PALESTINE.

Taranaki Daily News, 25 September 1918, Page 5

PALESTINE.

fcNEMY TRANSPORT CAPTURED, OVER 25,000 PRISONERS TAKEN. London, Sept. 23. A Palestine communique says: Having seized the passages of the Jordan at Jisr-ed-Damieh on Sunday morning, the enemy's last avenue of escape westward of the river is closed. The 7th and Stli Turkish armies have virtually ceased to exist, and their entire transport has been captured. By 8 o'clock yesterday 25,000 prisoners and 260 guns had been counted, and many prisoners and much material have not yet been enumerated.—Aus. N.Z. Cable Assoc. i

BATTLE PRACTICALLY OVER. TURKS LOSE EVERYTHING. NO HOPE OF RECOVERY. London, Sept. 23. :ir. Masscy, writing from Palestine headquarters on Sunday, states: There is still a great deal'of clearing up to do, but the first battle is practically ever. General Allenby has secured one of tiie most complete victories in the war. A few unimportant sections may have got away in dribbles, but the Turkish armies have ceased to exist as u/inies and have been killed or captured. They have losi almost their entire war material of every description. If a new army has to be create! for Palestine and Syria'thc Turks must provide not only the men but t;ie mechanism of war. Nearly all their guns on this front, transport, rolling stock, and engineers' stores have fallen into our hands. The infantry alone has taken 270 guns. The cavalry is too busy securing prisoners to count and send reports of its gun captures. I have been over a large portion cf the battlefield, hundreds of square mihs :n extent, and 9een the debris of the routed army. I realise that it must be some time before a full statement of the enemy losses is possible. This much is certain. Bold strategy, backed by the victorious action of enthusiastic and determined troops, las obtained a victory for the Allies from which the Turks cannot hope to recover. —Aus. N.Z. Cable Assoc. New York, Sept. 23. The Turkish army in Palestine has ceased to exist. The British have captured 25,000 Turks and 2CO guns. Later reports state that 40,000 Turks are surrounded, and it is not believed they have a chance of escape.—Aus. N.Z. Cable Assoc. SUCCESS OF AIRMEN. GREAT CASUALTIES INFLICTED. INDIAN TROOPS PRAISED.

London, Sept. 23. British and Australian airmen are carrying on as usual. They chose a new field to-day, and attacked motor and other transport trying to escape by the Shibble-Beisan road. They dropped four tons of bombs, inflicting severe damage to men and material. In my wanderings I have seen extraordinary success achieved by the airmen. In these operations on the TulkeramNablus road the pilots flew very low and dropped bombs where it was impossible to miss. The road for miles was choked with smashed lorries, wheels of transport, dead men and horses. Having broken up the transport columns and made It difficult for the men to move, the airmen returned and machine-gunned troops endeavoring to hide. What they accomplished in this neighborhood was repeated on the Damieh road and elsewhere. The airmen's total casualties inflicted on the enemy must reach high figures. All the prisoners speak with dread ot the sound of aircraft. One feature of this battle lias been the magnificent dash of the Indian troops. The veteran soldiers of India were expected to do well, and have lived up to their high reputation. The young battalions, who replaced white troops sent for service to the western front, were an unknown quantity. These young Indian battalions came through the ordeal magnificently, fought like seasoned wariors, and cheerfully answered any call. The divisional commanders tell me they are delighted with the Indians' valor under all conditions. Forty-seven hours' continuous fighting and marching tested t'hem to the utmost. They behaved superbly, their only fault being too great an eagerness to push on. In Thursday's tremendous attack against the coastal defences the officers had to restrain the men from rushing into our artillery barrage. They took the place of some Londoners who were sent to France, and they were tremendously keen to preserve the record of the division. The Indians, with the Londoners, who were the first in Jerusalem, were the first over the Jordan, and wanted to be first through the coastal defences. They succeeded, and went on and secured the crossing of the Padi Falik for the cavalry. They then advanced northeastward of Tulkeram, covering the astonishing distance of 22 miles in 13J hours, including trench fighting and actions in the open. This wonderful performance is an example of what the young Indian battalions are capable of, and all are of practically the same quality. For skill in hill fighting it is hard to'find a parallel to this incident. There was a stern struggle for the Bict Lid Hills, 5000 yards from Nnblus, on Friday. When these were captured it was decided to take a station which was commanded on the south liv ;i high, steep hill. The oth Battalion crept up the irregular slopes in the moonlight, caught the garrison entirely unprepared, ,and rushed the surprised German ina-chine-junners. There was not one single casualty among the Sikhs. The Indian!", when marching over hilly ennnlrv. had to leave all th»ir artillery .-.ceeut mountain guns ' '■■'■■