Long Night March.

Hokitika Guardian, 2 June 1917, Page 2

Long Night March.

London, June 1 Mr Massay, talegraphing from the neighborhood of Gaza, states . “ Oa the 24th the Turks again felt the force of a British cavalry stroke. “The British commander decided to destroy the greater part of the railway south-east of Beersheba. Mounted troops of the desert damn under General Ohanvel by another o'. tho?e dashing raids which have ana;aoterised his co'amn’s operations since Christmas simultaneously attacked, Twenty miies of rail vay were destroyed beyond repair. The operation was msst important becanss the Tarks owing to a shortage of matetials have lately been obliged to take np the old lines in order to lay new ones. Two columns moved out ou the night of the 22nd. The Camel Corps marched 32 miles to Auja and destroyed bridges, culverts and the entire line eastwards. Meanwhile the engineers and the Anzacs, and the Imperial Mounted, troops, after special training in destructive methods, attacked the railway between A»iuy end Haday. These splendid horses marched 30 miles on an extremely dark night through a dust storm which obscured the stars and obliterated the tracks over the sharp jagged limestone ridges. One party reached Asiny at 6 o’clook in the morning and the other reached Hadja at 7 o’clock. “ They worked towards eaoh other, completing the destruction cf ten miles of track and three long bridges subsequently built of stone and concrete. In thtee hours not a length of railway and not a single bolt were left intact. While the engineers blew up the railway, the cavalry made a strong demonstration at Beersheba. “I am now writing five miles from the town, We destroyed the railway bridge northward and repulsed two Turkish cavalry brigades north of Beersheba. The troops returned to bivouacs in the afternoon.