CHAPTER XXIX NAHR AUJA AND EL BURJ BEFOREproceeding further with the narrative of the capture of , it is desirable to turn to the operations carried out by the British on the extreme left flank, which had an important influence upon the fighting in Judaa. By November 20th the Anzac Mounted had estab- lished a strong line of entrenched posts running from Nalin on the right through Budrus and El Yehudiyeh, and thence by high ground south of Tel Abu Zeitun to the sea. At this time the Turkish line on the coastal sector traversed the high ground north of Nahr Auja as far as Ferrekhiyeh, where it crossed the stream and ran south-east to the foot-hills. As the 54th Division marched up from the south it was placed under Chauvel’s orders ; the Camel was also advanced into the area, while the was sent back to a position near the beach south of Yebna to rest. On the 21st the Camels took over the line from Yehudiyeh to Hill 265, and the 161st Infantry Brigade was ordered to relieve the New Zealanders and free them for action, if necessary, across the Auja. During this time mounted patrols pushed aggressively up to the Auja crossings, and to the villages further east. At Mulebbis, an extensive Jewish colony, large stores of horsefeed were discovered. But everywhere the patrols were sharply fired upon, and it was evident that the enemy was prepared to resist a further advance up the plain of Sharon. To prevent the withdrawal of of the Eighth Turkish Army from Sharon to assist in the defence of Jerusalem, Allenby decided to demonstrate strongly along the coast, so as to lead the enemy to anticipate a further advance in that direction. On the 24th, therefore, Chauvel moved to establish at least one bridgehead on the north bank of the Auja. Early in the afternoon the ground covering all the crossings was vigorously shelled, and, while the whole line displayed menacing activity, the Canterbury Mounted Rifles crossed the Auja at the ford on the beach, put to flight a small party of Turkish infantry, and seized Sheikh Muannis.

24A 497 498 SINAI AND PALESTINE [zqth-asth Nov., 1917

The Wellington Regiment, following, moved by Muaiinis and captured the bridge at Khurbet Hadrah; and a battalion of infantry crossed by the mill at Jerisheh. The enemy’s out- posts were everywhere taken by surprise, and about thirty Turks were captured, while the British sustained no losses. That night the infantry with four companies held posts at Khurbet Hadrah and Muannis, covered by a of the New Zealanders, who also guarded the ford on the beach. All night the engineers worked at constructing a bridge at the Jerisheh mill and improving the crossing at Khurbet Hadrah, with a view to establishing two strong bridgeheads on the 25th. Allenby’s scheme succeeded almost too well. Bef ore dawn on the 25th the Turks advanced in strength upon the Auck- land Mounted Rifles, who were covering the infantry in front of the Hadrah crossing. The Canterburys at once moved from the mouth of the Auja against the Turkish right; but the enemy pressed his attack in considerable numbers, the Aucklands were forced back on the infantry, and the little combined force was heavily shelled. Pressing in, about 1,000 strong, from the direction of El Jelil, the Turks could not be arrested, and the infantry, covered by the New Zea- landers and some machine-guns, were withdrawn to the south bank of the stream. The New Zealanders followed, and the Turks took up a position on Khurbet Hadrah. Shortly before g o’clock, as the British infantry at Sheikh Muannis, assisted by a battalion on the south, were preparing for a counter-attack on the enemy at Khurbet Hadrah, they came under severe shell-fire, and the enemy could be seen advancing in force. An hour later the Turks, in spite of effective shelling by the Somerset Battery, still pushed rapidly forward. Very hard-pressed, the infantry, covered by a squadron of the Aucklands and two troops of the Canter- bur‘ys, fell back towards the bridge at Jerisheh. Some, how- ever, were cut off from the crossing and were obliged to pass the stream in boats, while a few had to swim. The New Zealanders remained to give covering fire to the British; then, with the Turks very close to them, they in turn took to the water. The position, although exciting, had never been critical, and the New Zealanders enjoyed the lively 25tl1-2jtl1 Nov., 19171 NAHR AUJA AND EL BURJ 499 character of the little enterprise. That night tlie original line was occupied by the mounted troops and infantry, and the artillery on the sector (made up of a few 6-inch , one 3.5-inch battery, two 18-pounder batteries, and three batteries of ) registered the crossings as a precaution against a further enemy offensive. The ‘Turks showed no disposition to attempt to force the Auja; but on the 27th they began to display activity against Hill 265 (afterwards known as “Bald Hill ”), which was held by a of the 4th Battalion of the Camel Brigade, and against the line on its right. The Camel positions were heavily bombarded with 4.2’s ; Mulebbis, after having been patrolled by troops of the in the morning, was occupied by the enemy in strength only two hours later, and Wilhelmia was bombarded. At about noon the line of Ryrie’s brigade was being inter- mittently shelled, and the light horsemen could see Turks creeping through the orchards about 1,000 yards in front of the Camel Brigade. A of the Australians, under Lieutenant R. S. Billington,’ caught these in flank with a Ilotchkiss gun, and caused many casualties, but the movement towards the Camels made steady progress. Ryrie’s head- quarters were persistently shelled, and Major Bryant, of the Ayrshire Battery, a bold artillery officer who had supported the light horsemen in many fights, was killed. A strong force of Turkish infantry then advanced under cover of the barrage, and the company of the 4th Battalion which occupied the post on Bald Hill was driven off, retiring for about 500 yards. The Turks immediately entered the post, and with enfilade fire compelled the evacuation of three posts held by the same battalion on the right. This in turn made a post known as “Ypres Salient,” occupied by the 2nd Light Horse Brigade, untenable. All the posts were at once manned by tlie enemy, who, however, attempted no further advance. Bald Hill was a coinmanding knoll, valuable to either side if it could be held. General Smith was ordered to retake it after dark, if not before. At 7.30 p.m. Camel patrols, pushing

~~

1 Capt. R. S. Billington, h1.C. 5th L.H. RE@. Clerk; b Enoggera, Q’land, 23 Feb., 1894. 500 SINAI AND PALESTINE [27th-29th Nov., 1917 on to the hill, found the southern slopes occupied by about 500 Turks with machine-guns ; but with a swinging bayonet charge the Camels re-occupied the three posts previously evacuated on the right of the hill. Smith, whose leadership was always marked by sound and independent judgment, insisted that the knoll was a No-Man’s Land, and that gun- fire from either side could make it untenable by infantry. This view was accepted by Chaytor, and afterwards by Chauvel, and was proved to be correct-to the great satis- faction of the men of the Camel Brigade, who had smarted under the criticism at first levelled at them for losing the position. Simultaneously with the attack on Bald Hill, the Turks had made a stout effort to push the infantry of the 54th Division out of Wilhelmia, but were driven off with consider- able losses. They also crossed the Auja, and established a post near the Hadrah bridge. Here they were successfully raided after dark by the infantry, who killed fifty and captured eight prisoners, with only nominal losses to the British. The enemy continued to shell the posts and back areas, but the Anzac trenches were excellently dug, and the effect was slight. The plan to pin the Eighth Turkish Army on the western sector, while the 60th and 74th Divisions in the hills prepared for the final assault on Jerusalem, had been richly rewarded, and all signs of activity on the Auja were welcomed by the Commander-in-Chief. The Turks continued to appear on Bald Hill, and eni- ployed working parties there in the darkness, despite heavy shelling from the British batteries. On the night of the 29th the position was again raided by a company of the 4th Camel Battalion, supported by a squadron of the 6th Light Horse on the left under Captain Stuart Tooth. After the hill had been hotly bombarded, it was rushed by the Camels with the bayonet. The Turks met them with bombs at the foot of the hill, but were speedily swept back to the summit, when the Camels were withdrawn, their task only half accom- plished. Tooth’s squadron, however, whose mission was to enfilade the Turks if they attempted to follow the Camels on their withdrawal, blundered in the night on to a considerable enemy force, apparently massed for an attack. A lively 29th-30th h'ov., 19171 NAHR AUJA AND EL BURJ 501 fight with bombs and rifle-fire ensued, and the enemy brought up a second force about 300 strong, which fell on Tooth's left flank. The light horsemen met the combined assault with fine coolness, and Tooth succeeded in establishing a line, upon which the struggle was bitterly waged. The Turks, however, threatened to envelop the line, and Tooth withdrew his squadron for about 300 yards, found a good position, and held on until daylight. On another occasion a squadron of the 6th Light Horse Regiment, led by Captain D. C. Close: raided the Ypres Salient, which had been evacuated to the enemy. The salient was to be heavily bombarded for ten minutes, after which the barrage was to lift for ten minutes, while the Aus- tralians made their dash at the enemy, and to be put down again to cover their withdrawal, Unfortunately the lift after the first ten minutes was not complete, and many of the Aus- tralians, as they rushed forward from their advanced position in an orchard, were caught by the barrage. Lieutenant Owen Tooth, brother to Stuart Tooth, was killed, Lieutenant H. Dickson3 wounded, and one other rank killed and twenty-two wounded in a few minutes by their own guns. But the attack was rapidly pressed, the trenches were entered, twenty Turks killed with the bayonet, and four taken prisoner. Then, bearing their dead and wounded, the Australians returned inside the ten minutes allotted for the enterprise. During these days and nights the posts of the 2nd Light Horse Brigade along the crest of the hills were always active. The orchards enabled the enemy to creep up to close quarters in the darkness, and attacks were frequent. Major Barton, of the 7th Regiment, occupied a small entrenched position on Hill 330, in front of which was a wide garden of almond trees, crossed here and there by cactus hedges, sloping rapidly down to the valley of the Auja. One night the Australians heard Turks talking behind a cactus hedge about 150 yards away down the hill, and immediately afterwards officers could be heard calling out orders. Volleys of rifle- fire opened on the post. Barton had only nineteen men, with

'Xlai. D. C. Close. 6th L.H. Reat. Station manaeer:I, of hIoree and__ Warren. N.S W-, b Stanmore, Sydney, N S W, 30 Aug, 1852. 'Capt. H. Dickson, M.C. 6th L.H. Regt Station manager. of New England District, N.S W.; b. Barney Downs Station, Tenterfield, N S.W.,' 18 July, 1874. 502 SINAI AND PALESTINE [zgth Nov.-7th Dec., 1917 fifteen rifles and two Hotchkiss guns; but they knew the ground intimately and mauled the Turks severely as they came up tlie slope in the darkness. Both the Hotchkiss guns jammed, but the riflemen held the attackers at bay until dawn, when it was found that they had retired to the shelter of the cactus hedge. Within a few hundred yards on either side of Barton’s trenches, but nearer the river, were Australian posts, which, as daylight broke, put down a barrage with Hotchkiss and rifle-fire behind the Turkish party, while Barton’s men blazed into them from the front. The Turks, cut off from retreat and faced by destruction, raised the white flag, and Barton walked down and took the surrender of four officers and 194 men, with four machine-guns, rifles, and Iiombs. The week’s fighting along the Auja showed that despite von Papen’s condemnation the enemy was already, at least on the plain of Sharon, recovering his spirit and still capable of a sporadic offensive. At times, however, there was evidence of the effects of the long and harassing drive which his troops had suffered. An outpost held by Lieutenant K. B. Suttor’ and Lieutenant Finlay, with only thirty rifles and two Hotchkiss guns, was attacked by an enemy party nearly 200 strong. The Turlts were easily beaten off, many killed, and 150 made prisoner. On the night of December 1st three Turkish deserters, coming in to one of the 7th Regiment’s posts, indicated by signs that some of their friends also wished to surrender. The information they could give was scanty and uncertain ; but Lieutenant L. W. Da~ies,~accompanied by Corporal R. G. Maguirea and Trooper A. Dobbs,‘ with a Turk as guide, went down through the orchards for three- quarters of a mile until they were behind one of the enemy’s posts. But the information was correct, and they returned with twenty-four prisoners, including a Turkish officer. On December 7th tlie Anzac Mounted Division handed over the sector to the 52nd Division, but the New Zealand

4 Capt K. B. Suttor, 7th L H. Regt. Station manager; b Waikato, Hamilton, N Z , 1Y84 Died, ZJ Aug, 1930. 6 Mal. L W Danes, fi1.C. 7th L H. Regt Of Sydney, N S W : b. Esk. Q’land, 30 March, 1887. 8 Sgt R G. hlaguire, h1 M. 7th L.H Regt. Clerk; b. Yass, N.S.W., 1896. 7 L/Cpl. A. Dobbs, hl.hI. 7th L.H. Regt. Farmer; b. Sydney, N S.W., 1895. Nov.-Dec.,IgI7] NAHR AUJA AND EL EURJ 503

Brigade was left for some time in the line. The 1st and 2nd Light Horse were withdrawn to rest-camps at Richon and Wady Hanein. The light horsemen relished their brief holiday. For nearly a month the men had slept and fought in the clothes which they had worn when the great offensive began. For many days at a stretch they had neither washed nor shaved, and had been on a hard and scanty ration. As they moved south, their transport officers were busy bringing up from the south of Gaza tents, extra blankets, and all the gear of their standing camp-and, best of all, great loads of Australian mail-bags. Requisitioning officers ransacked the surrounding villages for tibbin for the horses. Mounted troops escaped the infantry’s arduous marching under heavy packs, but pay in constant labour for the privilege of being carried on horses. Even in rest-camps the light horseman was working during most of the day. Feeding, watering, grooming. and cleaning the horse-lines keep the squadrons ceaselessly busy ; and when the horses become reduced, as they were at this time, they demand particular care and nursing. Grooming is massage, to exhausted animals the best of tonics; as the campaign continued, the average light horseman spent far more than the regulation time in rubbing down his coveted , and tired men would walk miles if there was a chance of acquiring a bundle of green fodder or an extra nosebag of grain. But with all the demands of the horses the men found time to clean themselves and to rest. After a bath and the impera- tive “ delousing,’’ there followed a wonderful period of sleeping. Nothing was more remarkable than the manner in which these young men would sleep after some weeks of severe campaigning. Day after day, in sunshine or darkness, until nature had re-asserted herself, they were able to sleep heavily whenever they were free from the horse-lines, with the result that an utterly exhausted brigade, after a week’s rest or even less, would take the track again as fresh as a lot of schoolboys. The Australian Mounted Division, after its movement against Latron on November 19tl1, was (with the exception of the 5th Mounted Brigade, but with the 7th Mounted Brigade attached) placed in corps reserve, and, to ease the 504 SINAI AND PALESTINE [Nov., 1917 strain on transport, was withdrawn to Mejdel, on the Philistine plain. There, in camps close to the sea, the Aus- tralians (less the 10th Regiment) engaged for a week in re- equipment, and were indulged with a few day’s rest. The Jews provided them with fruit and vegetables, bread and honey, and sometimes wine; from the Arabs were obtained horse-feed and fresh meat. To the traveller in a normal season the Pliilistine plain is not inspiriting. It is a rich land, but also a bare, dead, hushed land, with no note of youth or joy. The absence of trees, except round the scat- tered new settlements ; the squalid, mud-built, flat-topped villages with their thieving and depraved Arab inhabitants ; the industrious but timid and servile Jews; the wild dogs and strange birds, which howl and cry about the villages and camps by night; and, almost at every mile, the ruins of an old-time glory pointing the moral of greatness built on foun- dations of blood and lust and worldly ambitions, conibine to depress all except the enthusiastic student or the delving archzeologist. But to Chauvel’s light horsemen the plain, after the blinding dust and heat of southern Palestine, was almost as the Promised Land to the tribes under Moses, They sIept and swam and feasted, and hailed with cheers the arrival of the richly laden field-representatives of the Aus- tralian Comforts Fund and the light motor-cars of the A.I.F. canteens, which were never far from the fighting line. They explored the ruins of ancient Askalon, looked upon the valley where, utiless tradition lies, David overthrew Goliath, flirted freely, despite the obstacle of language, with the pretty Jewish girls, spent every penny they could extract from their pay- books and from the fugitive pay officers, and in their simple, hearty way lived like kings. Barrow’s had now been engaged in hard dis- mounted fighting in the hills on the left of the infantry for more than a week. On November 26th Hodgson was ordered to move with the 3rd and 4th Brigades and the 7th Mounted Brigade to their relief. The enemy, appreciating the menace to the road, had been resisting the yeomanry with great stubbornness ; his counter-attacks had regained Foka and other ground won by the British horsemen, and after very bitter fighting had driven ZSth-Zgth Nov., 19171 NAHR AUJA AND EL BURJ 505 our infantry out of Suffa and Shiltzl IIodgson’s division reached Berfilya on the 28th and 29th. The struggle was still running strongly about Suffa, which, after+twicechanging hands, became No-Man’s Land. The 7th Brigade at once became hotly engaged. and General Wigan was wounded. The 3rd and 4th Brigades were put into the line, with the ~2ndDivision on their right around El Burj, and the 74th on their left about one and a half miles north of Berfilya. The country was extremely steep and rocky, and the position on the front was obscure. Between the attacks and the counter- attacks no Turks or trenches were within sight of the British; though bursts of effective machine-gun fire and very accurate sniping showed that the enemy was not far away. On November 28th the XX Corps had taken over the Jerusalem operations from the XXI, and the Australian Mounted Divi- sion was now under Chetwode’s orders. All horses except those needed by gallopers were sent back to Ramleli, and the Australians were engaged purely as infantry. Rain was frequent, and the mountain cold intense. Some of the men had secured an issue of winter clothing; but most of them were in summer dress and, like the infantry, suffered acutely. If the regiments of the 3rd and 4th Brigades rode into the hills refreshed, they were also nidi reduced in battle-strength The tnunth’s hard fighting, rough living, and lack of sleep had caused heavy wastage by casualties and sickness ; and, when one-fourth of the men had been sent back to Ramleh with the horses, there remained a very light force to oppose the enemy. The 8th Regiment, for instance, had only 105 men of all ranks available for the line out of a total of above 400 who had been with the regiment at . As the Aus- tralians advanced towards the dominating hill on which stands the village of El Burj, they had their first taste of the bitter Judaan winter; hut when some of them relieved a battalion of the 5th Royal Scots Fusiliers, they realised that they were more fortunate than the infantry. They found the Scotchmen clad in short twill khaki pants, without tunics, with one blanket to four men, very short of rations and without tobacco. “ Our boys.” wrote a light horse officer, “ supplied the Jocks with matches and cigarettes. and the ‘ Dinlcums.’ as they always called us. were very popular.’’ 506 SINAI AND PALESTINE [zgth Nov.-1st Dec., 1917 The 3rd Brigade went into the line on the evening of the 29th. As the squadrons were so weak, Hodgson decided on the following day to strengthen them with the 4th Brigade. This necessitated moving Wilson’s men about I ,000 yards to the left between Shilta and El Burj. The movenient was made at dark, and threw the 3rd for the night into strange country. The 8th Regiment, now reduced to two squadrons, each about fifty strong, occupied two positions some 200 yards apart. One under Major Y. H. Walker* was on a small hill to the right, and across the valley about 400 yards away was the left flank of the . On Walker’s left, and somewhat to the rear, Major A. CrawfordB was placed on a higher hill with the other squadron of the 8th; still further to the left was the 9th Regiment. All along the front the line was occupied in a similar way, with troops on the knolls and the intervening low ground open. The infantry had built stone sangars to give them protection against both the enemy and the driving rain, and the light horsemen, crouching behind these, and ignorant of the country ahead, prayed for a quiet night. All round them the hills were extremely rocky, with occasional large caves hewn out of the outcrops of limestone. By IO prn. the change was completed, and for two hours the hills were ominously quiet. Soon after midnight the sentries on Walker’s post reported a movement only a few yards away, but could see nothing in the intense darkness. Walker called his men to arms, and began to report to Crawford by telephone. Next moment the post was rushed in great strength by the Turks, who were within bombing distance of the Australians before they were discovered. For a few minutes the light horsemen stood and fought with rifles, bayonets, and hand-grenades ; then Walker. finding that his post was being enveloped from both flanks, ordered a withdrawal to the post held by Crawford on the higher hill. The vigorous resistance had steadied the enemy, who, like the Australians, were obstructed by the darkness, and Walker was able to fall back in good order to Crawford’s hill and take * Maj. Y. H. Walker, M C. 8th L.H. Regt. Farmer; b. Nagambie, Vic, zg Aug., 1895. 0 I.ieut.-Col. A. Crawford, V.D 8th L H. Regt. Farmer; b Tatura, Vic, ti Aug.. 1887. 1st Dec, 19171 NAHR AUJA AND EL BURJ 507 up a position there on the lower slopes to the left. As the two squadrons then waited in the darkness for the next assault, Crawford sent an urgent message to brigade for reinforcements, and at the same time fired flares as a call to the artillery. The gixns of the 268th Royal Field Artillery Brigade and the Hong Kong and Singapore Battery promptly responded, and put down a barrage over the enemy approaches. After an interval of complete silence, which was a greater strain on the nerves of the dc- fenders than the fight- ing itself, about 500 '', Turks, with loud shouts of " Allah," rushed up the hill at Crawford's sangars. The Aus- tralians held their fire until the leading men were within twenty yards, and then shot them down in heaps with rifle and Hotch-

kiss, and at the same Jm,mc) pepo Jooo roQ) time lionilied them I YDJ effectively. Retaliating with bombs, the Turks pressed bravely forward in a desperate effort to bring their greatly superior numbers into a hand-to-hand struggle with the Australians. But the Victorians fought on with splendid steadiness, and had the enemy soundly held, when forty-eight yeomanry of the Gloucester Regiment (which was at that time attached to the in place of the 10th Regiment) came up under Lieutenant-Colonel Palmer. A few minutes later a company of the Royal Scots Fusiliers under Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart-Richardson also hastened up the hill and joined in the fight, and the Turks, coining under very severe punishment at a few yards' range, were driven to cover. At the same time the 9th Regiment on the left and the 4th Brigade 011 the right enfiladed their rear and cut off their escape. a( 508 SINAI AND PALESTINE [Ist Dec., I917 The little composite British force remained on the hilltop until dawn, when the Turkish survivors, numbering sis officers, including a battalion commander, and I 12 other ranks, surren- dered. More than IOO enemy dead lay close up to Crawford's sangars, and sixty wounded were collected, most of them badly mutilated by the point-blank fire. Captain Fay and Lieutenant S. V. Moorelo and five other ranks of the 8th Light Horse were killed, and two officers and thirty-five other ranks wounded; while the Scots had one officer and one man killed and two wounded, and the yeomanry three men wounded. The booty included large quantities of hand-grenades and eight automatic rifles. It was afterwards learned that the attacking force was a battalion of storm-troops," selected in Galicia from the 19th and 20th Divisions, and specially trained by German officers. Physically they were the finest Turks seen by the Australians during the war. The ALE- tralian defence was distinguished by the cool leadership of Major Crawford, and by much excellent individual work, including that of Captain Macpherson and Lieutenant T. R. Peppercorn,l' Sergeant-Major A. H. Currington,'* and Trooper H. W. I

10 Lieut. S. V Moore, 8th L H. Re@ Farmer; of Ararat, Vic ; b. Murtoa, VIC,S Apr , 1894. Died of wounds, I Dec, 1917. 11 Capt T. R. Peppercorn, hf C. Sth L H. Regt. Survelor's student, of Gympie. Q'land; b Caulfield. Melb, Vx, ig Jan, 1893 11 Lierit A H Curringtm. D C M. Sth L H. Re@. Lahourer; of Ballarat, VIC.; b. Great Barford. Bedfordshlre, Eng., 5 March, 1SS7 "SKt. H. W. Keable, D.C.M. (No IOIO, 8th LH. Regt.) Stockman; of Mitchell, Q'land; b Stanthorpe, Darling Downs, Q'land, 14 July, 1893. Nov.-Dec., 19171 NAHR AUJA AND EL BURJ 509 attempt ; from that time until their withdrawal from the hills early in January, the regiments of Australian Mounted Divi- sion had little or no fighting at close quarters. At times their stone sangars were freely shelled, and sniping was constant, but the men’s chief grievance was against the weather and the conditions of living. Their plight was not extreme, as was that of the infantry, but it imposed sharp suffering, and they were called upon to endure it for many weeks. The tracks were iiiipossible for transport, and raticjns were frequently short ; waterproof sheets were not available ; until after the fall of Jerusalem, when the line advanced into country con- taining olive-groves. they were without firewood for cooking. Wet by day and night, with hoots hroken and useless, under- fed, and protected from the biting mountain winds only by the stone walls they constructed, their thoughts ran constantly on the conditions under which they had been living only five weeks before in the desert. But each day brought them cheering news of the slow but sure approach of the infantry towards Jerusalem, and the worst of hours were the subject of jest. By the end of November transport was the main source of anxiety everywhere on the mountain front. Wheels were useless except on the main -Jerusalem road, and even on that steep track, now holed and torn, the traffic was very slow. A special service of 2,000 donkeys and thousands of camels was therefore hastily orgariised and rushed into service, The agile little donkeys, bearing loads at which the army marvelled, saved the situation ; but still more remarkable was the work of the camels. The great ungainly animals of the desert climbed the steepest tracks of wild Judaa, their long legs slithering on the greasy mud and the flat surface of the stones : and despite frequent heavy falls, and looking more dejected than anything else in the world, they went resignedly and gamely on by day and night up to the firing-line. Their Egyptian drivers rivalled them in courage and persistence. These unfortunate men, barefooted and clad only in light cottons, served the Commander-in-Chief with a degree of fidelity not rivalled by any of his British troops. At tinies a dead camel would be seen beside the rough track with its driver crouched dead at its side. The camel having surren- 510 SINAI AND PALESTINE [Nov.-Dec., 1917 dered, the Egyptian seemed in despair to have settled down and willed, with the resignation characteristic of Eastern peoples, to die beside his charge. With the line of the Australian Mounted Division held only by posts, the front was elastic and the position at times confused. One night early in December a reduced company of British infantry, marching to the relief of the 11th Light Horse Regiment, lost direction, penetrated the enemy terri- tory, and blundered on to Foka as they came back. Here a considerable enemy force was encountered. The British at once attacked, and a spirited rush gave them possession of the village and of 500 prisoners, whom they endeavoured to bring into the Australian lines. The Turks, however, appreciating the weakness of their captors, broke loose, and 200 escaped, taking with them a British officer and two of his men. The remaining 300 were rounded tip and brought in.