THE CROSSING OF THE JORDAN

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 225, 11 June 1918, Page 7

THE CROSSING OF THE JORDAN

FIGHTING AGAINST TURKS AND WEATHER

FROM SUCCESS TO SUCCESS I (Uy W. 'I'. Massey,'in the "Times.'') Palestine Headquarters, March 2G. In spile of many difficulties the British troops have forced tho passages of tUo Jordan ami occupied lis Salt, 25 miles from tho river bank's, on tho 'anniversary of tho first battle of Gaza, General Allonby's Army marches from one success to another, and this, latest of tho series of brilliant operations is ono of the finest tributes; to tho morale and efficiency of bis troops. In ordinary circumstances the task of bridging: the Jordan during the winter would be ono of considerable magnitude, but,the rainfall during March has beeu exceptionally heavy and has filled the river with a swift-flowing torrent; The Jordan has overflowed its banks, and tho ground at its month bad become so waterlogged that animals could not move. This necessitated a postponement of th? crossing.

It was intended that tho. main- crowing should bo at Ghoraniyeh, east, of Jericho, where the Turks destroyed the bridge soon after wo occupied the town on the plain. Ghoraniyeh is in the middle of oue of the many bonds of tho Jordan. On Friday morning three of tlio strongest swinimors of tho Londoners tried to breast the current which tumbled past them, but they found it too strong. A punt was no sooner put into tho stream than it was torn from tho hands of the, engineers launching it. It was obvious that tho forco of tho stream would make it impossible to throw a bridge across at Ghoraniyeh that night, and it was extremely doubtful whether sufficient numbers of infantry a,ould bo ferried over even if a taut, lino were niado fast to tho banks. First Men Across. The General therefore decided to alter his plans, so as to make the main crossing at' Makhadet Hajlah. four miles lower down, where tho pilgrims' road to tho Jordan ends. Here tho river banks aro less tortuous, but this was Hajlah's oilly advantage. The banks are thickly clothed in trees and undergrowth right down to tho water's edge. The. left bank, after several hundred yards' width of jungle, riees tier upon tior for a considerable', distance to the east, fortified by the Turks. The troops moved down the Wadi Kelt [Valley of Achor] and sheltered in broken ground near the river bank, whilo an officer and six mon swam tho river, towing a ropo bohind them. Sternly battling with tho current, they reached tho loft bank and began hauling across light rafts with men. Tho Turks lighted scrub fires, which illumined the surface of tho river. Boatloads had to bo tugged over in the face of considerable fire. Thrco hundred men we're over by daylight, and bridge-building was then begun, though the engineers had to carry material down precipitous bonks. Tho work, which throughout was very heavy, was completed by a barrel bridge soon after 8 o'clock. By that time tho remainder of tho troops had been forried across, but the nature of the ground prevented them from forming more than a very narrow bridgehead, 300 yards wide and not moro than 200 yards from the bank. Paths had to be cut through tho junglo before a man could move. In front of uswero nests of machine-guns, and beyond a belt of wood were dunes where Turks lay entrenched. Over the dunes were low hills sheltering a well-armed enemy. Two of our mountain batteries kept down the Turks' tire to a minimum, but, with all the advantages in favour of tht> defence, no further progress could bft made during the day. The men lay out under a hot sun, 1200 ft. below sea level, , Widening the Bridgehead. It was resolved to try to widon the bridgehead at night. Soon after midnight on Friday a determined,-well-sus tained rush was made by our troops through the thorn bushes and trees to a depth of a thousand yards, the flanks being extended till they formed a bridgehead 1500 yards wide. Meanwhile tho engineers had been constructing a steel pontoon btidgo under Considerable shell and rifle fire, and we were nblo to got over an, entire mounted regiment by .dawn. The cavalry, moving silently up tho left bank and over the cliffs, suddenly emerged on the plain, over which they palloped towards Ghoraniyeh, riding down and capturing 70 Turks arid some muchine-gunß, and making the enemy opposite Hajlah foot it as hard as he | could. The, Turks suffered a number j of casualties in getting away. ■Anothei I mounted regiment was got across at Hajlah and-scouted eastwards. As tho stream become less swift, bridges were built, and the Ghoraniyeh passage of the river was assured in twfr places. We had--kept tho Tnrkfi ' completely in the dark as to the spot whet* the main crossing was to be effected. In the. Auja district reconnoitring troops found the Mandesi ford impassable, but their presence there served to keep, tho -Turks mystified. The enemy tried to at'tack them, but was beaten off with loss. Volunteers' Exploit, Another excellent piece of work was down south. It was decided to threaten the Turks' Hank at Hajlah, and two officers and 45'mon volunteered to make a march from the Jordan's mouth straight up the left bank of the river. This little party, jocularly called "Societe Anonyme Maritime," wits rowed across tho Dead Sea in tho dark and landed cast of the Jordan. They had an Arab guide with them, but he was lost in the darkness. However, the young officer pushed on and made- his way towards tho ford attacked a small enomy post, taking prisoners, but, finding' between him and the ford a much superior forcfi of •tho enemy, ho hid the party till' ho could effect communication with tho body at Hajlah. This he did early on Saturday morning. More infantry and cavalry got across during the day. and on Sunday strong attacks were made on the enemy positions. There was keen lighting at several places, but our troops were irresistible. Near Shunet Nimrin some lewis gunners and riflemen cropt towards a battery which was shelling our troops, killed sonic gunners aud drivers, put the remainder to flight, and captured four guns. As tho enemy, iucluding Germans, were retiring np the Es Salt road with transport, our airmen dropped nearly throequarters of a ton of bombs on them, mak--1 ing a number of direct hits, and came down and with their machine-guns scattered the Turks. At the foothills the infantry captured about 411 Genuans, including officers. ■'' Weather Troubles. On Sunday night the weather broke, hampering wheeled traffic, and only pack transport could move. But the troops triumphed over all adverse conditions. ■ With cavalry on both flanks, the troops 1 made their way through the- foothills | into mountains over !1000ft. above tho , level of tho. Jordan, beating down all opposition. Some went up the metalled road towards Es Salt, others climbed I tho trackless surface of barren hills. All I wore wet, most of them sustaining themj selves on tho rations thoy carried, and 1 in the ovening our outposts wero only 1500 ynrds from Es Salt. The hills were then covered with a thick, damp mist. Wo halted till dawn. To-day somo of us wero iw&inded of a morning a year ago whon a thick sea fog denied us victory at Gasa. However, the elements were uot permitted to interefero with progress to-day, and ns tho sun was ovor tho mountains of Moab our splendid boys captured Es Salt and the surrounding heights and inflicted a heavy blow upon tho Turks and their German allies.