PALESTINE.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 June 1917, Page 5

PALESTINE.

A SUCCESSFUL RAID. TURKISH ATTACK REPULSED. Reecived June 1, 10.30 p.m. London, June 1. Mr. Masse,y, the war correspondent, reports that Colonel Chauvel's engineers and mounteds, on May 23, dashingly destroyed twenty miles of railway southeast of Beersheba. The Imperial cavalry covering the raiding detachments readied within five miles of Beersheba, repulsing an attack by two brigades of Turkish cavalry. | A BRILLIANT DASH. L , , MARCHING THROUGH THE NIGHT. ; TWENTY MILES OF RAILWAY DEi STROYED. Received June 1, 10.45 p.m. London, June 1, Mr. Maasey, telegraphing from the neighborhood of Gaza on May 24, states that the Turks again felt the force of the British cavalry stroke. The British commander decided to destroy the ma- ' jority of the railway south-east of Beersheba. The mounted troops of the desert column, under Colonel Chauvel, by 1 another of those dashing raids which has ' characterised the column's operations since Christmns, simultaneously attacked ' twenty miles of railway, and destroyed it beyond repair. The operation was most important because the Turks, owt ing to shortage of materials, had lately been obliged to take up the old lines 1 [ in order to lay new. , Two columns moved out on the night [ of the twenty-second. The' Camel Corps _ marched thirty-two miles to Anja, and . destroyed' the bridges and culverts of j the entire line eastwards. Meanwhile the Engineers, Anzacs and Imperial mounteds, after special training in de- ! striictive methods, attacked the railway between'Asluj and Hadaj. These splendid horses marched thirty miles on an extremely dark night, though a dust storm was obscuring the stars and obliterating the tracks, over sharp, jagged, , lightstone ridges. Ono party reached ■ Aslng at six o'clock in the morning, the othor reaching Hadja at seven. They worked towards each other, completing the destruction of ten miles of track. Of three long'ridges of substantiallybuilt stone and concrete in three hours ' not a length of rail and not a single bolt was left intact. While the Engineers blew up the railway, the cavalry made a strong demon- j stration at Beersheba, and are now , • within five miles of the town. They > destroyed the railway bridge northward, i • and repulsed two Turkish cavalry brig- J ttdes south of Beersheba, and returned to their bivouacs in the afterndon.