BEST OFFICER ON PALESTINE FRONT.

Taranaki Daily News, 1 November 1919, Page 7

BEST OFFICER ON PALESTINE FRONT.

BRIGADIER-GENERAL CHAYTOR. A writer in the Sydney Bulletin of Octolber 9 says:— "Every man of the A.L.H- who heard Allenby's utterly unwarranted attack will endorse GuHett's acid comments. What Brip.-'General Chaytor. of M.L., the best officer on the Palestine front, said to Allenby in reply has not appeared in print. Allenby had his satellites, who copied his every mannerism and trick of speech, and one of his worshippers was a general for whose glorifies., tion a book Ims recently appeared. Four names will always be remembered by the Australians. They are the names of clever soldiers and brave and kindly men: Royston, Cox. Meredith and Chaytor, the last named head and shoulders above the lot. Then there was Colonel Granville, who won Musillabeh, the great fisht against some of Fritz's best, for which "Old Shovel" got the D.S.O. Chauvel will onlv be remembered by the First L.H. Brigade for his little speech on July 18. 1018. We had been under arms since dawn on the 13th, when we counter-attacked the Hut. ."sia Corps which had broken the line. We iiad cleaned Fritz up properly, capturing or killing most of him, temperature meanwhile 120deg- in the shade. All the night of the 14th there was no rest, for nn enemy counter-attack was fully expected; but the monotony was relieved by hurrying Fritz in the Jordan Valley. There were some hundreds of dead horses also waiting for the undertaker: but after three days and two nights going, in the most damnable climate on earth, 1000 f- below sea-level, we were relieved and had to lt%ve the job to our successors. Never were %en so exhausted, never did I see such a worn lot of human beings'. Blood-smeared from wounds for which thev would not go to hospital, begrimed with black dust ond sweat, haggard, swollen-eyed: thus we came out of the "Valley of Death" and nampetl, after a long march, at Talat-el-Duinn. Every man expected a long sleep—24 hours at least. But no! Round came the order: "AH men to parade, shaved, with tunics and side-arms at 51.30. The G.O.C. Desert -Mounted Corps will inspect." We were kept two hours in the broiling sun until he ar. rived. After briefly telling us how we had saved the day. how the right wing of the army in Palestine might have been turned and the Germans have retaken Jerusalem—all of which Ave'knew —he gave us half an hour's lecture on the crime of not saluting! Spent, dazed, all out, aotyp dropping to the ground, all in a state of semi-stupor from what they had endured in the last 72 hours, those who were able to listen heard a spic-and-span officer, in an assumed Allenby tone, threaten all and sundry with a total stoppage of leave if their slovenly ways were not mended, It seems incredible to me now that we endured it. but then we were too weak to kick. The great man ended his old-maidish performance by saying that when in Cairo two A.LH. men had not saluted liim. "Thev did not salute me!" This uttered . a shrill voice, with a strong accent on the me. He had them arrested-