HARRYING THE TURK.

Taranaki Daily News, 15 January 1918, Page 6

HARRYING THE TURK.

RECENT BRITISH ADVANCES. HOW THE AU.IA WAS CROSSED. Cairo, Doc 22, Router's correspondent at British headquarters telegraphs: During the past week the troops have been engaged in local skirmishes in various parts of the line, with the result that the front has slightly advanced and straightened, while a e ertain number of prisoners has been captured. The most important action was north of Jaffa, where the Scottish infantry forced the crossing of Ihe river Aujn, in face of heavy .shelling, and established a strong line ten miles north of Jall'a, which thus safeguards them against the menace of enemy long-distance shelling, especially from the roads of approach from the east. • . The river Auja, after the Jordan, is Palestine's best supply of water. It has, however, a very short course through the coastal plain. Under protection of a heavy bombardment our engineers threw light bridges across the stream, and also provided rafts, on which some of the troops were ferried across. The operations were carried out during the night of December 20. The Turks showed considerable fight, and opposed the passage with artillery and machine-guns. Their efforts failed, however, even to delay progress, and the Turkish positions north of the river were captured 'bj ft njali, whichjrieldM aver 300

prisoners—including 11 officers —and 10 machine-guns. North-eastwards, also, our troops pushed beyond Uie Jewish colony of Mul Ebdieh, the centre of a rich agricultural districtEast of Jerusalem, Welsh and Cheshire troops made a further slight advance, capturing the hill of Rasos-Amby, with SO prisoners and two machine-guns. Apart from the material advantages gained by this series of minor operations, they inflicted considerable loss on the enemy, and tended to lower his morale, which is not improved by the prevailing weather. Tt is not r.lways easy to estimate Turkish casualties, as the enemy spares no effort to remove his dead and wounded, but in the capture of Bald Hill, north of Jaffa, over 40 dead were left in (lie trenches. The weather in the past ten days lias been cold and very windy, with frequent rains, especially at night. The Turkish commissariat seems to have failed to rise to the occasion, and prisoners complain of the shortage of foodstuffs. London, Pec. 22. The Times correspondent in Cairo states that General Sir Edmund Allenby has reached a high stature in popular estimation' as the result of the statesmanlike proclamation he issued in Jerusalem. This, following three years' tactful administration under martial law in Egypt, struck the keynote of the British policy of toleration and justice to aliens, both of which Ottoman rule lamentably lacked.