THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS.

Taranaki Daily News, 28 December 1918, Page 6

THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS.

- TARANAKI BOY'S. EXPERIENCES. Trooper Reg. Kirkpatrick (old Hawera" school boy), writing to his father, Mr. R. S. Kirkpatrick, of Awatuna, under date, Syria, October 11, says: By this time you will probably have read in the papers of our big advance, which has resulted in the fall of Damascus, and you may possibly have a better general idea of events than I have myself.

Well, I think that for rapidity of movement our lightning advance must rank well with the most famous in history—we are now more than 100 miles north of our old position. Although Jacko made stands in several places, it was useless; the wave of Allenby's push went forward as fast as horses could travel. Once Jacko was put on the run the cavalry, to which we were attached, kept the pursuit up day and night We have had a pretty rough time, but thank Allah it has not lasted long. The whole thing wa9 more in the nature of a victorious advance, with very little opposition from the enemy All the heart seemed to be gone from the Turks, and were it not for t\e influence and the presence of the Germans I think Jacko would throw the towel in.

Our aeroplanes played havoc amongst his retreating columns; for miles and miles along the road was one long scene of tragedy; men, horses and vehicles blown into horrible piles of destruction. Prisoners came in by the thousands, while the loss of guns and war material must have been enormous.

Now I shall give a brief sketch of our tour. We started from Jaffa, took Tel el Koran, then across the hills to Nablus, from there we had a thirty-miles ride to Jenan, where we had a few days' spell on the plains of Jezreel. Pressing on, we passed through Nazareth at night, and continued to Tiberias, on the Sea of Galilee. The next few days were occupied in driving Jacko out of the hills, in the course of which we crossed the famous Jordan river. Tht<n, one day the hills, dreary and rocky, were no { longer the only scenery. Away in front" lay a beautiful green spot of thick vegetation, delightfully restful to the eye — Damascus. It was like sighting land after a lengthy sea voyage. Although Jacko put up a bit of a fight with machine guns, he was concerned more with getting out of tlie place safely than with endeavoring to hold it. All through the night loud explosions told of the deI struction of munitions, etc. All the time the Turkish Army was getting ouf and fleeing northwards." One little incident where we got the machine guns on to the enemy column will for ever live in my memory. The place was a veritable death trap for Jacko, and our guns caused indescribable slaughter and confusion. At the present time we are having a spell a few miles out of Damascus. I have had a day's leave in the city, and found it most interesting. The place is simply a hive of Oriental industry, samples of carpets, metal work, leather godos, etc., being really beautiful. The city has a great feature and big attraction of possessing plentiful streams of running water, which results in the growth of luxurious vegetation. Of course there is plenty of dirt about, but with a little cleaning up the place could be made more attractive. After a diet of bully and biscuits, I made a dive for a fresh feed. I landed in a Syrian restaurant, but from my experience of Eastern dishes, was somewhat dubious as to the meal. However, it was a grand feed as f .r as the cooking was concerned. I don't think I have ever eaten anything so tasty. The quantity was somewhat scanty, so I had two dinners. When I came to settle up, I found the damage to be 47 piastre (9s fid), which seemed a bit hot, so while the smiling host was arguing with some Australians over the same matter I "evaporated," and thus saved being im- j posed upon. The samo abnormal prices apply all round, thus I think we are justified in adopting our own methods to reduce the cost of living.

European improvements are evidenced by the presence of railways, tramways and Singer's sewing machines. I am enclosing postcards and souvenirs, which were amongst the stuff captured on a German train held up by our machine guns. By the way, you might tell Mrs. Graham, of Awatuna, that the Balaclava cap which she sent me has proved invaluable when sleeping, out on the hills, resting my head 011 a nice, soft stone. I appreciated it very much.