GENERAL ALLENBY.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 1995, 26 June 1919, Page 4

GENERAL ALLENBY.

AN ARAB PROPHECY.

There is an Arab prophecy which seems .fulfilled in General Allenby. It is as follows: “Jerusalem will be wrested from the Turks when a deliverer shall come from the West whose name is The Son of God’; and when he comes the waters of the Nile shall flow through Syria.” Allenby, spelt backwards —“Ybnella” —is in Arabic “Son of God.” Thu 4 the first part of the prophecy seems fulfilled. But how about the latter part? The lack of fresh water for the Army, both through Palestine and at Jerusalem, turned the thoughts of General Allenby’s engineers to the problem. The old Roman aqueducts, allowed to fall into decay by the apathetic Turks, were renovated, and by means of these and large pipes the waters of the Nile were conveyed through Palestine for the benefit of the British forces and the native population. Thus the ancient prophecy is fulfilled. A deliverer whose name is “Son of God” has wrested Jerusalem from the Turks when the waters of the Nile flowed through Syria. General Allenby was brought up at Kenwick Hall, in the parish of Legbourne in Lincolnshire, and at the thanksgiving service for the overthrow of the Turk in Palestine a member of the congregation desired to give as “a thanks offering to Almighty God” the sum of £I,OOO for the great victory achieved under his guidance.