ALLENBY AND THE ANZACS

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 10, 7 October 1919, Page 7

ALLENBY AND THE ANZACS

THAT UNFORTUNATE OMISSION . There is a very pronounced feeling among Australian mounted troops who served in .Palestine that their services have not been adequately recognised by Field-Marshal Lord Allenby, who commanded the operations in that country (states the Melbourne "Age"). When speaking recently at Hover, Lord Allenby omitted to make any reference to the part played by tlio Australian troops in that campaign,, but it has since been stated that this was done inadvertently, and that actually Lor.d Alle■ '} - /in his notes had included mention of the magnificent part which the Australian troops played-in the. desert .fighting. The Commonwealth Prime Minister (Mr. Hughes), referring in the Federal House to the impression which prevails among Australian mounted men that they have not been given a "scmar/: deal," said there was no doubt that the glorious part played by the Australian troops in Palestine had not been recognised. If their achievements had not been ignored, they cerlair.ly had been, whether inadvertently or not, kept in the background. It- could not be too widely known -that but for the presence of the Australian troops the campaign in Palestine would not. have been so successful, not could it even have been entered upon with any hope of success. He added that the omission of General Allenby in his remarks at Dover'of any reference to tho Australian troops was most unfortunate, to sav the least of it. He was clad that GeneraV Allenby had since eorrected that omisison bv a subsequent statement.

The Soldiei's' View. "It may be juft as well now that considerable public interest is being evinced in the matter of General AHenby's omission,of tho A.L.H. in his account of the Egyptian campaign to point out that the omission caused no surprise whatever to the men," writes a correspondent to the "Age." "The Anzaos in Egypt had General Allenby's own word-for it that ho would not mention llicm again. This statement was supplementary to some scathing comment whilo 1 the men wore paraded before him. "The facts aro these: Time and timo again during, the campaign tho men were infuriated by finding that the Indies of their dead comrades had been ped up by natives of the country, stripped oi everything.in the shape of'ciothing, boots, or wearable fabric, and the coruses thrown to (lie jackals. Brothers had found the graves of brothers thus desecrated, and feeling was intense. New Zealanders who had suffered much were particularly bitter. Complaint# inauo to headquarter! Were unheeded, or at least nothing was done to impress the' natives of the wrong which they were doinjr, and the natives impudently and openly continued to disinter the bodies ot dead soldiers. In addition thoy looted the camps, and being natural and expert thieves, robbed the men of their most treasured possessions. Any attempt to check these wretches by .reprisal wa9 stonily checked, and the.men's anger grew greater as it was suppressed^ "When tho armistice was proclaimed, the Anzac division was withdrawn from tho Jordan Valley, and assembled at Wadi Aneen, preparatory to .embarkation. 'Here tho peut-up anger of tlie troopers was brought; to a head, and the •■incident was provoked which resulted in tho breach of friendliness between General Allenby and the Australian troops. It was at tiie beginning of the year, and thieving by natives of a nearby village was' rife. ' Day and night camps were looted by impudent natives, i who at night time were particularly audacious, and actually bolted with articles dragged from' besides sleeping troopers. The making of complaints had proved useless : the natives were permitted to do as they pleased. "One night a Nev. r Zealand sergeant— a. man most highly esteemed—had his kit bag torn from under his head by a thieving native, who.'wheh pursued towards the village, turned and shot the sergeant dearf.. Again no', move was made to punish th'e natives or bring the particular murderer to justice, and the Now Zealnders decided to put the matter before their comvades generally, with a yiew of Retting satisfaction. A deputation of Now Zealanders approached the Australians, and it was decided to march to the village in a tody and demand the murderer. -

"Headquarters heard of what was afoot | and an attempt was; made'to check it by bringing up a body of English Tommies, who, however, when they learned of- what was being done, refused to interfere, and a number of them joined in the march to the village. The village was surrounded and the head man isummoned. He was requested to give up the murderer of the New Zealand sergeant, but replied in an insolent tone that hi could not find him, and did not intend lo try. He was then I given a 6tated time to produce the man, j or give some good reason why he could not. Evidently lid imagined \tlie men could be bluffed, for ho treated Itheir request contumeliously, and the men of the village swaggered in-solently about, laughing at the soldiers. The head man was then told to send thu women and, children out of the village, and, seeing real danger, this was done, and the women and children left the place.' Again, the murderer was demanded, but without avail, and a .fight took place in which a nuin. ber of men of the village was killed (including, it is supposed, tlio murderer). The Anzacs formed up, and returned lo their camps. Prom that time the natives left the camp alone, and there was no more thieving.

"Sov'oral. days afterwards tho Anzacs were paraded, and told that they were to bo paraded for General Allenby, who wanted to speak to them about'tlio village affair, and they were asked, to give him- a hearing. General Allenby, who cantered up with his staff, began right away to speak of tho village incident, arid said, in effect, 'Hitherto I have been proud of you, and have always spoken of you in tho highest terms; but after what you have done in t!io village I no longer ebteem you. You are nothing but assassins and cold-blooded murderers, and from this tinio I do n<jt intend to 111011tion you again.' Without any further delay, General Allenby turned liis horse and rodo off beforu tlw men he had addressed recovered, from their surprise. Anger ran through, the troops, and was fully voiced. The New Zealanders, through their officers, demanded that the facts should be put properly before General Allenby, who, it was stated later, expressed regret at having used the heated words ho hud, but whether tho facts really wero placed before him, and whether lie did express regret,-is not authenticated."

.A second shipyard is beinn started at Hebburn, 'and, like the scheme a.t the eiil: cry end of t.ne towii, is being financed by Tyneside business men. The yard has an area of 18 acres and a river frontage of 1000 ft. Thero will be 10 berths for . very large vessels. It is also proposed to construct a dry dock.