THE BATTLE OF GAZA

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume XLV, Issue XLV, 10 August 1917, Page 1

THE BATTLE OF GAZA

TRIBUTE TO THE N.Z. MOUNTEDS. i [By Mr W. T. Masset.] y "For two days the troops of the Egyptian j Expeditionary Force, have been engaging the c ] Turk in the neighborhood of Gaza, one of 3 oldest Bible cities. By one of those rj swift movements which axe the strong point v of the Egypt Force, ''we surprised the enemy , on a feggy dawn, when he could have known c nothing of the danger, unless a Hun airman « ■ soaring in a film of clouds before sunset on ...the previous evening was able to detect s columns of dust rising on the western fringe of the great Gaza Plain. Even if he saw ] this evidence of the advance of the enemy, he v probably never realised that a strongppos- t tion would be attacked immediately after the 0 heavy morning sea fog had been dispersed A by the fierce sun. The fog unfortunately prevented the development ot the attack till g 10 o'clock. Time was of the essence of ..the 1 day's business, as the Turkish reinforceClients were within 15 'miles, and delay, how- . . ever short, was of infinite value to the \ enemy. Another two hours of daylight and the whole town would have been ours. That' we were able to do so much in, the period of the shortened day is an eloquent tribute to our troops, who worked so earnestly and thoroughly. The position was separated from

the sea by two miles of golden sandhills, winch were entrenched. The trenches ran south-west, and then bent towards the east, . the position consisting of two main hills, i one I*lol. th of tho .other, with a subsidiary < sandhill between. The southern hill, which 1 was nearest to ns, was a perfect labyrinth < of deeply-cut trenches and redoubts- skilfully j sited, and there was no barbed wire frame- j work to disclose the position. The position , was one of formidable strength, audi was held by seven Turkish infantry battalions and ~ artillery, mostly served by Austrian gunners. , We knew the attack would be hotiy resisted. ' The "country fought over is difficult, and is < intersected by ravines and nullahs, some of ; them big cracks in the ground, others wider, ' with precipitous banks. The Wadi Guzze, ' which had to be crossed for an i ENVELOPING CAVALRY MOVEMENT, has a soft, sandy bed and perpendicular banks, often 40ft high. Anzac mounted troops and British Yeomanry with horse artillery batteries got over this wadi in the dark, having cut down the banks and built ramps to get the guns across. Then the "fog came on. The troops were all disposed at 10 o'clock so as to delay any columns of the i enemy marching to the relief. News of these columns on the move soon came. They were marching down the coast road from the ' north. To the east, and a long way off, we could see a tremendous cloud of dust at the base of the Judea hills, indicating that the Turkish cavalry were moving out of Beersheba. I could see the infantry march to the attack, taking advantage of every bit of dead ground, rushing across the open, dropping to -whatever cover mother earth afforded, when faced by bursts of machine guns, and pushing forward valiantly whenever opportunity offered. But I regret that'l could not see or describe how these gallant Welsh Territorials engaged the enemy in haud-10-liuud grips in a bewildering maze of zig-zags; but as they conquered the crafty foe, famed for powers of defence, we know they behaved worthy of their race. These Welshmen moved from the south-east and east, and met strong opposition. About 1 o'clock a portion of the Auzacs and Yeomanry were orHered to close in from the north-east and assist the infantry attack. They began to take trenches at 4.30, and the infantry took their objective in the evening. The New Zealanders got to close quarters towards sunset, and had desperate fighting till the close approach of reinforcements for the enemy necessitated the cavalry withdrawing, being between two iires. This was accomplished without casualties the. morning. During this afteriioon the Turks made a tremendous effort to break through our line to the east for two horns. I witnessed the MAGNIFICENT EFFORT TO RESIST THEM. ' Our artillery ranged perfectly, and smashed -the line of. attackers, and with the infantry and machine guns must have caused heavy losses to the enemy. An instance-of dashing [ bravery relates to the work of the armored ! ore, which went out to assist to keep off ' 5,000 reinforcements froin the Ku\ area.

They co-operated so well that the whole of the enemy were held up at a critical .period. "When it became dark the cars retired, with an officer walking in front to find a practicable path over much broken country. He proceeded at a walking pace for four hours, when the crews were given sleep. They then made ready to proceed to our lines across waterless country. An officer went, ahead in an uuarmored car to reconnoitre, and saw at once that he was confronted by a large body of enemy witposts only 100 yards away, who immediately opened fire.. He abandoned his car, and ran to the armored cars, and ordered the attack. It proved to be an amazing" figiit of eight cars against 5,000 infantry and artih leiy. The cars pushed forward, having to find paths over rough ground full of deep holes. The enemy tried with all his' might to stop the cars, but they fought, sometimes in line,' sometimes in column, and mowed down' the Turks at ranges of between 25 and 300 yards and got through the whole 5,000 Turks in *two hours with one killed and four wounded, and inflicted, at a conservative estimate, 550 casualties. After they got within our lines, the bullet marks on tiie turrets show" that the Turkish musketry is not always bad.. It is marvellous that the crews suffered so little." Lieutenant-general Sir Charles jffiacpherson Dobell, K.C.8., \vho commanded the troops who defeated the Turks, was in charge of the British- force which achieved the conquest of the German, colony in the Gameroons. He was appointed to the command 011 the western frontier of Egypt in November last. He is- 57, and the son of a Canadian, and has seen active service in the Hazara expedition (1891), in China in 1900, in South Africa, and in Northern Nigeria in 1906, winningdistinction on each occasion.