The Palestine Campaign

Waikato Times, Volume 122, Issue 20510, 28 May 1938, Page 24 (Supplement)

The Palestine Campaign

WITH THE CAMELIERS Major J. Robertson, who served with the Imperial Camel Brigade in Palestine during the Great War. has written the history of that remarkable fighting force. It is a volume (hat will be welcomed by all who like to studv the sidelights of a world war. The Cameliers. as they were called, were drawn from all parts of the Empire, and New Zealand supplied two companies. orfmed from reinforcements for the Mounted Rifles Brigade. General Sir Harry Chauvel, commander of the famous Desert Mounted Corps, has written an introduction, and he says that the map of Egypt and the’ Sinai Peninsula was betcr known t.o the Cameliers than to any other troops. They formed the force that guarded the desert flank of the great advance, and its work took it into some strange places, linked with the very dawn of history. The officers and men lived the strenuous life. Fairly long periods would pass without the possibility of enjoying a wash, and when the desert campaign was over the force abandoned the. camel for the horse, and was prominent in the capture of Damascus. In the great “break through” the cavalry covered fifty miles in twenty-four hours, and made a raid on Nazareth in an effort to capture Marshal Liman von Sanders and his staff. The book is written in a spirited manner, and the historical references are intensely interesting. Sir James Allen has added a foreword, and the volume is splendidly illustrated with photographs. It should have a place in all libraries of the war books. “Cameliers in Palestine.” By Major J. Robertson. (A. 11. and A. W. Reed. Dunedin.)