the Turk, the Arab has been a rebel, -and deserving of a rebel’s fate. - -Ziza practically finished the Anzacs’ brilliant little campaign. In all, -some 11,000 prisoners were taken. The total battle casualties for the -Division did not exceed a few score. - - - THE TECHNICAL SERVICES - -The writer of this sketch has been obliged to keep severely to the work -of the Force as a whole, and has recorded little or nothing of the great -achievements of the many technical services, lacking which the -victorious progress of the Light Horsemen would have been impossible. -The performances of the Australian No. 1 Flying Corps Squadron, the -first Commonwealth Flying Squadron engaged in the war, deserve a volume -to themselves. Recruited chiefly from the Light Horse Regiments, both -pilots and observers excelled in resource and daring, and in their -golden chivalry to their foes, and in their many fine rescues of fallen -comrades far behind the enemy lines, shone the spirit of Saladin and -King Richard. They were the modern Knights of Palestine. - -[Illustration: - - ANZAC RIDGE, GAZA - - _By Lieut. G. W. Lambert_ -] - -[Illustration] - -Then there were the Engineers (no attempt is made to place these -services in order of merit—a hopeless task), who found us water at will, -as with a magician’s wand, beneath the blistering sands of Sinai; who -bridged the Jordan under heavy fire for the crossing to Moab, and who, -so often, blew enemy railroads, bridges and viaducts heavenward. Working -over every kind of country from the desert to the mountains, they won -through because of their indomitable spirit, and their boundless gift -for improvization. - - - THE M.O. - -[Illustration] - -In the whole war there has not been a campaign which depended so much -for its success upon the native wit of the individual. Conditions -changed with dramatic suddenness from battle to battle. What served -to-day, was useless to-morrow. As an example of this, take the superb -work of our Medical Services. The Medical Officer was, all the way, a -man of many inventions. In the desert the wounded were habitually -carried on sledges made of sheets of galvanized iron, and, later, upon -an improvement of this device; as the campaign progressed, they were -borne on camels; and once, at least, in the mountains east of Jordan, -they were carried lying flat on rough beds made of greatcoats on the -backs of horses; and as the road improved, they were carried in -two-wheeled sand-carts, in ordinary G.S. wagons and every kind of motor. -The Light Horse galloped, and those who would serve them must gallop -too. The almost miraculous rapidity and efficiency with which the -Medical Units would establish their various stations and communications, -at the very heels of a fight, distant perhaps a hundred swiftly-covered -miles from railhead, made them worthy peers of the sparkling horsemen. -And, thanks to the establishment of the mobile operating theatre—a -veritable galloping machine, like the rest of the force—under a gifted -surgeon, it was possible for the most intricate skull and abdominal -operations to be carried out at the edge of the zone of fire. All honour -to our doctors and their devoted staffs! And especially dear in the -memory of Light Horsemen will always be the mounted stretcher-bearers. -No wounded man was beyond their gallant reach. - -Of the Light Horseman’s debt to the Nursing Sisters this narrative will -not dare an estimate. As long as memory lasts, every officer and man -will think with deep gratitude of the sustained, self-sacrificing -devotion of these noble Australian women. Fighting in this alien and -uncivilized land, thousands of young Australians for years never spoke -to a British woman, except when in hospital. What the ever-ready -sympathy and helpful friendship of the Sisters meant to them only these -lonely soldiers could tell. - - - THE A.S.C. - -[Illustration] - -The supreme masters of improvization were the officers and men who -handled the supplies. Not only the Australians, but the whole of the -Imperial Cavalry—the greatest mounted force in the war under a single -command—led by General Chauvel, depended for their rations upon the -distinguished ability of the Queensland Colonel who was responsible for -the direction of the supply and transport for mounted corps in the -Desert. A cavalry force requires about four times the quantity of -supplies which suffices for infantry, and, on occasions, it travels four -times as fast. During the ride to Damascus, the horsemen, more than -once, covered sixty miles in twenty-four hours; and on the whole -advance, no man or horse went short of a mobile ration. British -railways, captured Turkish railways and rolling-stock, motor-lorries, -four-wheeled G.S. wagons, two-wheeled limbers (their off-side horses -carrying pack-saddles, so that, if the vehicle failed, the load could be -transferred), camels in tens of thousands, countless mules and -donkeys—the interminable, sleepless procession on the roads during -General Chauvel’s final triumph was a fitting culmination to the great -transport record from the Canal onward. - -Of our Australian machine gunners and signallers, and of the model -Veterinary Service, which cared for our sick and wounded walers as -promptly and faithfully as the Medical people cared for the men, and of -the British batteries of Horse Artillery, which unfailingly advanced to -extreme limits with their guns and shot so unerringly (never was man so -welcome as a galloping gunner in a sticky dismounted fight)—of all -these, it is enough to say that without them Palestine could not be ours -to-day. - -[Illustration] - -The fighting ceased for the Australians early in October, with the -capture of Damascus and Amman, though No. 1 Australian Light Car Patrol -(Captain James), accompanying the 5th Cavalry Division, took a prominent -part in the capture of Aleppo, and in the pursuit of the Turko-German -forces north of that city. The final campaign yielded prodigious results -at a trifling cost in battle casualties. Of the 75,000 prisoners made by -General Allenby’s Army, more than 40,000 were taken by the Australian -and Anzac Mounted Divisions. The losses in killed and wounded, in the -two Divisions, were nominal. Unfortunately, however, the Force then -suffered the worst spell of sickness it had known since leaving -Australia. The terrible ordeal of Jordan Valley during the summer took -its suspended toll. Malaria ran like wildfire through the regiments, and -there was also much acute influenza with pneumonia following, sandfly -fever, and other more or less serious diseases peculiar to the Holy -Land. Many brave men, who had survived four years of hard fighting and -extremely rough living, lost their lives by sickness in the moment of -victory. - -The Australian Mounted Division was pushing on from Damascus towards the -country north of Aleppo, and the armistice was signed as they reached -Homs, which marked the northern limit attained by the Light Horsemen. - -To-day, the force asks only one question: “Who goes Home—and when?” - -[Illustration: H. S. Gullett.] - - _Palestine, December, 1918._ - -[Illustration] - - - - - Anthem Bells - - - Heard ye the bells, the chapel bells, - Pealing in Bethlehem? - The vibrant swells, the solemn knells, - On the eve of a requiem? - Saw ye the trees - When the gentle breeze - Caressed the leaves of them? - - Heard ye the guns, the distant guns, - That thundered down the vale, - When comrades strode the mountain road - To brave the battle gale?... - O, see the worn, returning men whose march no fire could stem, - And hear their song as they surge along - The road to Bethlehem! - - O, hear the hoofs, the iron hoofs, - Falling in Bethlehem, - While sunlight flames on the ruddy roofs - In the hills of Jerusalem! - And if you’ve crossed the wilderness by well and palmy hod, - Pray heed the bells, the heavenly bells, - That call the folk to God. - - “GERARDY.” - - - - - Palestine Poppies - - -From the hills to the sea, a scarlet trail of flowers in the spring, -when the little grey larks are singing and all the low country is green -with barley. Wild flowers everywhere, yellow and purple and -butterfly-blue—but the poppy is our choice. It glows on Australian -graves in the plains and down by the sea where the surf croons all day -long; it makes beautiful old battle-grounds, and flakes the wady’s brown -banks with scarlet. The blood-red poppy is Palestine’s flower. At the -wind’s touch petals fall from the slender stems to lie softly in the -grass, as if some rare and lovely bird had shed its plumage there. The -red poppy is our flower of War, and in the tranquil days of Peace will -be our flower of Memory. - -Among the sea-dunes white lilies grow, and they, too, will have power to -win us memories of Palestine, unclouded by sorrow; memories of the blue -Mediterranean, serene as a summer sky, or flinging ramparts of foam -alongshore. When we camped at Malala or Marakeb beach, heeding all day -the call of the surf, the land wind bore to us faintly the scent of -blossoms unseen. A colour, then, and a fragrance of flowers are the -gifts we shall take overseas. One will bring memories tinged with -sadness; the other of golden hours. - -Palestine is a wild garden in spring. Many plants blossom on through the -summer, fading at last in the season of mists, when dawn comes veiled -like a bride and the earth is pearled with dew. In spring, when the -wattles shower gold on our streams, Palestine poppies are blooming. From -the white sea-dunes to the long blue hills the land is alight with -flowers. And all the larks of the world and all the butterflies seem to -be gathered there. Over every blossom some bird is singing or a -butterfly floating on sunlit wings. A murmur of bees in convolvulus -bells; grasshoppers leaping over the tall grass; wagtails gleaning in -sheltered places; white vultures high in the blue; and kestrels hovering -over the barley, keen-eyed for prey. - -Those long rides across the plains, before the Turks were driven back to -the hill country, were wonderful. Our horses breasted a green sea of -barley, and it was hard to urge them on. Often we drew rein to look at -leisure on the earth’s green mantle inwrought with flowers. The plains -and the valleys were beautiful. We rode inland along the blue ways of -Dawn, rode on till noon, then, after rest, took the sunset trail, when -cloud shadows were skimming over the earth. We gazed at the purple -ranges and wondered what lay beyond. Under the stars we slept well. - -One ride I remember more vividly than all others. We started at sunrise -from Belah, rode through a village, and came to a place of little hills -whose slopes were bare of trees. Here the Bedouins had pitched their -tents, some on the hills and some in the valleys, singly or in groups. -When we cantered past men came from the tents to look at us, and -children followed after, wailing for backsheesh. The women remained at -their tasks. Dogs barked at our horses’ hoofs till their masters cursed -them, when they slunk back snarling. We travelled on, with Fara on our -left—a great grey bulk against the sky—coming at length to old -pasture-lands that War had restored to Nature. Where dust had lain deep, -and all plant life had perished under the feet of an army, Nature had -won loveliness, healing earth’s wounds with grasses and flowers. It -seemed an idle dream that the red tide of war had surged where poppies -flamed in the sun and the little speedwell’s eyes of blue shone amid the -grass. - -Far as our vision ranged the land was bright with flowers—tulips, blue -salvias, scarlet pimpernels, asphodels, white daisies, anemones, and -lilies swaying on tall stems; hollows brimming with sunshine and pink -with cyclamens; acres of red poppies set in emerald; sky-coloured -lupines; a green knoll fringed with “pheasant’s eye”; and away to the -west a long, brown field flaked with white convolvulus flowers. - -For a mile we rode along the wady, seeking vainly an easy descent for -the horses. Every cleft was starred with flowers; over the ledges melon -plants trailed, making caves of tiny crevices haunted by lizards and -spiders. Down a steep track we rode carelessly, letting our eyes dwell -on blossoms and giving the horses free rein. We won to the other side -safely, then on again through flower-land, with the white tents of the -Camel Corps gleaming afar at Shellal. A long, glad ride from dawn till -dusk across the plains in spring. - -When we carried war to the Judean hills we found wild beauty there; -flowers among the terraced hills and olive trees in the valleys. Pink -hollyhocks grew on the heights along the Jerusalem road. The valleys -were gardens. Gehenna’s goat-tracks, winding among old tombs, were -bordered with scarlet poppies. - -Wild flowers are Palestine’s glory. No one has named them all. From Dan -to Beersheba, among the hills of Moab and Judea, on the wide plain of -Esdraelon, on Hermon and Tabor, in Gilead and Bashan; everywhere in -Palestine Spring casts down her kindling buds. We have seen them all in -our long campaign, and out of the shining company have chosen two for -remembrance: the little red poppy (symbol of sleep), and the lily that -grows by the sea. - - CHARLES BARRETT. - -[Illustration] - - - - - Farming in Arcady - - -Up in fanatical, uncorrupted old Hebron, where, happily, the cheap -tourists are afraid to venture, you see the rude but expert craftsman -making the plough. Seated in his gloomy little recess, hewn out of the -stone of the hillside, he works swiftly with toes and fingers. Seizing a -rough bent branch of an olive tree, he stands it up and grasps the lower -end firmly with his deft and supple toes. The pieces fly. Slashing and -turning, he lops the smaller limbs, hacks it here and prunes it there, -and, in a few minutes, flings it aside complete, except for the steel -tip which plays the part of the share. - -For a few shillings the plough is bought by the Bedouin. The selection -of the land for cultivation is equally simple. Over most of the -Palestine we covered, there is little regularity in the tenure of the -small holder. The Sheik of the village has a loose control over a wide -area, for which he pays tribute and taxes in grain to the Turk. The -Bedouin is granted a plot the size of which is according to his capacity -to cultivate and his inclination to work. He is rarely ambitious, and -always lazy. If he has more than one wife, or has children of a working -and a hungry age, he will extend his area. But, like the piece of glass -bottle in Grimm’s fairy tale, he loves best just to lie about and -glitter in the sun. That is better than any exceptional success as a -farmer. - -As a cultivator he has complete confidence in Allah. He has never heard -of artificial manures, or of the rotation of crops; he rarely troubles -to irrigate even when water is available. Here, as all over the Eastern -Turkish Empire, there is fertile land for every inhabitant, and to -spare. So the Bedouin roams wide with his plough. He crops here this -year, and next year tries a patch a few miles away, which has been -resting for a season or two under the thin native grasses. His selection -made, he appears at dawn one morning, riding on his mournful ass and -carrying his plough in front of him. Or perhaps he rides one of his -little black oxen and leads the ass; or he may ride either the ass or -the oxen and lead a horse or camel. The point is, that he always rides -and carries the plough, and that his wife, if she is in attendance, -always walks and carries half-a-hundred-weight of something on her head. -It is a significant commentary upon his neighbours that he always brings -his plough home at night. - -[Illustration: - - HARVEST TIME -] - -[Illustration: - - PLOUGHING AS OF OLD -] - -[Illustration: - - NATIVE STOCK -] - -[Illustration: - - THE FRANCISCAN MONASTERY -] - -[Illustration: - - LAKE OF TIBERIAS -] - -In his team he seldom drives two of a kind. It is a cow and a donkey, or -a scabby, bony ghost of a pony and a camel. You can yoke them as you -please. Palestine is a land that knows no shame, and so the horse does -not rebel at being harnessed with a cow. Lazy as he is, the Bedouin is -always up at dawn. At dusk he goes to his mat to sleep; he cannot read, -and the villages burn no night-lights. - -Cleverly holding his simple plough upright with one hand, he pelts clods -at the team or wields a long goad with the other. Up and down he -scratches little gutters a few inches apart, his camel towering -ludicrously above his ass. Usually, he sows his seeds in strips before -the plough. He rarely harrows and never rolls, but sometimes he shows a -sense of the value of fallow by ploughing twice. The rest he leaves to -Allah. - -Sometimes, in the spring, he will pluck the wild turnip and radish and -other tares from the growing corn. As a rule he prefers to sit in his -coloured rags in the pleasant sunshine. Or he may go off to Jaffa with -his asses and his women, and traffic in oranges. Then you see him, with -both asses and women brutally overloaded, goading the donkey, or perhaps -astride behind the burden of fruit, as the little long-eared slave -totters along the tracks. The women, like the asses, never protest. The -man is master. It is the way of the East. - -The beautiful lilies and poppies vanish as summer comes upon the -rolling, treeless plain. The corn ripens and harvesting begins. -Machinery plays as little part here to-day as it did among the “alien -corn” near Bethlehem long ago, when pretty Ruth worked for Boaz. In -Palestine the world has stood still for a thousand years or more, or -when it moved it moved backward. Much of the barley and wheat is pulled -up, roots and all, but some is cut with sickles. In each village there -is a harvest floor—a patch of clean, hard ground, where each man builds -his little stack and sees about the threshing. - -Occasionally you see the flail at work, but it is not popular. To wield -the flail is hard work. So the Bedouin employs his cattle, his wives and -his children. He spreads the loose crop in a little circle about two -feet deep. Donkeys and oxen and ponies are then tied together, from two -to four abreast, and goaded round and round upon the straw. Sometimes -the threshing is done by their hoofs alone; but often a rude wooden -sledge is drawn after them. Time is of no concern. The cattle barely -move; the owner sits with his friends under the shade of an olive tree, -smoking many cigarettes and occasionally dreaming luxuriously over his -hubble-bubble; pleasant breezes blow across from the gleaming -Mediterranean. The season has been generous: Allah is good. Why hurry? - -The threshing finished, rough wooden forks are used to remove the -coarsest straw, and then the winnowing begins. Day after day the harvest -is thrown high into the air, and, slowly but surely, the chaff and dross -are separated from the grain by the Mediterranean breezes. - -Then the Turk comes—or he did before the war—and takes from thirty to -sixty bushels out of every hundred! That is why the Bedouin is so fond -of glinting in the sunshine, like the piece of glass bottle in the old -fairy tale. - - H. S. G. - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - - “Standing to.” - - - While the sleep-drunk world behind lies still abed, - And the dawn breath chills the smoking mists before, - Down the lines between in commune of the Dead, - There are eyes, that world of slumber watching o’er; - There are trenches darkly sheening readied steel, - There are orbs aglint, the darkness peering through; - And the shades of Night, the shades of Death scarce veil, - For the millions, to the Day, who’re “Standing to” - - “Standing to”—in grim attesting to a Thought, - By the scars that weal Earth’s Face from sea to sea - In the pride to set the need of Life at naught - For the will to live a fancied Destiny; - Waiting, watching, till the hour of dree be gone, - Or muezzin-guns roar forth their hate anew— - O! Well may the world of Slumber slumber on, - For those watchers of the Dawn, who’re “Standing to.” - - BRENTOMMAN. - -[Illustration: - - OUTPOSTS -] - -[Illustration: - - JORDAN VALLEY DUST -] - -[Illustration: DINNER GONG!] - - - - -[Illustration] - - A WALER’S STORY - - -Of my early life I remember but little. I have a dim recollection of -golden sunlight, of wide-sweeping plains, of a huge dam down by a -homestead, of tall trees like some I have seen around Jaffa, and others -with golden blossom, and of a long trip in a railway truck to -Homebush—ah! you know the place?—where I was sold. - -Since I have been in the Army my comrades have often taunted me with not -knowing on what station I was born, and have called me a town-bred -scrub; but I cannot help that. I will not bore you with details of my -early career at Surry Hills as a “week-end” horse (I was then owned by a -prosperous butcher), nor will I inflict upon you my first impressions of -Army life at Moore Park; but I must say that I was at Broadmeadows, -learning “Sections right,” “Form troop,” and “Walk march,” before they -would put me in a unit. - -On the 20th November, 1914, our troop was taken down to a big dock and -put on board what our masters called a transport. (I have heard them -call it a ship, a tub—and other names as occasion demanded). We horses -had a rough time all the way across; and judging by the manner in which -our masters cursed when they came to feed us and perform their stable -duties, or to lead us about the decks for exercise, I think they had a -rough time, too. I remember a remarkable incident on our deck when we -were somewhere in the tropics. (If you know anything about the tropics -and about ships, you will know how we and our masters existed). Ginger, -who never wore anything to speak of except a pair of shorts, shoes, and -a grin, looked after the horses on my off side; he also used to hitch -baskets on to a long rope, which disappeared through the deck above. -“Haul away!” was all he ever said, and the basket disappeared. Later, a -voice would echo from above: “Under below!” and Ginger would stand well -back until it landed again. One day when the rope slipped, the chap up -above forgot to say “Under below,” and the big basket fell down on -Ginger and extinguished him. When he got clear, his conversation with -the chap on top was so unrestrained and vivid that three horses broke -out of their stalls and tried to climb up on deck. I did not mind—I had -often heard the expressions Ginger used. - -We reached Alexandria at last and were taken ashore. At first I thought -that a peculiarity existed in the ground of Egypt, for it kept rocking -and swaying under my feet like the movement of the ship; but this -feeling went away in two or three days. We were taken to Gabbari, put -into trucks, and rattled to Ma’adi, a pretty little suburb of Cairo. At -Ma’adi we had plenty of feed, good stables which kept the sun off us -during the day, and very little work while the boys were away at the -Peninsula. Sometimes we went out on route marches and dummy stunts, and -always on Sundays our masters used to take us out on to the desert -behind the camp, to gallop us until we were tired. Those gallops were -great sport. There would be horses all over the desert, some of them -with riders clinging affectionately to their necks, others without -riders, and all of them thoroughly enjoying the fun, and kicking their -heels playfully into the air. We were at Ma’adi right up till February, -1916, and then we were pushed off to Serapeum and dumped in a camp close -to the Canal. After the delights of Ma’adi, Serapeum came as a shock to -me; and in a few days I was feeling very ill on account of the sand I -had swallowed with my food. I could not stand, so I rolled about in -agony. Up till then I had never had a day’s sickness, so this experience -was quite a new one. The farrier-sergeant visited me on the evening of -my collapse, administered a “ball” to me, and told Bill (my boss) that I -would be all right in the morning. A lot he knew about horses! He ought -never to have left that boot factory. He also told Bill to give me a bit -more _berseem_. Bill stopped with me for a while, talking; then a -whistle blew and he cleared out. “Good-night, Baldy” (that is the name I -always got) he said as he departed, “you’ll be O.K. at reveille.” In the -morning I was almost better, and by lunch time, when Bill gave me a big -feed of _berseem_ that he had pinched from somewhere, I was as good as -ever again. - -[Illustration: - - 5th LIGHT HORSE BRIGADE ENTERING NABLUS -] - -[Illustration: - - WATERING HORSES, ES SALT -] - -[Illustration: - - HORSES THIRSTY -] - -[Illustration: - - LIGHT HORSEMEN IN JUDEAN HILLS, JAN., 1918 -] - -We had been at Serapeum only a few weeks when I was taken up to Salhia, -where I was promoted on the strength (I think that is the term) of a new -Squadron. Bill came with me, so I had no complaints to make—not even -about the _tibbin_. Bill always was a good master, and he was never -tired of looking after me. In heat, in dust, in mud; across the desert, -over the plains, amongst the hills—anywhere at all—Bill always groomed -me and saw that I got my full issue of tucker. We used to have long -talks together; and I really think he understood what I had to say to -him. He was always considerate in the way he loaded my saddle, and -rather than sacrifice my bag of grain, he would dump his own gear. He -could not do enough for me; and, believe me, I could not do enough for -him. Unfortunately, all masters are not like Bill, or (pardon my vanity) -all horses like Baldy. - -My first real stunt was from Salhia to Kantara across the desert; and I -think that it will live as long in my memory as that Amman show. We -travelled all night by short stages—Bill would ride for ten minutes, -then walk beside me during the next ten, and then we rested for ten -minutes. I had a fair load on the saddle, but this was Bill’s first -desert stunt, too, and he had not realized exactly how severe desert -stunts can be. After that he always let someone else have the heavy -gear, while he looked after the light stuff. That was in April, 1916. -The long months from then until March, 1917, were one nightmare of bombs -and sand, out of which our stunts—Romani, Bir el Abd, Mazar, Magdhaba, -Rafa, and many minor ones—stood like the milestones I have seen along -the roads at home. At the commencement of things in Sinai tucker was -plentiful, and we waxed fat in the land and thrived on brackish water; -now we no longer get the same amount—or so it seems—but the water is -good. I did not notice the change until yesterday, when I had recourse -to chew through my headrope so that I could visit the feed-heap while -the piquet slept. Yet the change has been very gradual, and it has not -been severe on me. I am still pretty sound in wind and limb, although I -have seen old Bill look sorrowfully at me, and say, “Baldy, ten pounds -of grain without fixings isn’t much to offer a man’s best cobber, is it? -Never mind, old chap, we’re coping very well—very well, you and I.” - -Once Bill was away for seven days; and when he came back I noticed that -he was stable-guard for a whole fortnight. I thought it rather good of -Bill to look after the horses for such a long time without a break. I -heard all about it afterwards. Bill and the sergeant—a big, ugly bloke -like a Gyppo—were talking near me, and I overheard Bill’s final remark. -“Yes,” he said, “I’d be a stableman for a month if I could get those -three days in Cairo again.” Ah, Bill! what were you doing? While he was -away in Cairo we had a little stunt to blow up a railway line; and -because I was a good worker, the big Gyppo bloke passed me on for the -occasion. The chap who rode me was a dopey kind of individual, and, -although the stunt was only to occupy thirty hours, he loaded me up with -all sorts of gear, and forgot my lunch-bag. We came home in the night -time in a fog, tried to find Tel el Fara, and circled about all over the -place until I got tired of it, and wanted to make for home and a feed; -but my dopey rider kept with the column, refusing to be guided by me. On -another stunt, I just side-stepped the “Killed in Action” return by a -hair. Jacko sent across a few shells in our direction, and one of them -landed right underneath a horse next to me and sent him West. Two others -were as full of holes as a colander, but we got them home. Strangely, -the horses on my side of the burst were untouched, and merely suffered -from slight shock. - -The summer of 1917 was what Bill called a “snifter”—he also called it -other things. Day after day, on those wind-swept, dust-covered plains of -Southern Palestine, we stood in the heat and sweated from sunrise to -sunset; during the night we shivered with the cold, and were wet with -the dew and mist. Then there came rumours of a big stunt. It was good to -hear that a big stunt was at last spoken about, not only because we got -more attention prior to it, but because we would be leaving these -sun-baked plains behind, and doing something towards earning our -_tibbin_. It was on 28th October that Bill loaded my saddle, and rode me -away towards Beersheba with the Squadron. From there onwards to Jaffa we -dodged shells and planes, and existed on a very scanty ration. (Even -Bill complained now and again.) We went without water on more than one -occasion for sixty hours on end; and we had many weary night marches. -Just after we left Beersheba I lost a good pal. She was following the -General’s car, and had a despatch-rider in the saddle; and while doing a -stiff gallop she stumbled, fell, and rolled over—dead. I think her death -was due to lack of water, since she had had none for three days. She was -a dear old thing, and I have yarned away many an hour with her. She died -as I would like to die—a soldier. - -Winter caught us at Jaffa, and the rain came down unceasingly day and -night. Here I had a lot of trouble with our labour corps—the mules. They -were a hungry lot of cannibals, and, not being satisfied with a ration -of grain, they used to break away from their lines at night and eat our -rugs. Some of them even gnawed the hair and tail off a sick pal of -mine—he did look a wreck in the morning! Another inconvenience was that -I shivered so much that I always shook the rug off, no matter how -careful Bill was about putting it on. The early part of 1918 was a time -of wind, cold, rain, rocks and mud, and stunts amongst tremendous hills. -We had a most exciting time then, and I often wonder how it was I kept -out of hospital. Later on, when we stopped in the Valley, I tried to -“swing it” a bit, and succeeded in bluffing the sergeant; but the vet -knew too much for me, and so I remained. Fortunately, we moved back to -Bethlehem, where the bracing hill air, and the sight of the olive trees, -made a new horse of me. - -Our last big stunt was rather pleasant, as well as most profitable. -(Bill agreed with me in that.) We again went to Amman, and this time -captured all the Jackos in that part of the world; it was quite a -different affair from that first Amman stunt, when I slipped on the -muddy track and almost went overboard into a wady some hundreds of feet -below. After we had collected all the gear which Jacko had left behind, -we turned our heads west, came through Jericho, and passed up into the -hills. We stopped for a day at Jerusalem, and then travelled down to the -coastal plains near Jaffa. We returned to Richon to recuperate, and to -await further developments. - -Now our masters are talking of going home, and I hear them whisper in -the lines—“Yes, they’ll remain behind”—“Ah! They’ve done their work -bravely and well”—“I wonder what will happen to them?” Bill is going -home; to-day he came to me and told me so. “Good-bye, Baldy, old -comrade. You’ve been a good pal to me,” he said; and then he was gone. -Here at Richon I would like to stay with Bill, and end my days. Richon, -with its trees, its vines, its orchards, recalls my early life in some -strange way; its fertile fields and pleasant surroundings make the -desert days seem but a bad dream of long ago; and in its shady lanes, -the toilsome hills and the rain, and the dust of the Valley, are -forgotten. But Bill is gone! I must stay behind! Let them shoot me—and -quickly—for I would go to that land of eternal sunlight, there to wait -until Bill calls to me.... Then together we shall gallop for ever over -the plains. - - E. L. D. HUSBAND. - - - - -[Illustration] - - THE HORSES STAY BEHIND - - - In days to come we’ll wander west and cross the range again; - We’ll hear the bush birds singing in the green trees after rain; - We’ll canter through the Mitchell grass and breast the bracing wind: - But we’ll have other horses. Our chargers stay behind. - - Around the fire at night we’ll yarn about old Sinai; - We’ll fight our battles o’er again; and as the days go by - There’ll be old mates to greet us. The bush girls will be kind - Still our thoughts will often wander to the horses left behind. - - I don’t think I could stand the thought of my old fancy hack - Just crawling round old Cairo with a ’Gyppo on his back. - Perhaps some English tourist out in Palestine may find - My broken-hearted waler with a wooden plough behind. - - No; I think I’d better shoot him and tell a little lie:— - “He floundered in a wombat hole and then lay down to die.” - May be I’ll get court-martialled; but I’m damned if I’m inclined - To go back to Australia and leave my horse behind. - - _Trooper Bluegum._ - -[Illustration: - - EVENING AMONGST THE JUDEAN HILLS -] - -[Illustration: - - A CAMP IN THE DESERT - - _Photos, in colour by Capt. Frank Hurley_ -] - - - - - One Too Many - - -It was a hell of a night. Thunder enough to wake the “Jacko” dead, and -raining fit to swamp old Solomon’s Pool. I was a good ten miles from -camp, and it was with a dinkum bullocky’s curse that I swung into the -saddle again and turned the pony’s nose for home. For about an hour we -battled along, and then the supply dump at S—— hove in sight. Glad of a -brief respite, I guided him toward it, and for a few minutes we rested -in the shelter of a huge stack of _tibbin_. - -The rain had eased off, and for a brief second a sickly-looking moon -gazed down on things earthly. That was what started the trouble. - -An Algerian guard was on duty, and, to the initiated, there is no need -to say more than that. You might trick a Tommy or induce a Billjim to -look the other way, but the man who beats an Algerian is going some. - -But, as I was saying, it was the moon that caused the trouble. When she -took that peep from behind her cloud bank she gazed fair on to four -shadowy figures, each surmounted by a bag of barley and a felt hat. - -Chuckling a little, she dodged behind the clouds again; but it was too -late. The mischief had been done, and in a trice the “shadowy figures” -found themselves surrounded by about a dozen sons of the Sahara and a -like number of business-like bayonets. - -The result was a confused babble of voices for ten minutes, and then a -procession to the Supply Officer’s tent. From where I was standing I -could see and hear everything that passed, and everybody seemed to be -trying to talk at once. As the “shadowy figures” could not speak a word -of Arabic, and the Algerians vice versa, the result was laughable. But -with the advent of the Supply Officer things took a different turn. He -had been wakened from a sound sleep, and was arrayed in the pink pyjamas -the girl had sent him, and a desire to be “firm in the matter.” He had -no knowledge of Arabic, and was placing the “shadowy figures” under -guard pending the arrival of an interpreter in the morning. - -That would have been serious for the said “shadowy figures,” so I -decided to see whether I could help them at all. I had borrowed a -cobber’s flash civvy raincoat in the morning, and that and the Jacko -pony I rode must have made the S.O. think I was an officer. Anyhow, he -greeted me very decently; and when I told him I could yabber Arabic -pretty fluently, he was more than delighted at my arrival. - -Well, for a good ten minutes I did the interpreter stunt, and then I got -him to dismiss the guard. - -Then I opened the case for the defence. I pictured to him the love of -the Colonial for his horse, the long night rides, and a dozen other -pitiful things, and altogether put up such a beautiful tale that even -old Judge Jeffreys would have had to declare the accused “Not guilty.” -So the S.O. decided to give the “shadowy figures” a stern lecture, take -their names and numbers, and refer the matter to their O.C. next -morning. Forth came the note-book and down went the particulars. I am -pretty hard in the dial, but I was glad he was not looking my way then. -For every one of the four had a number with six figures in it and -belonged to the 19th Light Horse Regiment, 9th Light Horse Brigade. - -Luckily, he was a new man out, or the bluff wouldn’t have worked. But it -did, and that was all that mattered then. He gave them the lecture, and -in it repeated often, “I’ve been one too many for you fellows this time, -what!”. Then he let them go, and as they left the tent the last one -winked at me, and in that wink there was a world of mystery. - -Five minutes later I was in the saddle again and thinking hard. I was -wondering where the “shadowy figures” had left their horses, and whether -they would bump further trouble on the way home. Then I remembered a -young wady that runs by the side of the dump and turned the pony’s head -toward it. Half-way to it, I met them coming back. But where there had -been four “shadowy figures” there were SIX, and where there should have -been four horses there were ten. And the spare nags were loaded heavily, -too. The chap who gave me the wink told me the rest of the yarn, and -here it is. - -Two of them had acted as horse-holders while the other four had carried -out the raiding part of the business. Three times they had returned -without mishap, and it was on the fourth trip that the moon peeped out -and made a mess of things. - -It started to rain again then, so we parted; they to their bivvies and I -to a sharp trot home. - -Two hours after the sun came up, the chap who was “one too many” rolled -out of bed and prepared his report for the O.C. 19th Light Horse -Regiment, 9th Light Horse Brigade. - - “ANON” - -[Illustration: - - WADY NIMRIN - Along whose banks the A.L.H. had many sharp fights - - ARAB AGENTS ARRIVING FROM A TRIP ACROSS THE DEAD SEA - - GERMAN PRISONERS IN JERICHO -] - -[Illustration: - - MEAL TIME -] - -[Illustration: - - “SHE’S BOILING” -] - - - - - “The Light that Failed” - - (And some that didn’t) - - -Among the many examples of ingenuity displayed by Billjim on service, -the manufacture of illuminants, if you will pardon the prolixity, shines -out the most brilliantly. The Sun itself is considered to be a pretty -perfect and economical source of light, but it is not infallible. The -annoying habit it has of dodging off about sundown excludes it from the -category of the perfectly perfect, and Billjim is forced to procure a -substitute to enable him to relieve the tedium of his evenings with the -exhilarating influence of two-up, poker, swapping yarns and other -harmless pursuits. - -The issue candle is, of course, the recognized form of illuminant; but -by the time the Greatest, the Sub-Greatest, the Q-Emmer, the -Orderly-Room Ogre and the Sigs get their cut, the stock is usually -depleted to a mere skeleton of its former fat self, and the -insignificant stump that is left to shed its radiance around the humble -bivvies of the rank and file, is, as often as not, irretrievably lost to -sight owing to the shortage of telescopes in the unit’s equipment. Hence -the exercise of Billjim’s ingenuity. - -Some devices were truly efficient, others resembled the seeds that fell -on stony ground; while one I know of was positively dangerous. The one -in question was disapproved of from its very inception. The wise ones -shook their heads dubiously, and opined that it was sheer flying in the -face of Providence to use one’s issue of rum for the sacrilegious -purpose of making air-gas for a blooming light. After the explosion -occurred, and the blasphemous one was struck off the strength, they -said, “I told him so,” and everybody was satisfied. - -The most popular form is the slush-light, which is simply composed of -any old thing that will hold grease, and any kind of grease that will -fit into it; first, a layer of sand or clay is dumped into the jam, -milk, cigarette or other tin; then a wick made of “3 x 2,” or issue -flannelette, wrapped around a thin pine stick, is stuck upright in the -middle of the sand or clay; and finally the grease is introduced, the -quantity being governed by the amount one has been able to acquire. It -is on record that some chaps have had the effrontery to use dubbin, yes, -“dubbin!” but, of course, this is not official, just common furphy. - -Next to the slushie comes the bottle-o; but to employ this it is -necessary to have the above-mentioned rarity, candle. For candle one is -not wholly dependent on the “issue” brand, for it has been known to be -purchaseable at the canteen—when those institutions are in the vicinity. -Supposing the possession of candle to be an established and material -fact, the next necessity is a clear-glass bottle; old lime-juice bottles -are excellent, and they can be found outside any officers’ mess, or the -messes of troopers who “did a trot.” The bottom of the bottle is knocked -out by insistent but vigorous tapping with the marlin-spike of a -jack-knife till a hole is broken through, and then the rest is chipped -off in small instalments till the end is quite out. The candle is then -pared at the bottom end to fit the slope of the bottle neck, and a deep -groove gouged in it, the candle, to admit air. Apply a match to the -candle, drop it into the inverted bottle, and there is your light. If it -is not very windy, of course, all that is necessary is to drop some -melted grease on someone else’s tin hat, and stick the candle in it; -simple, isn’t it? - -There are a few of the lesser Edisons who eliminate disturbance by wind -by curling a legging around the candle; but only a very narrow chink of -light exudes from its gaping edges, and the odour of singeing leather is -not pleasant. - -One of the finest ideas was a combination of the slushie and the -bottle-o. A squat chutney-bottle that fitted snugly into a toffee tin, -was found, and the quality and steadiness of the light generated made -drawn filament look painfully experimental. Some wire _tibbin_ bands -secure the “globe” to the body, at the same time forming a handle. - -The designs, elaborations and embellishments of the original idea are -practically numberless; they range from the primitive cremation of a -religious aunt’s epistles and incriminating love effusions up to the -princely slushie-cum-bottle-o; and they radiate in all classes of -bivvies, and shed their glory on the tangle of the newly erected as -brightly as on the white-stoned splendour of the resident. - -With these remarks, and any necessary apologies to the Dinkum Military -Scribe, I shall leave them to shine on the just and the unjust, like -their mighty lord, the Sun. - - “SARG.” - -[Illustration: - - DEFENCES IN THE GHORANIYEH BRIDGEHEAD -] - -[Illustration: - - THE BRICKMAKER -] - -[Illustration: - - A TYPICAL ARAB VILLAGE -] - -[Illustration: - - 4th LIGHT HORSE BRIGADE WATERING HORSES AT THE JORDAN -] - - - - - A Night March - - -At twilight, when the air is cool, we prepare for our second consecutive -night march. Overcoats and mufflers are put on, saddles are inspected to -see that all is secure. Later it will be too dark, and we too tired to -attend to such matters. - -After a short wait we move off. Two to three hours steady plodding -through the darkness, with the effects of fatigue scarcely noticeable. -Then, suddenly, an utter weariness assails us, numbing limbs, distorting -vision, and rendering minds a prey to tantalizing and disturbing -thoughts—thoughts that mock and taunt; thoughts of feather beds and -roaring fires; thoughts that accentuate our weariness and awake us to -the realization of the cold. - -We ride, with drooping eyelids, a swaying body, and a precarious seat, -surrendered to the inevitable. - -The column halts, and simultaneously we fall forward on our horses’ -necks, hoping to ease our aching limbs. Hoping against hope to hear the -order to dismount. A jerk, our horses move forward again, and -disappointedly we resign ourselves to the further delusions of minds -tortured from want of sleep. - -Visions become distorted, we visualize the objects of our thoughts. A -thought of water, and the road becomes a flowing stream. Thoughts of -horses and trees, and in the darkness arises a village—a village that -remains ever in the distance, and endures only so long as our thoughts -are of villages. The horse ahead moves strangely; it appears to be -dancing, and has taken unto itself the shape of a beast of prehistoric -ages. By an effort of will we shake off this state of semi-somnolence, -and, for a time, see things in their normal shapes again. - -At last, the order to dismount. Tumbling off we throw ourselves down at -our horses’ feet, indifferent to our position and its possibilities. -With heads pillowed on arms, water-bottles or haversacks, we endeavour -to win a few minutes respite. Follows sleep and blissful -unconsciousness, until friendly hands awake us, and wearily we rise to a -repetition of the last hour. On moving off some walk and lead their -horses, stepping out briskly in an endeavour to dispel the -ever-increasing drowsiness. It succeeds whilst walking, but a reaction -sets in on regaining the saddle, leaving the walker in worse plight than -ever. - -With nerves on edge, we curse the numerous and apparently purposeless -halts, become uncomplimentary about our leaders, revile horses for -jogging and stumbling, warn companions of the damage they are likely to -do if they persist in being careless with their rifles. Cheerful and -good-tempered soldiers are few at 03.00. - -And so on until we hail with relief the approach of dawn, which dispels -the hallucinations of darkness. - - “ARAM.” - -[Illustration: - - ROMAN FORT, JERICHO -] - -[Illustration: - - HORSES UNDER COVER - - A. L. HORSE IN CAMP - - 2nd A. L. H. MARCHING THROUGH KHAN YUNIS -] - - - - - A Gloomy Outlook - - -Amidst the universal joy—booming of guns, ringing of church bells, -cheering, and the screeching of ships’ sirens—I am gloomy and ill at -ease. I cannot share in the thanksgiving and tumultuous welcome of -Peace; my mind is dark with foreboding, oppressed by thoughts of three -things that have made so many happy lives miserable during the Great -War. - -With the knowledge that huge stocks of dubbin, bully and biscuits are on -hand, how can a chap be joyful? They must be disposed of—not cast into -the incinerator—and thoughts of the woe that they will cause make me -sorrowful. - -The war has ended, and with it the need for dubbin. Stacks of the -beastly stuff must be disposed of before we are demobilized. There is no -market for it, and nobody would take it as a gift. Offer it to a Light -Horseman or a driver, and you would see stars not of the firmament. But -I’m sure that The Heads won’t let it be wasted. It’ll be read out in -orders soon, that all saddlery and harness must be anointed with dubbin -once daily and twice on Sundays. There’s a good time coming! - -Bully and biscuits are even dearer than dubbin to the granite hearts of -Q.M.’s, but they’ll have to issue them now by the ton. Rapid consumption -is the only way to get rid of the pyramids of B and B left on hand -through Fritz throwing in the towel sooner than the Supply Office -anticipated. - -Army biscuits are beyond the capacity of Gyppos and Bedouin; if we -strewed them broadcast over Palestine, they would lie there untouched, -and ruin all agricultural prospects: even a stump-proof plough would -crumple up if it struck an army biscuit. We can’t dump our stocks in the -sea: think what would happen in a collision between a liner and an A. -B.! No; we’ve got to eat the lot, empty every tin of bully and biscuits, -and take the consequences like heroes. - - “ARAM.” - -[Illustration: - - _FROM GENERAL CHAYTORS HDQTS._ - - _After the Battle of BIR EL ABD_ -] - -[Illustration: - - _THE FIELD OF BATTLE - FOR - RICHON LE ZION_ - - _Morning 15th Nov_ -] - -[Illustration: - - _THE BATTLE of BEERSHEBA_ - - _Drawn for Anzac M^{td} Div Hd Qts KHASHIM ZANA_ -] - - - - -[Illustration] - - Reconciliation - - - Full many a time we’ve known the call to arms, - The sudden storm ... the aching aftermath, - When spent companions slumbered ’neath the palms, - And wooden crosses marked the wake of wrath. - - Full often have we saddled up and sped - Over the sand, sweeping along at large, - Braving the fitful hurricanes of lead, - Galloping down resistance in the charge. - - Mute sorrow and great hardship have been ours, - Long journeyings and escapades in force— - But have we not beheld the poppy-flowers - Nodding in red confusion on our course? - - Yea, we have crossed the woeful waste of sand, - Left sorrow far behind; and we have heard - The skylarks carolling in the Holy Land, - Where flower and tree commune with bee and bird. - - “GERARDY.” - - - - -[Illustration] - - Mail Day - - -“The mail’s in!” The glad tidings are tossed from lip to lip and shouted -down the lines, outstripping, and for the time suppressing, the current -furphies, “Furlough to Australia,” “Peace Negotiations,” “A big Stunt,” -and similar creations of the idle imaginative mind. - -“There’s a mail in!”—A magic wand has been waved above the troops by an -unseen hand and weariness and even sleep are banished from the war-worn -soldiers. Even the sick are interested, and their eyes light up with an -eager look of expectancy. - -“There’s a mail in!” The chronic grouser forgets to grouse, the lead -swinger lays aside the lead and, for the time, his petty pains, and they -join the eager throng around the perspiring orderlies who are struggling -with the jumbled mass of letters, papers and parcels, bringing chaos to -order, sorting mail into squadrons and then into troops, ere it can be -distributed. - -What a study are the faces of that watching throng; what a joyous gleam -leaps into the sleep-laden eyes of a tired youngster who has caught a -glimpse of a letter addressed in the well-known hand of the mother who -waits at home. - -There is a youth just from school, who has not yet tasted the mad joy of -battle, of a ding-dong mix up, when death shrieks through the air -missing one by inches, by hairbreadths. Here, too, is the war-hardened -warrior, who knew Anzac before the Suvla advance, who has met, fought -and beaten the Turk from Romani to Jericho, the hero of a hundred -fights, of scraps fought out on lonely patrol, that the world knows -naught of, though to the individual they are more fraught with peril -than a big battle. - -To soldiers mail day is a day of bliss. Recruit or warrior, their faces -portray the emotions that are surging through their breasts. Their eyes -grow bright with eagerness as they watch the pile of mail assume shape -and order under the deft hands of the postal orderlies. - -Men moving out on outpost or patrol shout to their mates, “Get my mail, -Jack,” “Get mine,” and ride off casting longing eyes at that waiting -crowd; with joyful hearts they move out into the night, to outwit the -enemy or return no more. But what care they—for it is mail day! - -Before dawn, outpost and patrol return, weary and with sleep-laden eyes. -They off-saddle and picket their horses, and dash into the bivvies for -their mail. Matches are struck surreptitiously, candles are lighted and -hidden by blankets, for lights are forbidden when in touch with the -enemy; and thus are the letters eagerly read. Often Billjim falls asleep -from sheer exhaustion, the last letter still clutched in his hand, and -dreams of his Australian home; the fragrance of gum and wattle blossom -are wafted to him from overseas on the cool night breeze. - -Mail day, the most joyous and most tragic in a soldier’s life, brings -messages of love and trust from dear ones, messages of faith and praise -from friends; and at times news that is sorrow-laden. - - “WIL COX.” - -[Illustration] - - - - - A Day Over the Lines - - -In the language of the Corps, “there was something doing,” for from dawn -till dark machines had been coming and going on the aerodrome almost -without a break; in fact, it was “some day.” - -Just as the first grey streaks of dawn crept over the horizon the roar -of a couple of hostile aircraft patrol machines taking off woke an -otherwise peaceful camp. An hour later the orderly officer was bustling -round two more machines, which were to leave on the early morning -reconnaissance of the country behind the actual scene of operations and -along the Turkish lines of communication, to search for any signs of -fresh concentrations or reinforcements being hurried up. - -At two hour intervals machines left in couples to patrol above our lines -and prevent any possibility of Boche machines sneaking over, either to -watch the movements of our troops or to bomb them; for, during a stunt, -it was just as important for us to keep the Hun blind as to keep our own -eyes well skinned. - -[Illustration] - -To me fell the first patrol, and a call from the Orderly Officer at 3.30 -a.m. was not received with the utmost courtesy. After hot tea and toast -by candle light, we scrambled into warm leather coats, woollen-lined -boots, gloves and helmets, and climbed aboard. By the time I had -inspected my guns and the usual contents of the cockpit, the engine was -ticking over and we were ready to start. It was still dark enough, as we -took off, for the pilot to need all his lamps alight to see the various -instruments, and, as we climbed, the crisp morning air set our blood -tingling with the joy of living. When above the clouds at about 8000 -feet the first rays of the rising sun shot across the sky, and very -shortly the clouds, which until then had been snowy white, were bathed -in a crimson glow that held us spell-bound with its beauty. Primarily, -the crests of those billowy mists were tipped as with a wand of fire -whilst, as we ascended into space and the sun gradually rose above the -horizon, the colour spread over that sea of cloud until it appeared like -a stupendous stream of lava belched forth from some volcano which, after -years of quiescence, had suddenly burst into activity. - -[Illustration: - - GOT HIM COLD - - _By Lieut. O. H. Coulson_ -] - -[Illustration] - -I have seen many sunrises under varying conditions, sunrises at whose -beauty I marvelled, but never before had I witnessed anything that could -come within coo-ee of the riotous blaze of colour that lay spread -beneath us, covering the Holy Land, as it were, with a cloth of gold. It -disappeared from view, however, all too soon, for, as the sun gained in -strength and we in height, the colour slowly faded from fiery brilliance -to a delicate pink until, finally, the clouds once again showed up in -all their glistening purity. - -It seemed impossible to realize, whilst nature was all aglow beneath us, -that war was being waged with all its relentless cruelty, that guns were -sending forth their messengers of death and pain, and, above all, that -we, who had been privileged to witness the glory of God’s handiwork, -were scanning the heavens for something in the way of Hun airmen to -kill. To me it seemed a sacrilege that, on such a glorious day, hate -should be animating the hearts of men, and that I should be a willing -agent, eager for an opportunity of sending a fellow-mortal crashing to -earth and death. The Hun, however, evidently deeming discretion the -better part of valour, did not put in an appearance, and when, after -three hours’ cruising up and down the lines, we returned to the -aerodrome, I believe I was pleased that I had not been, by force of -circumstances, compelled to share in sending some creature to meet his -Maker. - -So, throughout the day, the work went on, and, as a Hun “bus” was -reported to have bombed our troops in the early morning, every one of -our machines thereafter carried four bombs to drop on any suitable -target that offered itself. - -Whilst on afternoon reconnaissance, the observer located a large body of -enemy troops, and, immediately on receipt of his report, a bomb raid was -ordered on which every available machine was to be sent. Luckily, I was -detailed for escort duty, and it was a pleasant experience to watch the -bombing machines assembling overhead, as they arrived from the different -aerodromes, and took up the allotted formation. About 5 p.m. the leader -fired his light and thirty machines, like a flock of great birds, set -off on their journey to play havoc with our old friend, the Turk. After -dropping the bombs, all machines swooped down on the troops and used -their spare machine gun ammunition in shooting them up and generally -giving them a devil of a time. - -All good things come to an end, and, finally, we set out for home, which -we reached just as the sun, a ball of fire, was sinking to rest. The -machines, glistening white in the reflected sunlight, resembled a flock -of swans coming home, as, in slow, stately circles, one by one, they -glided to earth. The Mediterranean, as calm and unruffled as a -mill-pond, reflected the glory of the sun until its surface glowed like -a sheet of burnished gold. By the time we, as escort, had seen the last -of our charges land in safety and commenced our own descent, the sun was -well below the skyline, and the narrow ribbon of the pink afterglow that -skirted the horizon was all that remained to remind us of the sun and -its glory. - - H. BOWDEN FLETCHER. - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration: - - THE END OF THE SCRAP - - _By Lieut. O. H. Coulson_ -] - -[Illustration: - - TURKISH PRISONERS AT ES SALT -] - -[Illustration: - - JERICHO -] - -[Illustration: - - NAZARETH FROM THE AIR -] - - - - - Mounts and Remounts - - -[Illustration] - -On my arrival at the Unit, I considered myself fortunate when the -corporal presented me with a fat, sleek remount, only lately up from the -Base. My suspicions were not aroused until, preparing to mount, I -discovered what an enormous supply of cameras the Troop possessed. All -classes seemed to be represented, from the V.P.K. pip-squeak to the -ponderous P.C. “Jericho Jane” variety. Maintaining a professional -attitude, I mounted. - -[Illustration] - -In my youthful days I’ve paid two shillings to see a horse perform -evolutions and gyroscope stunts not to be compared with the tricks that -animal unearthed. I had an irresistible tendency from the first to fall -off over the place where, in normal times, his head and neck should have -been. Finally, yielding to impulse, I descended to good Palestine mud -amid the shrieks of an ill-mannered crowd. Some imbecile sauntered up -and said, “By jove, matey, if you could only have stopped up another -five secs. I would have had one of the best snaps in the Unit.” I -wouldn’t trust my reply to a green envelope. The sergeant remarked that -horsemanship didn’t seem to be my forte, so I informed him that my -marching-in papers proclaimed me a flag-wagger, not a Bronco Buster. - -[Illustration] - -“Right,” said he, “take Maaleesh.” - -[Illustration] - -I took him, for better or for worse, and went to make his acquaintance. -That horse didn’t belie his name. Maaleeshness fairly radiated from him, -from his huge, out-of-proportion head that an A.S.C. mule might envy, to -his stump of a tail, the missing part of which had provided food for a -hungry moke on the Jaffa stunt. What was left of it provided me with -food for reflection. - -He wasn’t a bad horse. As the Troop farrier said, he had no vice in him. -The trouble was, he was as devoid of energy or grey matter as he was of -vice. He progressed at a lumbering shuffle, with his head low down after -the manner of a cow-catcher on a locomotive. He had also acquired a -taste for feed-bags, and was blessed with a very good appetite. Every -time I fed him he disposed of _tibbin_, grain and nose-bag. The day -before we went on the stunt Maaleesh contracted Spanish Influenza, and -on the vet administering that panacea for all equine ailments, a ball, -he barracked and refused to move. - -Then I was handed over to the tender mercies of “Lofty.” The lancejack, -who knew a bit about horses, confidently informed me that Lofty was one -of those horses that never carry much condition, and he knew a horse at -Cunnawulla.... I hastily agreed with him, especially the former part of -his statement. We looked at Lofty, who favoured us with an apathetic -stare. If the third generation theory is correct, Lofty’s granddad was a -camel. Going through a neighbouring town I was No. 1 of the section, and -being of a sensitive nature, it hurt me to see the people laugh; but -Lofty appeared indifferent. - -The first day out he chewed up two signal flags and all the -straps on my mate’s gear. Half-way through the stunt he -faced the East, struck a prayerful attitude and, with a -don’t-give-a-hang-if-you-shoot-me-I-won’t-move expression in his eyes, -prepared to rest. Our sergeant shot him, whereupon he displayed more -agility than anyone had hitherto thought he possessed, and gambolled off -over a ridge. A sympathetic New Zealander recaptured him, but took -warning from the black looks and wild gesticulations of the mob. Shortly -afterward a report was heard. Lofty’s soul had gone West. Visions of the -photo I intended to send to my best girl, of my illustrious self mounted -on a fiery charger, faded into oblivion; and as I transferred my -trappings to a spare mule, I vaguely wondered, from force of habit, what -characteristic and peculiarities my new mount possessed. - - “ACRABAH.” - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration: - - “A LIGHT HORSE TYPE” - - _By W. O. David Barker_ -] - - - - - Concerning Medical Blokes - - -The Army Medical Corps is a chain of many links. Let the lay mind which -has condensed its conception of the Corps’ duties into “picking up the -wounded,” reflect upon an interwoven organization of Base Hospitals, -Convalescent Homes and Rest Camps; Auxiliary Hospitals, Isolation -Hospitals and Dermatological Hospitals; Stationary Hospitals (which are -liable to move about) and Casualty Clearing Hospitals—we are working up -the chain from the back to the front—Motor Ambulance Units and Hospital -Trains and Hospital Ships; Divisional Receiving Stations, Field Dental -Units, Field Operating Units and Field Laboratories (these all hear the -firing of the guns); Field Ambulances (which comprise within themselves -Field Hospitals), Dressing Stations and Advanced Dressing Stations -(these get bullets through their tents and shells in their bivvies); -and, end of the chain, the Medical Blokes with the Regiments. They are -the last link; they are the tip of the longest tentacle of the Medical -octopus. Truly, modesty forbids me from adding that they are the -sweetest violet in the bunch. - -[Illustration] - -The Medical Blokes are detailed from the Ambulance at the rate of an -N.C.O. and one man to each Regiment. Thereafter they become part and -parcel of that Regiment; live with it, move with it, minister to it; -share its trials, troubles, tribulations, triumphs and rum issues. -Nevertheless, in cold, official fact, they still belong to the -Ambulance, being upon its supernumerary strength—“attached for duty and -discipline to the Xth Regiment.” This little complication has its -unsuspected advantages, for it sometimes breeds in the mind of an R.S.M. -a shade of doubt as to exactly how far the Medical Blokes come within -his jurisdiction, and he is constrained to permit them a certain -independence of existence and exemption from routine. They obey -“Reveille;” they approximate their appearance on the horse-lines, to -groom, feed and water, as nearly to the Regimental schedule as the -exigencies of the medical service permit; they generally manage to -scratch an instant to be present at the cook-house at meal times; at the -Quartermaster’s bivvy when he is doling out rations, and at the Orderly -Room on pay-day. Their liabilities discharged, they are left free to -order their time as they please. They are usually to be found lurking in -the medical tent, though they sometimes go to earth in a bivvy pitched -somewhere in its vicinity. - -[Illustration] - -In addition to the two above-mentioned stalwarts, the Regimental medical -establishment carries a Medical Officer and an offsider, a trooper of -the Regiment, detailed for the job, who, in course of time, is likely to -become so imbued with the spirit of his surroundings that he is not to -be distinguished from genuine Medical Blokes themselves. Nominally he is -intended for water duties; to carry out daily at the area drinking-water -supply the mysterious rite (known to the uninitiated as “chlorinating” -and to the rank and file as “poisoning”) by which the further existence -of cholera and other germs in the water is discouraged. He is the man -responsible for making the water taste as if there were a very dead -camel lying a hundred yards further up the stream whence it was drawn; -while tea made with it always seems to have been cut with an oniony -knife. Yet he deserves a certain amount of pity. If he over-chlorinates, -the whole Brigade will blaspheme him and his activities; if he -under-chlorinates, Medical Officers accuse him of encouraging epidemic; -and the happy medium of chlorination is so deucedly elusive that he -never strikes it! - -By way of transport for their chattels the Medical Blokes have a cart, -called Maltese, a square contrivance on two wheels and no springs, drawn -by three horses abreast. You can pick it out on the road at the tail end -of the Regimental transport in company with the water-cart. It is -invariably overloaded with what looks like a lunatic’s purchases at a -bargain auction sale—or somebody’s goods undergoing a back street -removal—baskets, bottles, barrels, boxes, bedding, brushes, blankets, -bivvies, buckets, to say nothing of all the things which begin with -other letters of the alphabet. The driver of the cart is not a Medical -Bloke; he is a Philistine from the transport lines. - -[Illustration] - -There are cinema-and-picture-nourished imaginations at Home who fancy -war as one unending, crimson, bloody pageant of battle, whereas it is -merely a different sort of humdrum existence from their own, with -occasional violent patches of excitement. Also, they worship the A.M.C. -man as the Red Cross Hero of the Piece, whereas ... never mind. But you -will grant me that, of all the A.M.C. personnel, the Medical Bloke gets -nearest to the heroic rôle. He shares the hazards of a fighting unit; he -is an all-but combatant. When the squadrons go out to fight he sloughs -all his bulky baggage, puts gauze, wool, bandages, iodine and scissors -into his haversack, and follows. Comes at dawn—we have branded dawn for -ever as the battle hour—a moment when a ragged, scattered line of men -begin to walk forward up the gentle slope of a low ridge. This is -attack. The split and scatter of shrapnel, the hiss-bang-crash of H.E., -and z-z-z-en of flying fragments, make death a chance in the shallow -gully. But the top of the ridge is the edge of open, machine gun-swept -country. It is a hundred yards to the crest—and death for someone. This -Medical Bloke, the wind well up, has shrunk himself into a crevice and -waits for a call. He desires nothing better than to stay there. He -watches the men walking up the slope—such everyday, wise, silly, plain, -good, bad, smart, childish men—just simply walking up the slope. And in -that moment our Medical Bloke realizes that they are better men than he, -because they are walking up that slope of which _he_ is afraid. Are they -better? He is walking, rather slowly, up the slope now. He runs a few -steps and drops behind cover on the crest, and waits for the need that -will call him. Fate grants him a few minutes’ spell, and then puts him -to the test. “Stretcher-bearers!” they cry to the left. The Medical -Bloke can see two men bending over the third, and he faces one of those -decisions which mould character. Quite properly, he may wait until they -carry the man to him, behind cover (there are troopers whose hazardous -duty it is to act as stretcher-bearers), or he may walk out and help. He -walks out as steady as he can; it is quicker and ... well, what peculiar -right has a Medical Bloke to the safety of cover when the men are “out -there”? - -[Illustration] - -It is little enough can be done in action for the wounded; to cut away -the blood-clotted clothing, to clap a rough dressing of iodine and gauze -on the wound, or a crude splint on a smashed limb; to get the man to -comparative cover, to rig some sort of a shade over him and to give him -water; and then to wait—for the M.O. to come with the skill that soothes -and the hypodermical needle of comfort. But the bitterest game of -patience on earth is played when the tide of battle fails to flow -onward, and the wounded lie all the livelong, sun-tormented day in the -fire-swept zone, and the Medical Blokes can only watch and wait for -nightfall to give safe-conduct to the ambulance carts or the camels, -with great, unwieldy, white cacolets, which come to carry their poor -shattered charges to sanctuary. - -[Illustration] - -Believe me, romantic reader, that I will now reveal the true _raison -d’être_ of Medical Blokes; the nature of their life-work, their excuse -for existing. It is not, bless you, ministering to the wounded under -fire. It _is_ merely to bandage up septic sores and to distribute a -variety of pills, most commonly known in the proportion of “two of these -and one of those.” - -[Illustration] - -The daily life of the Medical Bloke hinges on “Sick Parade.” It is the -Daily Event. The M.O. sits enthroned in the Medical Tent. Orderly -corporals present their list of competitors. One by one they enter and -face the Presence. Pulses, tongues, throats, eyes, temperatures are -submitted to scrutiny. The questing stethoscope roams over bared bosoms -and backs. Each man speaks his piece—the most sick say least and the -least sick say most, as a general rule. - -“Give him two of these and one of those,” prescribes the M.O., and the -victim, a handful of tablets clutched in his fist, retires. The rewards -to be gained by braving “Sick Parade” run up a scale from “Medicine and -Duty,” through “Light Duty” and “Exempt Duty,” to “Evacuate,” which last -is the coveted prize. - -“Go and get your gear together and be ready to go to the Ambulance,” -directs the Medical Bloke, and the patient sees at once visions of the -cushy comfort of a Base Hospital, wherein he may hope to wallow shortly. -He has netted a trip! - -Medical Blokes have a restless job. Sickness and accidents call upon -them at any time. Men drop into the Medical Tent at all hours of the day -and night for “a couple of pills for a headache,” or something else. -“Got any liniment?” is the next inquiry, followed by a request for -eye-lotion. In this country a scratch or a graze does not heal in the -course of things—it is just as likely to turn septic. Neglected, it -spreads and develops initiative; it breaks out in fresh places without -waiting for the skin to be knocked off. Hot foments and ointment -dressings are the cure. Bandaged hands are the badge of the Palestine -campaigner. Half the men, half the time, have either boils or septic -sores. They meander into the Medical Tent in pairs, and out of hours, to -get them bandaged. They are met there with scant courtesy—probably they -are the umpteenth interruption to the letter which the Medical Bloke is -trying to write; but I do not think it is often that they turn away -unattended to. The Medical Blokes are just ... your friends, servants -and comrades, the Medical Blokes. - - “LARRIE.” - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration: - - CONVALESCENT -] - -[Illustration: - - MOUNTING FIRST GUARD IN JERICHO -] - -[Illustration: - - HALT AND REST -] - -[Illustration: - - 1. CHURCH AND TOMB OF THE VIRGIN - - 2. JAFFA GATE, JERUSALEM - - 3. CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE, JERUSALEM - - 4. CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY, BETHLEHEM -] - - - - - The Signal Service - - -Scattered throughout Egypt and Palestine and Syria, in the community of -war-worn Australians, is a certain section known to the initiated as the -Engineer Signal Service of the Australian Imperial Force in Egypt. To -the casual Light Horseman they are “Sigs”—a vague and most inadequate -designation. Little is known of the Engineer Signaller and his work by -his brother of the Light Horse, whose one idea of signalling begins and -ends with the Regimental signaller, a being who shares with him the -pleasures and hardships of all stunts, but who is on a plane above, -because no piquets and fatigues are his. At home, the popular conception -of signalling is of a soldier standing on the last, lone, bullet-swept -ridge, coolly flag-wagging a message which turns a forlorn hope into a -brilliant victory, and earns for him Oblivion. Signalling, as the Signal -Service know it, is far from being a flag-wagging occupation; they find -themselves part of a well-planned business, which is based on -efficiency, and conducted with that thoroughness for detail only to be -found in an army. - - * * * * * - -“Sapper Smith, get your horse saddled up right away and report at the -Signal office. You need not worry about your tea—I’ll see it is kept for -you. You are only going to Romani.” - -The Squadron horses, after their first stunt on the desert of Sinai in -April, ’16, had been off-saddled and fed at Hill 40, so the order came -as a surprise. - -“Right-o! Corporal!” - -[Illustration] - -The horse was soon saddled, and Smith reported at the Signal office at -five o’clock. - -“What’s doing, Mac?” - -“Light Horse Brigade, Romani.” The signal-master read out the address as -he handed over the despatch to Smith. - -“Where’s Romani, Mac?” - -Mac, the signal-master, came outside and pointed across an unbroken -stretch of desert to the east. - -“About five miles in that direction, I think,” he replied. “Keep near -the railway line and you’ll be pretty right.” - -Smith departed, and rode out into the gathering dusk of the East. He had -never heard of Romani before, nor did he know how many miles he had to -travel across this desert, where the Turk had been but a few hours ago, -to reach the place; so he spurred his horse on over the heavy sand and -covered four miles in quick time. - -“We ought to be there before dark.” He spoke to the horse rather than to -himself. “We’ve covered a good four miles now.” - -He rode on over the level places, climbed the loose sand of the steep, -razor-backed dunes, and slid down their opposite slopes to the level -again, until another four miles had been crossed; yet he had not reached -Romani. The darkness found him still pushing east over the toilsome, -never-ending sand, with a set of new northern stars for guides. - -A desert dog started up at his horse’s feet, yelped away into the night, -and threw the horse into a panic of fear; a stunted bush loomed in the -darkness ahead and took on the shape of a crouching figure, sinister in -the gloom. Here was a dilemma! - -[Illustration] - -“Shall I let the horse bolt while I try to loosen my rifle? or is it -better to hang on to the horse and chance—ah! It is only a bush. Am I -near Romani yet?” - -Eight more weary miles slipped slowly by, the sandhills pressed in on -all sides, and ever the horse stumbled on gamely over loose sand and -steep ridges. - -“Yes, it’s a light.” - -Smith swayed in the saddle and spoke again. - -“Hooray! I’ve arrived,” he said. - -Some time after ten o’clock a wearied despatch-rider came out of the -night, handed in a despatch at its Romani address, obtained a receipt -and departed. Next morning Smith reported to the signal-master and -handed him the receipted slip for his despatch. - -“How far is it to Romani, Mac?” was all he remarked. - - * * * * * - -At Ed Dhaberiye, and at Tel Khuweilfeh, in the hills to the north-east -of Bir el Saba, the fight waged hot during the first week of November, -’17. That week is one to be remembered by the cable troop of the -squadron; in it they knew no rest, for they worked night and day on the -communications, and laid miles of cable to and from the Brigades. - -[Illustration: - - A SIGNAL OFFICE IN THE FIELD - - _By T. H. Ivers_ -] - -[Illustration] - -“Corporal Dawk!” - -“Here, sir,” responded Dawk from behind one of the cable-wagons where he -had been trying to dispose of a hasty meal. - -“Hook in your team and get away to the 2nd Brigade with that line.” - -“Very good, sir.” - -Dawk turns to the drivers. - -“Get your horses in, Charlie; we’ve got another job. Hey! Gunner.” - -“What, again?” says Gunner, as he looks at his half-finished meal. - -“Come over, Baldy! Back, Ginger!” - -The polers are hooked up, and in a short space the wagon moves off to -the Signal office for final instructions. Gunner jumps down from the -body of the wagon, drags the end of the wire into the Signal office, and -then mounts and pulls out over the hill. - -The wagon rolls steadily over the rocky hills, reeling out the cable as -it proceeds. Darkness settles down, but this does not deter the cable -detachment. - -“Whoa!” roars the lead driver as a wady-bed opens up below him in the -darkness. “Steady with those horses behind—who’s in the pole?” - -“What’s the matter?” inquires Dawk, riding up to the leaders. - -“Oh, another wady; it looks pretty solid, too.” - -Dawk looks ahead, rides off to the right, and after a few minutes calls -out directions to the drivers. - -“This way with that wagon; you can get across here.” - -Charlie swings his leaders round and heads for the spot where Dawk’s -voice is heard. The wagon jolts over a rock, and lurches toward the wady -so closely that a huge lump of earth detaches itself from the steep bank -and rattles down on to the boulders beneath. - -“Get over to the right!” yells Gunner from the back of the wagon. “What -the blazes are you drivers doing? You’ll have the whole box and dice in -the wady in a minute!” - -[Illustration] - -“Get up, Tiger! Up, Ginger!” - -“Come over Baldy! Come over, you——!” - -The wagon draws away from the dangerous edge, swings round, and, with -rattling and bumping, descends into the wady-bed in a cloud of dust. The -horses bend their backs to the opposite bank and are urged up by the -drivers, who have risen in the stirrups and are leaning over their -necks. With a last effort the team pulls forward, the wagon jolts over -the top, and then stops. - -[Illustration] - -Harry, who was thrown from his seat at the back of the cable-wagon as it -bumped the wady-bed, comes limping up the slope. As he climbs into his -seat he makes a remark to Gunner. - -“That was a snifter!” he says. - -“My oath! a beaut.” - -More wady-beds open up, more detours are made, more dizzy descents and -stiff ascents are negotiated, until, at last, the wagon draws in to -Brigade Headquarters. The line is through, and everything is in -readiness for the attack at dawn. - - * * * * * - -“When you’ve done with that pack-saddle, I want to ‘inergate’ a scheme -with you.” - -“Yes, sir?” - -“This stunt is going to be a tough one, so I want you to see that all -your pack-sets are in good-going order, and that those pack-saddles are -fitted properly. Where are you putting the aerial load, Hook?” - -“Everything is ready now; I’m fixing this saddle for the masts.” - -“Right-o! And see that the farrier gets to work on those mules straight -away.” - -“Yes, sir. Have you any idea when we move out?” - -“I’ve no idea; in about a week, possibly.” - -Hook busied himself with the pack-saddle, fixing gadgets here and -knocking bits off there, until he had it to his satisfaction. All the -technical equipment—wireless sets, cable gear, etc.—had to be converted -for use on pack-saddles in this Amman business during March, ’18. - -[Illustration] - -Six days later the Squadron moved out in the rain, wound its way through -the Judean Hills, travelled over the Jordan Valley, crossed the river, -and passed up into the hills of Moab. - -No wagons or wheeled transport of any kind could possibly traverse those -tremendous hills, where the narrow track clung to the steep sides of the -hills and threatened to fall away over precipices into rock-fanged -valleys beneath. The rain poured down, and along the slippery track the -column wended its way, toiling in single file up steep hills and down -into precipitous valleys. The path became a river; water poured over the -rocky sides of the hills and rushed into the valleys below. Everybody -was wet through and greatcoats flapped soggily about weary legs; -dripping horsemen led their horses and stumbled and splashed along the -track; pack-horses and mules struggled and scrambled as their loads -slipped; but the column pushed on and reached a position at Amman after -two days and two nights of rain. - -“We cannot use the helios, and the cable is ‘dis’ somewhere back in the -hills. Is the wireless set up yet?” - -Rip-p-p-p-p-p. Rip-p-p-p-rip-p-p-p-rip-p-p-p-rip-p-p-p-p-p-p. - -The crash of the transmitting sent echoes through the rain-sodden air -and the singing spark sent its message through space, and then whined -away into silence. The engine had “karked”—communication had ceased. - -No. A basket crate was brought from one of the packs, a message was -written on a special form, of thin paper, and placed in a small -aluminium tube; a carrier pigeon was taken from the crate, and released -with the small tube containing the message attached to one of its legs. -The bird circled round uncertainly for a few moments and then flew off -in a straight line toward the leaden clouds in the West. - -Communication was still maintained. - - * * * * * - -[Illustration] - -These are but three incidents—three of many—which have happened in the -Signal Service. The Service calls for initiative, coolness, and -devotion; all these it has in its ranks. In the desert of Sinai, on the -dusty stretches of Southern Palestine, on the plains of Philistia, in -the hills of Judea—everywhere “east of the Canal”—the Signal Service has -always maintained a high standard which has brought credit to itself, -and to the Australian Imperial Force in Egypt. - - “ACK-VIC-ACK.” - -[Illustration: THE END] - - - - -[Illustration] - - Battle Song - - - Silver and white are the planes aflight, and the guns are manifold, - And hour and hour we gain that power which the Lords of war extolled - When the wrath-fires flared, and the blades were bared, in the first red - tide that flowed. - - We’ve quelled the fears of the darkest years, and the vistas of remorse - Grow less and less in the wilderness where the south wind gathers force, - And a golden scope in the sun of hope rolls north of the Anzac Horse. - - When shrapnel breaks and the skyline quakes in the tempest loud and - long, - We’ll gallop our files through the shell-torn aisles of a sadly shaken - throng, - And the fire of hell will grandly swell to a martial storm of song. - - Swift as the tide then we shall ride for the goal that burns ahead— - When night rolls round we’ll slumber sound where God’s sweet light is - shed, - And the silver eyes of the cloudless skies will watch o’er the valiant - dead. - - “GERARDY.” - - - - - The Little Bint of Wady Hanein - - -Throughout the long campaign the fighting was fairly constant, but there -were occasional brief seasons of rest, and the happiest of these were -spent in the neighbourhood of the Jewish orchard settlements. The 1st -Light Horse Brigade and the New Zealanders favoured Richon, where the -wine vaults are said to be the largest in the world; and the Jewish -girls are the prettiest in all Palestine. But the 2nd Brigade was loyal -to modest little Wady Hanein. The three Jewish villages of Richon, Wady -Hanein and Deiran stand about three miles apart in a rough line across -the sandhills. Deiran, where the polyglot lassies were wooed by the -troops associated with Desert Mounted Corps headquarters, is, like -Richon, a large village, almost a town, with considerable social -pretentions. There the Jews hold political meetings, and the girls dress -with an eye on distant Paris. But Wady Hanein is demure—a true little -Arcady set amidst hills and hollows beautiful and fragrant with orange -groves and orchards of almonds. In the early spring the settlement was a -glory of pink and white blossoms, and, later, its lanes were scented -with the breath of the flowering oranges. As I write, the 2nd Brigade is -in Wady Hanein for the last time, having come down from its strenuous -work around Amman, across the Jordan; and the plump round oranges are -coquetting between green and golden. - -[Illustration] - -It was from Wady Hanein that the Brigade moved out on the long trek -across Judea and Jordan Valley and the Mountains of Moab for the first -attack on Amman, in March, 1918. Nearly every Australian feigns -qualification in his regard for the Jews in Palestine. But as the -Regiments made ready for the road that morning it was pretty to see -Jewish families visiting their favourite officers and men in the -bustling camp, and wishing them God-speed with a sincerity and a touch -of distress quite unmistakable. And all ranks rode to that bitter fight -the stronger and better for those Jewish good wishes. - -The 2nd Brigade also chanced to be in the village in December of 1917, -when Jerusalem was captured, and the citizens entertained the Brigadier -and his officers at a feast, a speech-making and a dance. Proceedings -were, for a time, somewhat formal and cold. The Brigadier and his senior -officers sat at a central table in a large hall with the village fathers -and notables. The girls, expectant, their toes tingling for the dance, -sat stiffly in a row down one wall and the matrons along the other—a -very convenient arrangement, because the dashing young Light Horse -subalterns could seek a pretty partner without feeling obliged to ask -for the programme of her elderly chaperon. The young men of the village -stood with the junior officers of the Brigade at one end of the hall. - -The eloquence was terrific. The erudite village schoolmaster proposed -the “Health of the King of England,” coupled with the name of the -Brigadier, the British Army, the Australian Army, and the British -universe generally. He spoke fluent and faultless Russian—or so it -seemed to us. (Our linguistic attainments will startle Australians when -we come home. There is not a man amongst us who cannot now say Bread and -Wine and Darling, in all the languages of East and West.) He made happy -reference to great British apostles of freedom, instancing Cromwell, -Lord Byron, and Gladstone. He garbled the names, but we caught his -drift; and, anxious to get in, we cheered tumultuously; and then, in an -unhappy moment, some one on our side released the Brigade interpreter—a -dusky fellow of dubious nationality—who rose eagerly to make the meaning -of the village schoolmaster a little clearer to us. His success was -indifferent, but he brought down the house with references to Lord -Cromwell, Mr. Byron, and Sir Gladstone. - -[Illustration] - -Then the Brigadier hopped up to respond. He was at his best. He referred -to the joy which we, as Christians, experienced in driving the infidel -from the Holy Land, and then, after an apt allusion to the Crusaders and -King Richard, he became so eloquent and forceful, and slammed the table -so hard, that all the village matrons gave play to their religious and -patriotic feelings in subdued but prolific tears; which, when you -consider that they did not know a word of English, was a unique -testimonial to the eloquence and dominating personality of our versatile -Brigadier. And then came the swelling triumphant peroration in which the -“Old Brig.,” declared that “Palestine had been conquered and Jerusalem -delivered by the help of God, but mainly by the might of the British -Army.” After that we danced, and very gay it was, despite our unanimous -opinion that speaking Russian was an easy task, compared with attempting -correctly to foot a Russian measure with a pretty Jewish maiden. To be -honest, it was a dumb show; but eyes were eloquent. - -But we have been a long time coming to the story of the Little Bint. She -was one of many of her unhappy kind in Palestine. In that country, as in -all the East, the rich know no compassion for the poor. If you starve it -is the will of God and no concern of the more fortunate. That -interference with the ways of Allah is the cardinal sin is a -satisfactory article in the creed of the rich in Palestine. So the poor -starve, unsuccoured, about the doors of the wealthy. - -The Little Bint of Wady Hanein was first seen slinking around the -outskirts of Brigade headquarters. She was a wretched little Arab of -seven or eight years, clad only in a tattered filthy shirt which came to -her knees; with matted verminous hair, sparkling black eyes and a -pitifully skinny little body. She sneaked round the lines at meal time, -pouncing like a hungry dog on empty bully tins and jam tins, scooping -out the remnants with a deft forefinger and flashing happy smiles as she -put the finger to her mouth. The men were quick to notice, and soon the -Bint had ten times more than she could eat. But she did not thrive. The -vermin on her wretched body, and her unsheltered winter nights, kept her -thin and miserable. - -[Illustration] - -The grooms and batmen on Brigade conferred on the subject of the Bint -and her future. The ringleader, whom we shall call Pine, a groom whose -Regimental reputation was far from the best, led a deputation, -accompanied by the interpreter and the Bint, up to the Bey, a fat Arab -with a comfortable home and substantial wealth. Pine was forceful and -the interpreter glib and honest. But the sleek Bey was obdurate. “There -are many such,” he said suavely and finally, disowning any -responsibility for the Little Bint, and he was not at all moved at the -nasty reflections which the outspoken Pine cast upon his mother as the -deputation withdrew. The missionaries returned to camp, baffled but not -defeated. “We’ll adopt the little beggar ourselves,” declared Pine, “and -take her on as a blasted mascot.” And they did. The preliminary work was -decided. First the Bint must, as they say in plain army English, be -“deloused” and bathed. Nobody wanted the job. But Pine was determined to -see it through, and with the Brigade Major’s batman he cut the Bint’s -hair, disinfected her and scrubbed her until her dusky colour was in -danger. Other clumsy but Christian fingers cut up shirts and made her -clothes; the remainder contrived a bivvy in which she was to sleep. And -the Little Bint of Wady Hanein waxed fat and happy, and was a touch of -soft femininity and a source of much delight to Brigade headquarters. - -Then came marching orders for Amman. You occasionally find Arab boys -travelling with the Light Horse, keen little beggars who act as cooks’ -offsiders and batmen’s batmen, and officers smile and sympathetically -shut their eyes to it. But it was clear that the sprightly little -black-eyed Bint could not be taken out over the mountains into the -bitter cold and bloody fighting at Amman. So Pine sought the Padre, and -the Padre went off twelve miles to Jaffa and talked to the Mother -Superior at the convent. Next day the Brigadier lent his car, and -Pine—his leggings gleaming and spurs shining, and amusingly -self-conscious—accompanied the Bint to Jaffa, and handed her over to the -kindly nuns. Perhaps, as he left her, he gave her a big brotherly kiss -and a trooper’s rough benediction; but probably he was too shy. I do not -know. - - “CAMP FOLLOWER” - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration: - - BRIG.-GENERAL RYRIE INSPECTS THE “BULLY” -] - -[Illustration: - - BRIG.-GENERAL COX ON RIVER JORDAN -] - -[Illustration: - - A WALLAD OF PALESTINE -] - - - - - Algy, Misfit - - -“Hullo, old chappa!” - -It was Algy, an old camp acquaintance from Australia, whom I hadn’t seen -before over this way. By his greeting, you will probably be able to -imagine Algy; yet, with all his “haw-haw,” when you got to know him, he -was quite the opposite to what was suggested by his manner of speech. - -He had the habit of unbosoming himself to everybody regarding his -career, past, present and future, so when I met him, I knew that I would -get the whole story of his army life. And I did. - -“How have I been getting on? Top hole. The only thing is that my failure -to rise in the army worries my mater. With my brains, or at least the -brains mater believes I possess, I was expected to rise in big leaps. -But the only rise I’ve made has been from my blankets in the morning, -and then, too, only by the greatest effort. Awful bore, old chappa, -these early reveilles. - -[Illustration] - -“I try to explain to mater why it is that I am still ‘just merely one of -the men,’ and seek to console her by quoting that well-known pictorial -post card, ‘We can’t all be officers; somebody’s got to do the work.’ -You know, the poor old lady believes in me so much that she lives in the -hope of some day seeing me wearing a whole string of ribbons on my bally -chest. No hope. You know, some people have most peculiar ideas regarding -the military. They talk about ribbons as if the military were in the -habit of issuing such things in lieu of something—say as a sort of -consolation when the rations are short. If they did, well, I’d be -wearing all the variegated colours of the bally rainbow. - -“I’ve had a most varied career in the army. I was originally in the -infantry—a private. You see, I started right at the bottom of the -ladder, scorning all offers of assistance to get a commission. I was -quite determined to go right up the ladder by my own unaided efforts. -Eh, gad, I was an egotistical ass, that’s what I was. I never for one -moment imagined that the rungs of the ladder leading to stripes and -stars were so wide apart. - -“But about the infantry. Goodness, shall I ever forget the beastly -infantry. The unnecessary walking, and the enormous packs one had to -carry, and the really rude sergeant-major, who always roared at me when -on parade because I could not execute the fantastic movements he -insisted upon—really, when I think about it I shudder. I always did my -best, but marching used to make me _so_ exhausted, and I never _could_ -succeed in keeping in step with the other fellows. - -[Illustration] - -“Finding the infantry uncongenial, I concluded that if I HAD to be a -soldier I might as well sit down to the bally job, so I got a transfer -to the mounted. I had never ridden a horse other than that of a -merry-go-round, but I was satisfied that I could master the art. I’ve -got a different idea now. I was quite all right while the animal walked, -but when it trotted, oh, goodness me, I could never harmonize with the -beast. - -“Ultimately, I came over here with a unit which did not use horses and -was not required to do much, if any, walking. At least, that is what -they said, though I should have thought at the time how the unit was to -move itself. Maybe, the authorities, when I left, were contemplating -providing privates with motor-cars. I’ve found out, since I’ve been -here, how the unit moves itself. Don’t do any walking? Well, look here, -if there is a piece of accessible ground in Palestine, and not -forgetting Syria, that I haven’t trampled on trudging behind -heavily-laden G.S. wagons and limbers in the course of many and frequent -camp shiftings, I’d like to find it and have it photographed.” - -With a “Cheeryo,” Algy was gone. - - “BILLZAC.” - -[Illustration] - - - - - Palestine - - -[Illustration: Via Dolorosa] - - A league-long line of mountains: - Some fertile plains: - Bright, rippling, purling fountains, - After the rains. - Vast valleys, lorn and lonely; - Smiling and green: - Dead cities, telling only - What might have been. - -[Illustration: “Tower of the Forty”] - - A weary, stricken people, - So long enslaved; - A spire and broken steeple, - By lanes ill-paved: - A thousand superstitions; - A hundred creeds; - The beggars’ vain petitions - That no one heeds. - -[Illustration: - - MOSQUE OF OMAR -] - - A field of poppies blazing: - Orchids new-born: - A wealth of flowers amazing - Fringing the corn: - A line of camels stringing - Across the brae: - The skylark sweetly singing, - To welcome day. - - A home of races, mingled - Gentile and Jew: - Women with veilèd faces: - Rogues, not a few. - A Sacred Land, and Holy: - Beersheba to Dan; - Where once a King so lowly - Lived as a man. - - A land of milk and honey, - In Moses’ day: - A place of paper money - Since Abdul’s sway: - A prophets’ land and sages’, - By right divine: - The heir of all the Ages, - Poor Palestine!! - - “TROOPER BLUEGUM.” - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration: - - SOME SOUVENIR - - (AN AUSTRALIAN TROOPER WITH GERMAN HELMET) - - _By James McBey. British Official Artist_ -] - - - - - The Camel Brigade - - -There are, maybe, ten thousand Australians who will never see a map of -Egypt or Palestine, never hear of the Great War, never sing or listen to -a Christmas Carol, and, perhaps, never even boil a billy, without -thinking of camels. - -Nor is it altogether surprising; for camels played so prominent a part -in their lives in the days of Armageddon. They lived on camels; they -always slept near, and often on camels; and camels carried their tucker, -their water, their clothes, their blankets. The last thing they saw as -they fell asleep at night was a string of long-necked camels silhouetted -against the bare horizon. The first thing they heard after reveille was -the raucous noise of a camel lifting up its voice in the wilderness. -Nothing but camel, day and night, from the Senussi stunt to the -Jerusalem-Jericho-Jordan scrapping. - -None of us really liked our camels. Frankly, most of us loathed them. -They were a necessary evil. In a desert campaign they were -indispensable: so they were tolerated. But for many, many months the -Cameleers cursed them without ceasing for the vilest, stupidest, -craziest beasts that ever cumbered the earth. - -Then, suddenly—it was about midsummer, 1918—we began to realize some of -the many virtues of the much-maligned camel. We remembered that even on -the scorching sands of Sinai, we were rarely short of water. We reminded -each other that, while Light Horsemen shivered on the freezing Judean -Hills, we snuggled cosily ’neath a bivvy and four blankets. We thought -of all the little extra canteen delicacies we had carried in our -capacious saddle-bags. And we talked about the good times we had at the -camel sports with Horace, and Mange Dressing and Starlight. - -The reason for this _volte-face_, this sudden revulsion of feeling in -favour of the camel, lay in the fact that our camels were to be taken -away from us. We were to be transformed into cavalry for that Big Push -which we hoped would result in the smashing of the Turkish Army. And -remembering the comparative luxury of the Cameleer’s life, we tried to -make the _amende honorable_ and say kind things of and to our old -_hooshtas_. - -[Illustration: - - THE MIDDAY HALT -] - -The Australian Camel Corps was formed early in 1916, when the Senussi -became troublesome. Four companies of infantry just back from Gallipoli -formed the nucleus of the corps. They proved a most valuable asset, so -more were demanded. But it was not certain that a sufficient number of -Australians could be provided, so the 2nd Battalion was composed of -English and Scotch Territorials, and the force became known as the -Imperial Camel Corps. Later, a third Battalion was made up of -Australians and New Zealanders, and, at the end of the year, a fourth -Battalion, of Australians. - -[Illustration: - - BRIG.-GENERAL G L. SMITH, V.C., M.C. -] - -[Illustration: - - OUR WATER SUPPLY -] - -The Camel Corps was handicapped because of the general ignorance -concerning it. The A.I.F. in Sinai knew little of it; Australia knew -less. Often it was confused with and mistaken for the Camel Transport -Corps, a valuable unit, which has done splendid work, but is not a -fighting unit like the I.C.C. The members of the Imperial Camel Corps -had all left their parent Regiments, and so, for a long time, missed -those welcome parcels that the different Comfort Funds so generously -sent to the boys. Later, however, the A.I.F. Comforts took a kindly -interest in the poor Cameleers—and the Cameleers were unfeignedly -grateful. - -Coming back to Egypt from the Western Desert, the Cameleers spelled -awhile, then moved over the Canal to Sinai and participated in the -Romani-Bir-el-Abd fighting. Then came the big trek east towards El Arish -with its attendant patrols and skirmishes. When Abdul bolted from El -Arish the Army followed, the Light Horse and the Camel Corps in the van. - -[Illustration] - -Maghdaba and Rafa followed, two of the most picturesque and decisive -battles of the campaign; and in each the Camel Corps distinguished -itself greatly. Then on to Khan Yunis—where lived Delilah of old—and -then to historic Gaza: the lion in our path. The story of the three -battles of Gaza has already been told. There is no need to recapitulate -here the part played by the Camelry in those engagements, save to -mention that in the second battle the I.C.C. rushed and captured their -objective, suffering about 75 per cent. casualties; while in the third, -and victorious, battle, they held the line at Kouelphi and Ras el Nagb -in face of heavy counter-attacks. - -The army had now turned the corner, and, under General Allenby’s -inspiring leadership, the Camel Brigade pushed north with the remainder -of the force until Jerusalem was captured. Then the army settled down in -the stalemate line of trenches stretching from just north of Jaffa to -the Jordan near Jericho; by which time the Cameleers had suffered so -many casualties, and the camels were in such deplorable condition, that -they were sent back to Rafa to recuperate—and hold a sports meeting. - -Mention should be made of the Hong Kong-Singapore Indian Mounted -Battery, known to the Camel Corps as “The Bing Boys.” These Indian -soldiers participated in all the fighting in Palestine. - -[Illustration: - - WATERING TIME, CAMEL BRIGADE -] - -[Illustration: - - “PREPARE TO MOUNT” -] - -In March, 1918, the Camel Corps trekked through Palestine to Richon, -where they sampled the wine of the country. Then, after the rains, they -ploughed their way through mud and slush and wire to Bethlehem. From the -wintry heights of Judea they descended by way of Jericho to the -midsummer of the Jordan Valley and on to Amman. Much has been written -about the adventure, or misadventure, into the hills of Moab. Never will -the Cameleers forget that night journey over slippery goat-tracks to Es -Salt. Never before or since was there ever such a journey. Hour after -hour the cavalcade struggled onward and upward, crawling round ugly -devil’s-elbows on mountain tracks, slipping and floundering in the mud. -Time and again camels would collapse, bogged and helpless, and some -toppled over the precipice. But the Brigade got to Amman and blew up the -Hedjaz Railway. - -Back to the Jordan Valley again, the prey of snakes and scorpions and -spiders, mosquitos and flies and Turkish shells—but the mosquitos were -the worst. Scores and scores of men went sick with malaria, which -recurred during subsequent operations. The last big scrap of the I.C.C. -was the defence of Musallabeh, which the Turks attacked with grim -determination. In spite of very heavy casualties, the Cameleers held on -and beat off the enemy. Because of this gallant defence, General Allenby -decreed that henceforth Musallabeh should be called “The Camel’s Hump.” - -With Sinai far behind and well-watered country ahead, it was seen that -the Camel Brigade had outlived its usefulness. So, in May, the Cameleers -returned westward towards Jaffa, handed over their camels, and were -mounted on horses and armed with swords for the Big Push. - - “TROOPER BLUEGUM.” - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration: - - PORTION OF CONVOY OF 8,000 CAMELS BEARING SUPPLIES ON THE PHILISTINE - PLAIN - - _Australian Official Photograph_ -] - - - - - RESTING - -[Illustration] - - -There’s a delightful sound about that little word “Rest.” It conjures up -delicious visions of breakfast in bed, scrambled eggs on toast, lying -about in the sun, nice books to read, etc., etc., as the imagination -wills. Now, we didn’t expect all these things, but when we got the word, -“The regiment is going for a rest behind the lines,” everybody’s ears -pricked up, and we were all on the _qui vive_ for the few days -following. - -Sure enough, we moved out all right, and camped one moonlight night on a -gently-sloping plateau to the west of the hills, taking up our abode -comfortably in bell tents, six of us to a tent. We’d had a long day, so -soon turned in and slept the sleep of the conscienceless. Behold us next -morning, at that cold, cheerless grey hour which just precedes the dawn, -lying in various picturesque attitudes, with the cold wind playing on -us, as yet untouched by the sun’s compensating warmth. A bugle gave out -its brass-mouthed message, and one of those necessary evils known as -corporals invited us to “turn out and fall in.” Now, it was the witching -hour of 4 a.m., and we didn’t like “turning out” or “falling in,” or any -kindred mysterious movement; but necessity knows no law, so, to the -accompaniment of many an ungracious “Blarst the war,” “What sort of a -rest is this?” we crawled out of bed, dressed, and wended our weary way -to the stables. - -[Illustration: - - BEDOUINS CAPTURED AT HASSANIYA -] - -[Illustration: - - STREET MARKET, JERUSALEM -] - -[Illustration: - - BEDOUIN VILLAGE -] - -[Illustration: - - TURKISH PRISONERS, NABLUS -] - -The next hour or two saw us busy among the horses—removing the -superfluous dirt from their coats, cleaning up the stable lines, and -watering and feeding our jaded mounts. We were then marched to the -Q.M.’s to be issued with an extra blanket. In the usual way of Q.M.’s, -this just allowed us back in time for six o’clock breakfast. During the -meal they broke the news gently to us that there was a mounted parade at -seven, to go through a “little training.” More grumbles, of course, but -the time was too short to allow of any delay for grousing, so we got out -for our “little training.” This delightful exercise consisted of a -gruelling couple of hours in the sun, after which we had to groom and -stable our horses, had a quarter of an hour’s “smoke-o,” and then the -pleasure of lecture for half an hour or so. - -Dismissed to our tents, we distributed ourselves behind the covers of -various journals—ranging, according to taste, from “War Cry” to the -“Bulletin.” Hardly was our interest fixed, when there was borne in on -our ears a stentorian cry which resolved itself into the voice of our -two-bar artist yelling “Fall in for water!” and away we went again like -lambs. A struggle with four horses, two on each side of you, and each -couple desiring to go in a different direction, is not calculated to -improve one’s temper; but we got the job done and returned for dinner. -This meal was not the one of our dreams, but we settled down after it as -though we’d lunched at “Shepheards,” and began to think that the “rest” -part of the stunt was at hand. Then the orderly sergeant announced that -there would be a grazing parade at two o’clock. So out we all had to -turn again and spend a couple of hours on the grassy slope a mile or so -away, thinking sad thoughts and uttering strong utterances. - -[Illustration] - -Back again, stable the horses, we finished just in time for tea, to -which we did ample justice, and allowed ourselves to drift into a better -frame of mind. After tea we at last settled down in our tents, and had -just dealt the cards for a quiet game of poker, when, lo and behold! the -orderly corporal looked in and said, quite pleasantly and off-hand, too, -“There will be an inspection at 9 a.m. to-morrow; all saddlery and gear -to be cleaned and placed outside tents at 8 a.m.” Well, we looked at one -another—we were past words. Slowly the hands were thrown in; more in -sorrow than in anger we cleared the card-blanket away, and the last -scene saw six queerly silent figures listlessly polishing up bits and -stirrup irons and greasing leather gear, with the mutely suffering look -in each face akin to the look of the dog which has just received a kick -in the ribs as the grand finale to a series of ill-usages. So ended a -day of rest. In that tent, that night, men went to bunk murmuring, “If -this is rest, send us back to work.” - - “TRALAS.” - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - - THE MUKHTAR’S GOATS - - - Said Breezy Bob to Baldy Bill, “I’m giving you the oil; - There’s whips of blinking eatables on this ’ere virgin soil. - So what abart a forage hunt, me bold and noble chief? - It’s time we had some mutton now instead of bully-beef.” - - Now, Baldy Bill was leader of an enterprising mess; - His cobbers all would back him up in deeds of wickedness. - So when Old Bob suggested that the gang should have a hunt - For tasty chops and cutlets, they agreed upon the stunt. - - It happened that the n’th Light Horse were camping in a grove - Of olives, figs and oranges, the hedges interwove - With prickly pear grown very thick, and on the other side - The grazing land by cattle, sheep and goats was occupied. - - An Arab Chief, or Mukhtar, was the owner of the flock, - Named “Abdul el Mahomed,” a monopolist in stock. - Now Baldy Bill and Breezy Bob were socialistic coves - Who spouted on equality amongst the olive groves. - - And so in tones of ecstasy the plot was duly laid, - And in the hedge of prickly pear a hole was quickly made. - Then Bob and Baldy sallied forth—a ration bag of oats - Was carried by the doughty pair to snare the Mukhtar’s goats. - - They crawled along in silence, seeking shade from tree to tree, - Until they came upon the flock all feeding peacefully. - The Mukhtar, squatting in the shade, engaged in silent thought, - Was dreaming of the prosperous times the “awful war” had brought. - - Now, Baldy in the ration bag had made a little spout, - And as they crawled along the grass the oats were trickling out; - But as they neared the Mukhtar’s flock they rose upon their feet, - Salaamed in true Australian style, the pastoralist to greet. - - In friendly pidgin-Arabic they talked a little while, - Then bade farewell to Abdul in the dinkum Aussie style; - And as they sauntered back to camp they noticed with a grin, - That Abdul’s goats had found the oats, and all were “wiring in.” - - The feeding flock came slowly towards the hedge of prickly pear. - A fine big “billy” led the lot, quite eager for his share, - And as he wandered close enough the prickly pear to feel, - He “got it” quickly in the neck—a blade of polished steel. - - Then Bill and Breezy dragged their prize into the Squadron’s lines, - Cut up the mass of quivering flesh in various designs. - With plenty swords available they soon got off the hide; - In less time than it takes to tell the billy-goat was fried. - - That night the stew was “counted out” and mutton reigned instead, - And when old Abdul “counted in” his flock he hit his head - In anger, for he came upon the remnants of the oats - That Breezy Bob distributed to snare the Mukhtar’s goats. - - Since then the Military Police are looking for a clue; - They never made enquiries about discarded stew, - Or else they might have found the truth; and Bill and Breezy gloat, - To tell the yarn in secrecy about the Mukhtar’s goat. - - “2469” - -[Illustration: - - BUYING ORANGES, JAFFA - - _By W. O. David Barker_ -] - - - - -[Illustration] - - The Batman - - - by W. M. W. - - With “stand to Arms” at half past three, - in cold and wet and misery, - Who brings a nice, warm cup of tea? - “My Batman.” - - Who knows the movement of all troops - and brings the dinkum with my boots? - Who finds but never, never, loots. - “My Batman.” - - The last to sleep, the first to rise, - who sorts the rumor as it flies, - and in a whisper puts me wise. - “My Batman.” - - Fount of all wisdom without doubt - who knows just what we are about - but very seldom lets it out. - The General’s Batman. - - - - - Damascus - - -The first charm of Damascus as a whole city lies in the contrast which -those brown sandhills behind it make with the green strip of the Barada -Valley. Journeying from Ludd through the monotony of lank, brown growth -that straggles to the horizon from the road, you give up hope of ever -seeing foliage again, until you pass El Kunneitra. Then you see the -green of Barada; and it is the richer for the hills behind it—browner, -more desolate by far, than any landscape skirting Galilee or the Jordan. -Far up the clay feet of those rocky hills straggles the brown-and-white -suburb of Salahiye, all square-built and flat-topped—from the distance -like bricks inserted in the clay soil. The line of hills is cleft -cleanly by the Pass, the scene of that hideous slaughter by our machine -guns. If you climb into the fringe of Salahiye you see the curious shape -of Damascus—a jagged comet-form, all the angles and serrations of the -brown tail defined with unnatural clearness by the depth of the green -about it. In the amorphous head are a few minarets—like jewels. In Cairo -there are too many minarets as you look from the Bey’s Leap: they -protrude like a porcupine’s quills. In Damascus the city’s flat -brownness is just relieved by them. When we came to Damascus it was -drought-stricken. Soon afterward, it rained torrentially for a day. Then -the sun shone and drew from the city such colour as we never dreamed was -there. Nor had we dreamed that the trees were dusty—so green they seemed -after the southern country. But, washed, they helped to throw up the -wonderful colour of “that great city,” as it is called in Scripture. - -It is a relief to be delivered from the sight of the everlasting -cactus-hedge of the southern towns. The cactus does flourish in -Damascus; but so thick is the foliage that it is lost in the mass. You -cannot look down on Nazareth without being obsessed by the ubiquitous -pest. You can look down on Damascus and be unconscious of it. It -straggles about the leafy roads in patches beside the mud walls. That -you can bear, because it does not rise above the all-enclosing foliage. - -The smells of Damascus you will remember for ever. Cairo is clean by -comparison: the alleys of Cairo are not foul. The stinks of Damascus are -literally overpowering. There is offal, refuse, foul puddles in every -street of the Bazaars. The Abana is a foul river. “Are not Abana and -Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel”? The -answer is: Certainly not. There is an ill-kemptness about the place that -carries Oriental slackness a bit too far. In the streets that thread the -heart of the city are ruts and holes that break the springs of M.T. -every day. The tramline protrudes eight inches. This gives rise to -deadlocks in traffic that hold up movement for an hour. Incredibly -narrow and tortuous are the highways of the city. The only decent road -is that which skirts the fountained promenade near the Hedjaz Station. I -am sure the Damascans look on this bit of orderliness as a Western -intrusion; just as I am sure that if they found themselves in an English -town guileless of smells they would call it insipid.... - -In the bazaars there is a baffling complexity of colour, of race, of -wares. The Mousky is less heterogeneous. In the Square, in the street -which is called Strait, in the gold bazaar, grain bazaar, sweets bazaar, -silk bazaar, you have all the various colour of tarbooshed Cairo, and -more. Here the soldiers of the King of the Hedjaz throng; there is -endless variety in their clothes and their flowing head-dress. The -Moslem women, who veil their faces, affect far more variety than the -Mohamedan women of Cairo, with their yashmaks. The French are here. The -Australian hat and plume is everywhere. I never saw so great a number of -Australian soldiers moving at random in any city. There is great -jostling in these narrow streets, more than the normal jostling you get -in any crowd. - -The dusty bazaars are in semi-darkness; their streets bear a covered -roof of iron; they must get protection from rain. In Cairo all is open; -for there it rains but rarely. Not only are the bazaar streets in Cairo -without roofs that would stop a shower, but the shops, themselves, full -of treasures. Here the rain comes in a deluge. From some of the street -roofs the enemy had taken the iron for military use. What the state of -these roofless streets will be when the rains come is sad to think. They -will be flooded all winter. - -Except that there is greater diversity of peoples—both buyers and -sellers—the bazaars of Damascus are much like those of the Mousky. There -are the same well-defined areas for specific commodities; the same -little cubicles for shops, where vendors squat and “reach for things”; -there is the same voluble haggling—the same conversations carried on in -tones that you would first mistake for quarrelsome; there are the same -crying, peripatetic vendors of _limonade_, quoit-shaped cakes and -toffee; the shoe-blacks are here, but they are ahead of Cairo, with -their gongs to attract the uncleanly-shod. There is a more incessant -stream of laden donkeys through the bazaars here. In Cairo the donkeys -are chiefly for pleasure riding; here they are mercantile, over-laden -with the striped sacks of grain and fabric. There are additions to the -bazaars of Cairo in the goldsmiths’ bazaar, the sweets bazaar. The -goldsmiths work with their blowpipes and tiny forges and tiny tools, -moulding and fashioning. It is curious to see the workshop as part of -the sale-shop. The belts, brooches, rings and trays exposed for sale in -a showcase were made two yards away by that cunning Oriental fashioner -squatting on his haunches. The sweets bazaar tempts you hideously. -Eastern nutted sweets and Turkish-delight and toffees look as well as -they taste. Mere assorted chocolates—such as you get at Groppi’s—are -crude by comparison. There are great serpentine coils of Turkish-delight -lurking in icing-sugar—nut toffee that is all nuts—none of your -miserable paucity of nuts such as one gets in English almond-rock: nuts -form the matrix here.... But enough of that; here, if ever, you are -tempted to generate a liver the size of your hat. - -Public baths abound in the heart of the bazaars. Fronting the street is -the final, open, divaned, cooling-off room—an amphitheatre of couches -upholstered with a kind of gay-coloured towelling. A fountain plays in -the midst. The bathed sit swaying in the ecstasy of reaction from the -steam, with closed eyes. No Roman ever bathed more voluptuously. No one -minds your going in nor your penetrating to the bowels of the -establishment. Room after room you pass, with swinging doors; each is -hotter than the last. In the last, and hottest room, the smell of man is -overpowering; you hastily retrace your steps through the series of -chambers and regain the comparative sweetness of the bazaars. - -Foul as this city may be, there is beauty in every foot of it. The -beauty of Cairo lies rather in the view you get of “chunks” of it—the -vista of the street, the space of a market-place, the mass of a mosque. -Here the beauty lies in little pieces of wall, looked at minutely, in a -tiny piece of domestic architecture. It is a beauty in colour rather -than in form. Form in Cairo counts for much—in Damascus for almost -nothing. Here there is dilapidation in a degree undreamt of in Cairo. -But dilapidation does not necessarily make for beauty, though some -people think it does. I believe the beauty of colour in Damascus lies in -extreme age—in the mellowing of age. After Cairo, the intense antiquity -of the older city—of every fragment of it—comes to you impressively. You -feel the age of it as you pace every yard of its alleys. Cairo is -comparatively modern, and comparatively garish. There is a fine, if -filthy, harmony in Damascus. - -Intimate in the memory of most Light Horsemen will always be certain -features of Damascus. Our men will not forget the Hedjaz Headquarters in -the heart of the city, the German Club, the Local Resources Office, the -filthy Turkish hospital, the English and French hospitals in the suburb, -the littered railway station, the suburban roads, unspeakably rough and -muddy, the afternoon perambulations of blatant under-dressed bints in -gharries, the guards—on the aerodrome, on the Ottoman Bank, on the -captured grain stores, on the captured guns—the plentiful lack of -ordnance and canteen stores, the corpses of dogs and horses in open -spaces, the multitudinous beggars, the exorbitant prices asked for -German razors that cost their vendors nothing, the moderate cost of -silver and brass ware, the Hedjaz recruiting processions, the glut of -matches, the potency of arak, the cunning of the plausible -English-speaking small boys, the puzzling complexity and fluctuation of -the currency, the paucity of mails, the liberty and the usefulness of -Turkish prisoners, the fitful and lawless discharge of firearms about -the city all through the night, the suddenness with which sickness made -its descent upon the apparently immune, the daily receipt and despatch -to time-table of official mails by air, the dancing lights of Salahiye -that burned till dawn.... - - H. W. D. - -[Illustration] - - - - - Malaria - - - You, with your winding, creeping course, - What of the men of our Southern Horse? - Valley of night, with your wingèd pest, - What of our heroes now at rest, - Down by your Dead, salt Sea? - What of the ones we have left behind? - What of these men of our kith and kind, - Nigh where your blood streams hiss? - Better the true and unerring shot! - Better the Death when their blood runs hot— - Than this, - Malaria! Malaria! - - You, with your agèd river’s flow, - What of our Riders laid below? - Valley of Death, with your torpid heat, - Look where your swirling hill streams meet, - Down by your Dead, salt Sea! - Look to the ones on your mounded knoll! - Look to the ones of your chosen toll! - Those of your fevered kiss! - Better the blast of the rending shell! - Better the toll of the War God’s knell, - Than this, - Malaria! Malaria! - - “KOOLAWARRA.” - - - - - Fall Out the 1914 Men - - -After four years’ service, the remnants of the First and Second -Contingents were assembled preparatory to return to Australia. Such a -prolonged absence from their homes might have led one to expect a wild -emotional outburst; but they received the tidings casually. - -[Illustration] - -As they fell into line to be farewelled by the Brigadier, they presented -an inspiring sight; shoulder to shoulder, each man a history in himself; -true mates, every one of them: their fellowship cemented by the blood of -fallen comrades. Alert they stood, hardened by the privations and -hardships of long years of campaigning, but—true test of manhood—ready -to face it all over again if their principles were involved. - -As they waited for the “Old Man,” as the Brig. is affectionately termed, -visions of the past began to take form before their eyes. Mine saw the -silent, winding streams of human life, being hurried through the streets -of sleeping cities on their way to grim, silent transports. No gay -farewells, no playing of bands, no gathering of gaily-dressed crowds to -wave them farewell on their way to foreign shores. As they strained -their eyes for a last glimpse of their native land, many must have tried -to visualize their return. None realized how or when, and many of the -stout hearts on those sea-sprayed ships who gazed with loving eyes on -their sunny land were saying the last farewell. Their graves are in -strange lands, their deeds imperishable memories. - -“Boys”—it was the Old Man speaking—“we come together to say good-bye.” -He outlined his association with the Brigade, and touched briefly on the -outstanding incidents of its career. He humorously alluded to their -“weakness” in a few respects, but he was proud to say that no man had -ever complained of his punishment. Everybody had played the game, and -his life was infinitely richer because of his association with them. He -wished all a bright future, and they were never to forget him if they -were ever in any difficulty. - -At the close of the homily, I am afraid, the etiquette of military -discipline was violated in many ways. “Good old Brig., the whitest ever -made,” and such-like remarks were punctuated by cheering and the waving -of hats. A personal handshake with each man and wishes of “good luck”; -and then came the farewells round the camp, when mates of years bade -each other good-bye, and turned away. - -Friendship such as this will stand the test of time. - - “BATAGGI.” - -[Illustration: - - MRS. CHISHOLM’S CANTEEN AT KANTARA -] - -[Illustration: - - BETHLEHEM -] - -[Illustration: - - TROOPERS ENTERING JERICHO -] - -[Illustration: - - DAMASCUS -] - - - - - “Old Horse o’ Mine” - - - Hoof-beats, that rang on the crowded street, - Had never beat unto me - All the wealth of the gold in your old black hide, - All the grit of your loyalty; - But deep in the sand of a lonely land, - Out on many a far flung trail, - Your old hoofs spoke of a heart you broke - For me, that _you_ might not fail. - - Great eyes, that dusked in the green gums’ wave, - Though I recked not that you were there, - That danced or dulled at the whim mayhap - Of a fancy unaware— - How the mateship grew in the depths of you, - When the waste spread its gauntness wide. - How you parched with me, how you marched with me, - Through that Hell of a thirst denied. - - Brave Soul that sprung in the colt of you, - Unguessed in the years far back, - Ere your Fate ran out from a land of streams - To the drought of a sun-blazed track— - For the days since seen, for the pals we’ve been, - When Old Time sees us through— - O! If then there be for the likes o’ me, - A Heav’n—it must hold you, too. - - T. V. B. - -[Illustration] - - - - - Concerning Machine Guns - - -“Vickers Light Automatic, ·303,” so saith the machine gun handbook. -Further on, it informs the reader that the gun weighs 38 lbs. when the -water jacket is filled. These statements have been the subject of many -bitter outbursts, and not a few have wondered whether they had a pair of -scales at the War Office (this unfortunate institution is, of course, -responsible for everything that goes wrong). - -There have been countless instances where a sweating, cursing Billjim, -struggling up a scorching precipice with the said Vickers Light -Automatic, would have betted all his deferred pay that it weighed at -least ten times as much as the handbook implies. Even on such -kindergarten exercises as gun drill, wonder has often been expressed -that “they” had the blooming neck to print such a fib. Still another -proof that the real weight greatly exceeds the official figures. Watch -the hefty No. 2, capable of lifting an 18 pdr., as, after continuous -firing, he gets the order, “Out of action!” In a flash, the pins are -wrenched out, he seizes the smoking gun where the protecting piece of -puttee, numnah pad or sock isn’t, and instantly drops the weapon to the -ground. Isn’t that convincing? - -There are other minor details about the machine gun handbook that are -apt to be misleading. It states that there is a No. 1, who is the boss -and only carries the tripod—a flimsy toy of some 48 lbs. of brass and -steel; next, a No. 2, who juggles with a Vickers Light Automatic; also a -No. 3, who has nothing to do but carry a few boxes of ammunition, these -being mere tin cases no bigger than the handbag he used to carry his -pyjamas in, and containing only one belt; then there are a few other -superfluous hangers-on; a No. 4, who aids the No. 3; a No. 5, who aids -him; and so _ad infinitum_ down to that humble creature, the pack -leader, who holds three horses during an action. - -Thus far, the handbook is perfect, photographic plates and all. Where -the discrepancy comes in, is that there is no advice regarding a hitch. -It has nothing to say about this: A person is observed toiling along -with the tripod, a box of 250 cartridges hanging on each leg, straddled -across his shoulders; some distance behind him wobbles another sagging -individual, bearing the gun, more belt boxes, a pick and a shovel; while -a third—sometimes—struggles on with still more belt boxes, range-finder, -spare parts wallet, a can of water, steam escape tube, a bag to prevent -dust at the gun’s muzzle, and a few other trifles; and down in some more -or less protected hollow, three or four distracted pack leaders curse -away their last remaining hope of salvation trying to keep untangled the -twenty-odd hungry brutes that crane their necks to nibble at -infinitesimal, dead grass stalks. Let us dismiss the handbook. - -The machine gun can be put to many uses. As a seat, it is admirable, -also as a clothes horse for small gear; and as a horse rack, providing -the animal doesn’t pull it over, it stands alone. It has also been known -to remove Turkish folks from their ration strength—but accidents will -happen. - -The gunner is at his best when using his gun as anti-aircraft. He -reverses the position of the gun on the tripod in order to get a sharper -angle, and lies down on his back beneath it, pillowing his shoulders on -some soft substance, such as the spare parts box. The No. 2 crouches -alongside to tuck in—at this angle—the reluctant belt; the Taube -approaches at a reasonable altitude, and then ratta-tatta-tatta stutters -the gun. - -A heartrending episode occurred in the Jordan Valley one morning. The -guns, at the top of the precipitous cliffs lining the Jordan, were being -snugly tucked away in their little dust-proof positions for the day, -when sinister humming in the sky was heard. Out of the woolly, cumulus -clouds a flock of Taubes dived and began their fell work. In a -twinkling, the guns were violently slammed on the tripods, fresh, full -belts rattled into the feed-blocks, and the gunners flopped into their -positions, grimly inviting the visitors to come a bit closer and “have a -fly.” They did, and answered the prompt leaden stream with their own -guns. - -One gun had been firing merrily at the wheeling Taubes for some time -when the prostrate, grim-jawed No. 1 uttered a wild, squealing yell, and -writhed fearfully. “Good God, Percy is hit!” cried young Bobbie, the No. -2, and he turned in alarm to his friend, who was out-writhing any live -wire. - -The No. 1 gasped and stuttered in his agony, but managed to ejaculate: -“Hit, be dinged! It’s the bloomin’ hot shells that trickled inside me -shirt. Hop into ’em!” - -I give this illustration merely to show the risks attached to machine -gunnery. - -The Machine Gun Squadron is regarded as a desirable unit. It has -numerous advantages over the Regiments; notably, there are no duties or -fatigues to speak of, except, perhaps, stables, watering, rations, -cook’s, Q.M.’s, road-making, laying interminable miles of stones in -line, whitewashing same, erecting this, that and the other, cleaning -saddlery, polishing reluctant steel work, an odd guard or two (mostly -odd), and a few other trifles, which the conscientious soldier performs -with assiduity and alacrity. - -There is little else about machine guns to learn, they are so perfect -that a machine gunner is now made in six weeks instead of six years. -They have performed some remarkable work during the war, moral effect -being one of their greatest assets—observe the sprightly vigour with -which the officer inspecting outposts bounds away from the front of a -machine gun position, where he has wandered by misadventure, when the -man on guard sings out, “Machine gun here, Sir!” - -The boys will be sorry to say good-bye to their vicious, stuttering -pets; and let us hope that, the guns, when they are returned to -Ordnance, will cease to (metaphorically) curl their lips in disdain at -their humble and erratic poor relations, the Hotchkiss rifles of the -Regiments. - - “SARG.” - - - - - Delivered! - - - A wounded earth is free again, - The barriers of the East are down; - With many a mound above the slain, - The zones of battle, bare and brown, - Shall feel the tears of wintertide, - (War’s aftermath of sorrowing) - Till Nature heals their scars of pride - And flowers perfume a deathless spring. - - “GERARDY.” - -[Illustration: FINISH] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - _ANGUS & ROBERTSON’S AUSTRALIAN PUBLICATIONS._ - - - THE ART OF ARTHUR STREETON. Edited by Sydney Ure Smith, Bertram - Stevens and C. Lloyd Jones, with critical and biographical articles - by P. G. Konody, Julian Ashton and Lionel Lindsay. With coloured - reproductions of 35 of Streeton’s best landscapes and 20 others in - black-and-white, 10¼ × 8¾ inches, 42s. - - [_Ready in October._ - - THE ART OF CONRAD MARTENS. Edited by Lionel Lindsay, assisted by G. V. - F. Mann, Director of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales. - With reproductions of 60 of Martens’ pictures, mostly in colour, 10¼ - × 8¾ inches, 42s. - - [_In preparation._ - - THE ART OF J. J. HILDER. Edited by Sydney Ure Smith, with a Life of - Hilder by Bertram Stevens, and contributions by Julian Ashton and - Harry Julius. With reproductions of 36 of Hilder’s pictures in - colour and 20 in black-and-white, 10¼ × 8¾ inches, 42s. - - SELECTED POEMS OF HENRY LAWSON. Selected and carefully revised by Mr. - Lawson, and containing several new poems, wholly printed from new - type, with portrait in colour, and 9 full-page illustrations by - Percy Leason. 9½ × 7¼ inches, 12s. 6d. - - DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE IN AUSTRALIA. Special Number of Art in - Australia. Edited by Sydney Ure Smith and Bertram Stevens, in - collaboration with W. Hardy Wilson. With 5 articles by leading - Australian Architects and 47 full-page illustrations, 11¼ × 9 - inches, 21s. - - ART IN AUSTRALIA, No. VI. With reproductions of War Pictures by Sir - Wm. Orpen, R.A., Fred Leist, H. Power, C. Bryant, Will Dyson and - Bombardier Waller; colour plates by Mr. and Mrs. Spencer Macky, - Frances Hodgkins (N.Z.), Cumbrae Stewart, Hilda Rix-Nicholas, Percy - Leason, Hans Heysen, Howard Ashton and W. B. McInnes, and of two - etchings by Norman Lindsay. The Articles include one by P. G. Konody - on Sir Wm. Orpen, R.A., and one by Charles Marriott on Will Dyson’s - War Pictures, 10 × 7½ inches, 7s. 6d. - - ART IN AUSTRALIA, No. V. With 13 coloured and 10 other plates, by - Rupert Bunny, Bernard Hall, M. J. McNally, Eliot Gruner, Hayley - Lever, H. Van Raalte, W. Hardy Wilson, Thea Proctor, Will Ashton and - others, also a number of interesting articles. 10 × 7½ inches, 7s. - 6d. - - THE MAGIC PUDDING. A story in Prose and Verse, by Norman Lindsay. - Illustrated by him in 100 pictures, mostly full-page, 11½ × 9 - inches, 21s. - - THE POETICAL WORKS OF HENRY KENDALL. Enlarged edition, with - biographical note by Bertram Stevens, and portrait, 6s. - - THE LILT OF LIFE: New Poems. By Zora Cross, author of “Songs of Love - and Life.” 5s. - - SONGS OF LOVE AND LIFE. By Zora Cross. Fourth edition, with portrait, - 5s. - - AN IRISH HEART: Poems. By David McKee Wright. With portrait, 5s. - - THE PASSIONATE HEART: Poems. By Mary Gilmore, author of “Marri’d,” - etc. With portrait, 5s. - - SONGS OF A CAMPAIGN. By Leon Gellert. New edition, with 25 additional - poems and 16 pictures by Norman Lindsay, 4s. 6d. - - THE AUSTRALIAN, AND OTHER VERSES. By Will H. Ogilvie. With - frontispiece, title-page and jacket in colour, by Hal Gye, 4s. 6d. - Pocket edition, complete, 4s. - - THE CHANT OF DOOM, AND OTHER VERSES. By C. J. Brennan. With portrait, - 3s. 6d. - - DIGGER SMITH. A New Volume of Poems. By C. J. Dennis. With - frontispiece, title-page and jacket in colour, and 13 full-page - illustrations, by Hal Gye, 4s. 6d. Pocket edition, complete, 4s. - - BACKBLOCK BALLADS AND LATER VERSES. By C. J. Dennis. New Edition, - revised, with 16 new pieces, wholly printed from new type, with - frontispiece, title-page and jacket in colour, by Hal Gye, 4s. 6d. - - THE SONGS OF A SENTIMENTAL BLOKE. By C. J. Dennis. With frontispiece, - title-page and jacket in colour, and other illustrations by Hal Gye, - 4s. 6d. 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By Barcroft Boake, 4s. 6d. - - AT DAWN AND DUSK: Poems. By Victor J. Daley, 4s. 6d. - - WINE AND ROSES: Poems. By Victor J. Daley, 4s. 6d. - - THE SECRET KEY, AND OTHER POEMS. By G. Essex Evans, 4s. 6d. - - HOW HE DIED, AND OTHER POEMS. By John Farrell, 4s. 6d. - - WHEN THE WORLD WAS WIDE, AND OTHER VERSES. By Henry Lawson 4s. 6d. - - VERSES, POPULAR AND HUMOROUS. By Henry Lawson, 4s. 6d. - - WHEN I WAS KING AND OTHER VERSES. By Henry Lawson, 4s. 6d. - - THE THREE KINGS, AND OTHER VERSES. By Will Lawson, 4s. 6d. - - FAIR GIRLS AND GRAY HORSES: Poems. By Will H. Ogilvie, 4s. 6d. - - HEARTS OF GOLD: Poems. By Will H. Ogilvie, 4s. 6d. - - POETICAL WORKS OF BRUNTON STEPHENS, 4s. 6d. - - THE GOLDEN TREASURY OF AUSTRALIAN VERSE, edited by Bertram Stevens, - 4s. 6d. - - CHILDREN OF THE BUSH: Stories. By Henry Lawson, 4s. 6d. - - JOE WILSON AND HIS MATES: Stories. By Henry Lawson, 4s. 6d. - - ON THE TRACK AND OVER THE SLIPRAILS. By Henry Lawson, 4s. 6d. - - WHILE THE BILLY BOILS: Stories. By Henry Lawson, 4s. 6d. - - THREE ELEPHANT POWER, AND OTHER STORIES. By A. B. Paterson, author of - “The Man from Snowy River,” etc., 4s. 6d. - - TALES OF SNUGGLEPOT AND CUDDLEPIE, AND THEIR ADVENTURES WONDERFUL. By - May Gibbs, author of “Wattle Babies,” “Gum-Blossom Babies,” “Gum-Nut - Babies,” etc. With 23 coloured and other plates and many pen - drawings in the text. 10 × 7½ inches, 5s. - - BUSHLAND STORIES. By Amy Eleanor Mack, author of “A Bush Calendar.” - With coloured illustrations, 3s. 6d. - - SCRIBBLING SUE, AND OTHER STORIES. By Amy Eleanor Mack. With coloured - and other illustrations, 3s. 6d. - - GEM OF THE FLAT. A Story of Young Australians. By Constance Mackness. - With coloured and other illustrations, 3s. 6d. - - DOT AND THE KANGAROO. By Ethel C. Pedley. Illustrated by F. P. Mahony. - 3s. 6d. - - CHRISTOPHER COCKLE’S AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCES. By J. R. Houlding (“Old - Boomerang”). 465 pages, 3s. 6d. - - A BOOK OF AUSTRALIAN VERSE FOR BOYS AND GIRLS. Edited by Bertram - Stevens. With 14 portraits, 3s. 6d. - - BORONIA BABIES. By May Gibbs, author of “Snugglepot and Cuddlepie,” - etc. With 2 coloured and 12 other pictures. 8¾ × 5¾ inches, in - envelope ready for posting. 1s. 6d. - - WATTLE BABIES. By May Gibbs. With 2 coloured and 12 other pictures, 8¾ - × 5¾ inches, in envelope ready for posting, 1s. 6d. - - GUM-BLOSSOM BABIES. By May Gibbs. With 2 coloured and 12 other - pictures, 8¾ × 5¾ inches, in envelope ready for posting, 1s. 6d. - - GUM-NUT BABIES. By May Gibbs. With 2 coloured and 12 other pictures, - 8¾ × 5¾ inches, in envelope ready for posting, 1s. 6d. - - THE CHARM OF SYDNEY. 22 coloured and other illustrations by Sydney Ure - Smith, with appropriate quotations selected by Bertram Stevens. 7½ × - 5½ inches, 1s. 6d. - - THE CITY OF RIDDLE-ME-REE: A Fairy Story in Verse. 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Cloth, 3s. 6d. - - THE STATE AND FEDERAL CONSTITUTIONS OF AUSTRALIA: With a tabulated - comparison of the Federal Constitutions of the World. By K. R. - Cramp, M.A. Second edition, revised. With portraits and - illustrations, 3s. 6d. - - HISTORY OF AUSTRALASIA: From the Earliest Times to the Present Day. By - Arthur W. Jose, with 11 maps and 78 illustrations, 5s. School - edition, complete, 3s. 6d. - - LIFE OF CAPTAIN MATTHEW FLINDERS, R.N. By Professor Ernest Scott. Over - 500 pages, with 40 folding maps, full-page plates, and manuscripts - in facsimile, 21s. - - THE BUTTERFLIES OF AUSTRALIA. By G. A. Waterhouse, B.Sc., F.E.S., and - G. Lyell, F.E.S. 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