CAMPAIGNING IN PALESTINE.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16424, 18 January 1919, Page 10

CAMPAIGNING IN PALESTINE.

WITH ALLENBY'S VICTORIOUS ■ , FORCES. a _ (SPECIALLY Will I'i'liK FOE "THE PRESS. ) (By Canterbury Mounted.-) PALESTINE, October. We moved from our dusty camp above; Jericho to a new and. dustier one, , 'cl-ose to that splendid lit/tie stream, the Auja, which flows from: the mountainous country, running parallel to the Jordan on the western sido. The dust at our Jericho camp was bad, but, by good luck, we had tho brigade canteen (dry) and a Y.M.C.A. tent right beside us; the latter dispensing gratis limejuice drinks. "When we moved to the Auja, we camped beside a something howitzer, which used, with groat persistence, to sling shells to Jacko. She was a Turkish gun, made, of course, in Germany, and handled by any scratch team. "We used to stand alongside, and have our ears tested. At this camp we had..an evening visitor nearly every night. The bag of scraps at the cook-house would be moved to an adjacent valley, and the contents looted, while the tell-tale tracks of a panther could be clearly seen in tho dust. Taking horses to water at this place was anordeal, through about a mile and a half of fluffy dust, in some places up'to the horses' knees. Everywhere, between itlie hills and the Jordan were camps of tents, and these extended down to the Dead Sea: but in these scattered I camps no sign of life existed, except, lorhaps, when some fatigue party would be detailed to light small camp fires at night. THE GREAT "PUSH." As the tinio for the "push" came nearer, each squadron received orders to build dummy horses, from bamDoo and blankets, the regulation specimen to bo seen at Hqrs. The occupation of making th<sse steeds' was amusing, ;and some very fanny effects obtained: when a wind rose, most of the "piacls" would pull back and lio down. No doubt uie few _eneniy oDserving pianos that came over, flying at great altitude to avoid the "antis," reported a big concentration of : troops in the' valley, whereas the lino was very lightly held, the mounted men, with the exception of the Anzac Division, being diverted to help in the great flanking movement on the coastal §ide. In the valley were also two' battalions _ of 8.W.1. infantry, and some ' Yiddish. The British "West Indians are mostly big black chaps, who speak much better English than the ■ average English lad, and speak with music in their voices, and in low tones. These fellows complain bitterly of the heat in the yallcy, which, they say, is much more trying than that of their own native, land. On September' 19tlLwe broke camp, sat night and the .brigade spread out, down' tho Wady Auja, where'- ; we spent a very pleasant day, under, the shade of the big thorny trees, which grow everywhere in the Jordan. According to the guide book, this is the same thorn which, was used to make <r the crown of thorns." .•> Nothing doing to-day. As soon as darkness fell we waded back through the dust to our old camp, put our lines down, and turned in: wluch ,mea,ns. to spread an oil sheet on. the dust and get. down to it. The next night we were off again, and across the Auja. My memory took me back to when we used ' to patrol this ground; each troop would' move along towards the Turkish lines, perhaps half a mile separating the com- ' pact little, masses, of moving horses, until Jacko could resist no longer; whoa he.would open, up with liis batteries, and make thinks so unpleasant that we . would have to. go home, and get popped at most of the way back. But, it was all quiet to-night, except for one enquiring shell that came from the far side of the Jordan.- We p'assed through our.wire entanglements, nuilt at night, with much "cussing," by fatigue-par-ties from the, Mounteds. After a halt, we rode from midnight until dawn, leaving, as we' rode, our old .line, with its posts of 8.W.1., eight or nine miles 'behind, and passing some Turkish trenches and wire. The coastal movement, cutting communications, -was evidently well on'the-way, and :the Turks here, as elsewhere, were starting their great "Iggere" retreat, as the chaps called this .hasty "get-away." In Arabic the word means "hurrv up." We had now reached a great barrier of bills, which runs from the main, range towards the Jordan, and at right angles to the river. This jumble . of hills — brokeii, and in many places unrideable owing to flinty volcanic rock—is surmounted at one . point by a splendid peak standing about'.32ooft above Dead Sea level. . Surtabeh.' as it is called, looks even higher. The regiment remained camped under these hills for the day, sending but mounted patrols. The Turks had evidently just moved hack. They left some ammunition,'and a'few weai7 stragglers were,gathered' in; men who were ill, or "fed up" and hungry. The troop to which I belong: had a pairol job, and a very long and tiring day we had, pn. country that was really too rocky for horses. 'We had hardly left the camp half a mile behind, when we came round a rocky corner on to thirty or forty Turks. We opened fire on these, but tho bulk of them slipped hack over,the crest of the hill without firing an answering shot. Three or four were leading'pack mules, and one of these mules would not lead, but hung back with the perversity of his kind, while his owner aid all in his power, and ! hung to him, with great pluck, so we | sent him back with one. or two. others, who were wounded, and his pack-horso, which 'was loaded with' two beautiful machine-guns, quite complete even to all spare parts. We worked across country, and saw no more JaCkos, only five young pigs .that escaped; and eventually we took up a post for the day on a high volcanic knob, where the view was fine. Oh, for a mountain battery. There, away on those great hill s, crowned. by noble surtabeh, was a large Turkish camp, with horses and tents, ana I twicc we saw long columns of infantry, with a few "horses, climbing the \ hills,. and everywhere on the nearby hills could bo seen small parties, all going to the north, shortly after midday the tents came down, and the camp also removed to some healthier sphere. ROUNDING UP PRISONERS. • In the evening we returned to our camp, and, having drunk little and eaten less in the early part of the day, we drank billy after- billy of tea. The value of tea as a reviver is wonderful to an exhausted man: it is far ahead of alcoholic drinks. At midnight we were off again, skirting under the hills, while some other regiments swept the country between us and the Jordan., We 6oon passed the flank of the hills, and, leaving the peak behind on our left, we found thfc plain - widening .out again. Our object now was to get astride a road . . leading across the plain from the hills, in the direction of Nablus, to. an enemy . bridge across the.river. , As we moved .along we kept passing confused and ijabbering Turks, driving minute donkeys or their mules, in big vehicles loaded -with, the usual , mixed supplies of the army. A man or two would be told off'to escort them as we passed by. and, then a .few , shots would be • heard from the screen, but no halt

was called, and after crossing a fine stream, with two broken-down waggons at the ford, we were on the road, and immediately the business of roundin" up prisoners commenced. A section rode away up the track, and dismounted behind a thorn bush; as the small parties of Turks came down the road, most of them, on foot, but some driving the. poor, _ tired little donkeys, in the heavily laden, narrow-tyred ' wag-gons,-and some of the latter, fiercolymoustached notables, riding superior donkeys, and inferior horses. They were cruelly deprived of their rifles and equipment, and "emptied" on down the road to add to a growing mob. Most of them were surpa-isecT and -seemed rather stupefied '.at tho turn of events. One "lad of "a "sturdy builcf, objected strongly, and two had to be told to hold him, while a third removed his "fire-irons" (as the Yanks would say) and bayonet. H© iwally was asking for a tap on the head with a rifle butt, instead of a cuff on the chin. He must have "queered tho show" with his terrible noise, but all the same he was a plucky lad. Two of our officers who had gone further up the road, came back with two disgruntled superior officers, one riding a fine grey Arab. These gentlemen were chattering gaily in Turkish, and were dumbfounded when our officers disarmed them. Part, or all of the Wellington Regiment, working between ourselves' and the hills, took a good many prisoners, including some 'cavalry. As soon as daylight came, we "boiled up" and had breakfast, and a. deserted waggon yielded plenty of extra grain and tibbin for hungry horses missed rationing at pur last camp. Nearby was a comfortable stable, built under trees, with a small stack of beautiful green hay, and a great big stack of tibbin. About midday the order came to move, and we found ourselves riding towards the Jordan. * The land about here is very deep and- rich- but requires irrigation to be of any use after the spring has passed.