6176 Supplement .To the London -.Gazette;' 21 June, 1916
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6176 SUPPLEMENT .TO THE LONDON -.GAZETTE;' 21 JUNE, 1916. A Detachment Egyptian Army Military .,23rd, everything of value, -being removed,. Works Department (no Royal Engineers except four light cars.at'the latter pbst, which being available). were disabled before abandonment.' During, Divisional Train, 1st Australian Division. the march,, and '.after arrival, at Matruh, a. The 2nd Battalion New Zealand Rifle Bri- ^nu'mbefr'-of"desertions took" place among the- gade, one Company 15th Sikhs, a detachment "Egyptian " Coastguard Camel Corps. These of 150 Bikanir Camel Corps with an attached desertions "amounted in all to twelve native- Egyptian Army Machine Gun Section,, and ,officers, .two cadets, and 120 other ranks, the- one" armoured train garrisoned by the .l/10th •deserters taking with them their arms, equip- Gurkha Rifles with, two 12£ pdr. guns of the -ment,-and-176 camels. • • .- Egyptian Army Artillery, were despatched on A detailed distribution . of the Western, the 21st instant .to make good the' Alexandria- Frontier Force on the 10th December, and of Dabaa Railway and patrol .to Moghara Oasis. troops garrisoning districts in the West of Egypt, in which- the • population was mainly- The 1 /1st North Midland Mounted Brigade, 7 Arab, and therefore likely to be affected by- with the Berks Battery Ro3 al Horse Artillery, -the invasion, is given in- Appendix " A " (not. were sent on the 29th November to preserve printed). ... order in tihe Fayum, and on the same date It must be acknowledged that this force, a Squadron of Egyptian Army Cavalry and a although the best available in Egypt at the- detachment of 50 Bikanir Camel Corps occu- moment, was by no means well adapted for the- pied the Wadi Natrun. task which lay before it. Regiments and Staffs- Finally, to. provide for possible contingencies had been somewhat hastily collectedj and were among the Arab population of the Western not well known to one" another. The Com- Behera Province, a Composite Battalion was posite Yeomanry Brigade,-to'give an instance.,, made up from .details of the 29th Division at -contained men from twenty or more -different, Alexandria, detachments being despatched to regiments. Before a -really efficient fighting, Hosh Isa and Damanhur on December 7th.. force could be collected much rearrangement By November 23rd concentration was com- was necessary; .with the result that the com- pleted, and on the night of the 2 3rd/24th the position was constantly changing; and it was-, first detachments of .the 15th Sikh's, under in' fact, not until the middle of February thai Lieutenant-Colonel J. L. R. Gordon, sailed the. conditions of the Western Frontier Force- from Alexandria, arriving at Mersa Ikfatruh could be considered really satisfactory. the following morning. 1 Moreover, the lack of sufficient and suitable The presence of enemy submarines necessi- transport made it necessary for General. tated the sea journey being performed by night Wallace to withdraw his troops - to Matruh. only. Moreover, the depth of water over the after each engagement. bar in Matruh Harbour limited the ships I mention these facts because it should be immediately available for transporting troops realised that General Wallace had to overcome- and supplies to six trawlers and two small many difficulties beyond'those caused by the Coastguard Cruisers. Four additional small enemy. steamers were obtained as soon as possible, and On the llth December the undermentioned a third cruiser was fitted up as a hospital ship. force moved out from Mersa Matruh, with The mounted troops and transport were orders to disperse a hostile gathering reported: assembled at railhead at Dabaa, and an ad- in £he neighbourhood of Beit Hussein and Ras= vanced force was sent forward to make good Um Rakhum, and to reconnoitre towards- and develop the wells at Abu Gerab, Baggush Unjeila: — and Jerawla, which constitute the only water- Commander, Lieut.-Colonel J. L. R. ing places on the 85 miles of desert which Gordon, 15th Sikhs (350 men). separate Dabaa from Mersa Matruh. The con- 2nd Composite Yeomanry Regiment, dition of the wells at the extreme end of the dry (three squadrons with three machine-guns).. season only permitted of two squadrons being One section Nottinghamshire Battery;. passed across at a time. Royal Horse Artillery (Territorial Force). The concentration of the force at Mersa Detachment Royal Naval. Armoured Car- Matruh, less five squadrons left at railhead on Diyision (six armoured cars, one wireless-- account of-insufficiency of water, was completed car). •''••• on December 7th, and on the same date Major- One section South Midland Field Ambu- General Wallace moved his headquarters to lance, Royal Army Medical Corps (Terri- Matruh. torial Force). Meanwhile Sollum post had been evacuated Marching at 7 a.m., the force moved west- by sea on the afternoon of the 23rd November, wards by the Coast road, and on reaching; such motor cars of the Royal Naval Armoured Wadi Senaab the cavalry, pushed forward in Car Squadron as could be moved having been advance of the column, became engaged with' dispatched by land previously. the enemy holding the southern side of the- . In the evacuation it was unfortunately Wadi in considerable strength. found necessary to disable and abandon three Owing to the bad going marching was diffi- light Ford cars and the two Egyptian Army cult, and the infantry were unable to co- 9 c/m Krupp guns, and to abandon an out- operate, but, on the arrival .of a reinforcement lying post of one Egyptian officer and fourteen of a squadron of Australian Light Horse'in other ranks which failed to reach the beach in the afternoon, the enemy "were"finally driven- time to embark, and were made prisoners. out of the'Wadi with loss estimated at not less= The garrison of Sollum—strength, British, than 100 killed and wounded. five officers and twelve other ranks, Egyptian, Our .casualties on -.this, day -were orie officer two officers and ninety other ranks—reached and thirteen other ranks killed, and twoj- Matruh safely on November 24th. • officers and sixteen other ranks wounded. The evacuation of the posts at; Bagbag and Among the former I regret to report the .death- Sidi Barrani was effected by land on -November of Lieutenant-Colonel Snow, killed late in the;.