CHAPTER XVII DéB?CLE

While the cavalry were racing for the Plain of Esdraelon on the 19th September the 21st Corps, continuing its wheel to the right, drove the enemy into the hills. The 5th A.L.H. Brigade, riding on the left flank of the Corps, and some distance in advance of it, approached Tul Keram about mid-day.

The orders to the brigade were to seize the town, if possible, or, failing that, to engage the enemy there, and endeavour to prevent him withdrawing his troops and guns till the arrival of our infantry. Knowing the moral effect on the Turks of a threat to their rear, General Onslow decided to throw a portion of his brigade across the Tul Keram-Nablus road, the only exit from the town to the east. He despatched the 14th A.L.H. regiment and part of the brigade machine-gun squadron, with instructions to find a way through the hills north of the town, and descend on to the road some two miles to the north-east. With the remainder of his brigade he approached the town from the north-west, and was met by a very heavy fire from the enemy there. Tul Keram was a railway and store depot of considerable importance. It had been fortified, and now served the enemy as a strong point, on which his troops, defeated in the coastal plain, might rally, and so save his right flank. He was, of course, still in ignorance of the fact that three divisions of cavalry were already well on their way up the coast.

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As the 5th Brigade approached the town, the Royal Air Force swept down out of the blue sky, and commenced an intense and systematic bombing of the enemy positions around the town, and the closely packed column of transport and guns slowly retiring along the road to Nablus. The utmost confusion broke out in the enemy ranks. About three o'clock the 14th A.L.H. Regiment, which had moved with extraordinary rapidity, descended on the Nablus road about two miles from Tul Keram. The Turks were now faced simultaneously with the three things they most feared. Their retreat was cut off; they were being heavily attacked from the air; and they were threatened on both sides with a cavalry charge. The demoralisation on the road was complete. Not knowing the strength of the cavalry force which had suddenly appeared on the road in front of them, and evidently deceived by the volume of fire poured on them from our machine guns and automatic rifles, the enemy troops and transport on the road made no attempt to break through, but turned back towards Tul Keram. The persistent attacks of our aeroplanes soon destroyed all semblance of discipline in the column, and a disordered mass of fugitives streamed back into Tul Keram, increasing the confusion there. The Turks in the positions surrounding the town, however, still fought on gallantly enough, and General Onslow, unable to advance his brigade over the open ground without encountering losses which would not have been justified, contented himself with holding the enemy in check on the north, east and west, and awaited the arrival of our infantry. A brigade of the 60th Division came up about half-past five, having marched and fought over sixteen miles of heavy country since dawn, and rushed the town from the south-west.

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General Onslow now reassembled his brigade, and succeeded in watering all the horses, which was something of a feat, considering the darkness and confusion. At two in the morning the brigade started off for its second objective, the Messudieh-Jenin Railway east of Ajje.

Regarded merely as a march, this expedition, carried out in the dark and without guides, over unknown and almost trackless mountain country, ranks as one of the finest episodes of the campaign. Unable to use the road or railway, along which Turkish reinforcements were known to be hurrying towards Tul Keram, the brigade struck straight across the mountains to the north-east, and, passed through Deir el Ghusn, Ellar, Kefr Ruai, and Fahme. From the last-named place a moderate pack road led through Ajje to the railway, which was reached at seven in the morning by the brigade headquarters and a demolition party, who blew up a section of the line.

Dawn found the brigade strung out over fifteen miles of country. Its work was done, and, as it would have taken several hours to reassemble the regiments at Ajje, the Brigadier at once turned back along the track by which he had come, picking up his scattered units on the way, and returned to Tul Keram. It was seven o'clock in the evening before the whole brigade was again concentrated there.

In accordance with the Commander-in-Chief's plan, the 20th Corps had taken no part in the advance during the first day, beyond seizing one or two tactical points, to facilitate its operations on the following day, but on the 20th it was thrown into the battle, and the whole line became hotly engaged. The enemy fought stubbornly, especially in the centre of his line, where most of the German troops were con[Pg 220]centrated. His positions were of great natural strength, and had been excellently entrenched and wired during the summer. By nightfall, however, his resistance had been broken all along the front, and our infantry had advanced as far as the line Anebta (five miles east of Tul Keram)-Beit Lid-Funduk-Kefr Harries-El Lubban (on the Nablus-Jerusalem road, eleven miles south of Nablus) to Dome. The enemy had thus been turned out of nearly all his entrenched positions.

Owing to the breakdown of their communications, and the virtual destruction of their air force, the Turks had not yet realised that our cavalry were behind them, and that all their lines of retreat to the north were thus closed. The only way of escape still left open for their trapped armies was by the two difficult tracks from Nablus and Ain el Subian (on the Nablus-Beisan road) to Jisr el Damieh. Chaytor's Force was fighting hard in the Jordan Valley to reach and block the lower end of these roads.

Our infantry resumed the attack at daylight on the 21st. The 20th Corps made rapid progress, and, by nightfall, had established itself across the Nablus-Jisr el Damieh track about Beit Dejan.

On the 21st Corps front, the advance was slower. The enemy in this part of the field was not yet demoralised, and his rearguards put up a stubborn fight, especially about Nablus. The 5th A.L.H. Brigade, moving along the main road from Tul Keram, with an armoured car battery, was usefully employed protecting the left flank of the Corps during the day. General Onslow turned the Turks and Germans out of a series of strong rearguard positions astride the road, by using his machine guns and armoured cars on the road, to hold the enemy in front with their[Pg 221] fire, while dismounted parties from the brigade worked round his flanks. The French regiment particularly distinguished itself in this fighting, and earned generous praise from the Australians.

In the early afternoon some of the guns of the 3rd (Lahore) Division succeeded in reaching a position overlooking Nablus from the south-west, and their vigorous shelling, coupled with the converging attacks of the 10th and 53rd Divisions, drove the Turkish rearguards out of their positions. The 5th Brigade rode into the town hard on the heels of the retreating enemy, and took 700 prisoners. One squadron pushed on down the Jerusalem road, and gained touch with the 20th Corps cavalry regiment, the Worcester Yeomanry, about Balata. The following day the brigade marched to Jenin to rejoin the Australian Mounted Division, having accounted for 3500 prisoners during the three days.

Both at Tul Keram and in Nablus great quantities of valuable stores, which the enemy had been unable to remove or destroy, fell into our hands. Especially welcome were the many railway engines and trucks found intact at the former place, which were very soon employed on the repaired railway, carrying ammunition and stores to our troops. Here, too, a troop of the 15th A.L.H. Regiment rounded up and captured a detachment of the Turkish Field Treasury, with about ￡5000 in gold and a quantity of notes.

Throughout the day complete confusion had reigned in the enemy rear. Camps and stores were hurriedly abandoned or set on fire. Many heavy guns were dropped over precipices to save them from falling intact into the hands of the British. Driven out of their organised positions, and unable to keep touch with one another in this difficult, mountain country,[Pg 222] the enemy regiments retired independently. Most of them made either for Beisan or Jisr el Damieh, but every wadi leading down to the Jordan was congested with troops. The confusion was increased by the repeated attacks of our aeroplanes, especially along the Nablus-Beisan road, which was packed with a dense column of troops and transport. Part of this column continued along the road to Beisan, where it fell into the hands of the 4th Cavalry Division. The greater part turned off at Ain el Subian, and made for Jisr el Damieh, along the Wadi Farah track. About a mile beyond Ain Shibleh, this track passes through a deep gorge. The transport at the head of the column was caught by our aeroplanes in this gorge, and heavily bombed. A general panic ensued. Drivers abandoned their vehicles, and fled into the hills; wagons, lorries, and guns were smashed or overturned, and in a short time the road was completely blocked. The remainder of the column turned off at Ain Shibleh, along a narrow track leading to Beisan. Still harassed by our aeroplanes, it broke up ultimately into isolated parties, which scattered into the hills, and were gathered in by the 4th Cavalry Division during the next two days.

Our infantry and the Royal Air Force had done their work well, in face of great difficulties. To the cavalry now fell the task of gathering up the remnants of the two Turkish armies.

There was little cavalry movement of importance on the 21st. The 4th Division established posts right across the Jordan Valley, east of the river, and pushed patrols along the roads leading south and south-west from Beisan. Shortly after dark, the first body of retiring enemy troops was encountered on the Nablus road. It was at once charged in the moonlight by the Central India Force (10th Brigade) and dispersed,[Pg 224] leaving a number of prisoners in our hands. There was no serious fighting during the night, but the division had very hard work, and got over 3000 prisoners before daybreak.

map not right

Diagram illustrating the Situation on the evening or the 20th of November

The 5th Cavalry Division had sent the 14th Brigade to Jenin, at daylight, to assist the two brigades of the Australian Mounted Division there in dealing with the large number of prisoners, and to help protect the captured enemy stores from the natives. By the afternoon, however, the prisoners had been got away under escort to Lejjun, and the brigade was able to return to Afule. The 14th and 15th Brigades then established a line of pickets along the railway to near Beisan, in touch with the 4th Division.

Meanwhile the 13th Brigade, with 'B' Battery H.A.C., had been sent off early in the morning to reoccupy Nazareth.

The 9th Hodson's Horse marched straight up the Afule-Nazareth road with the guns, and entered the town from the south. The other two regiments, leaving the road some distance south of the town, made their way through the hills to the Tiberias road, and attacked from the east and north. All three regiments attacked dismounted. There was a good deal of fighting of a difficult nature in the narrow, tortuous streets of the town, but most of the enemy troops remaining after our raid of the previous day had already evacuated the town, and those still left were soon overpowered. By ten o'clock the 13th Brigade had possession of the town. The roads leading west, north, and east were then picketed, and strong patrols were pushed out as far as Seffurie and Kefr Kenna.

Shortly after midnight a Turkish battalion, marching from Haifa, attacked the outposts of the brigade on the Acre road. The 18th Lancers promptly[Pg 225] charged the Turks in the moonlight, and chased them for two miles down the road, killing sixty with the lance and taking over 300 prisoners.

The Australian Mounted Division remained in the neighbourhood of Jenin and Lejjun during the day.

The large numbers of prisoners taken by the cavalry during the past twenty-four hours were a serious encumbrance, and the feeding of them became a very difficult problem. The Corps ration convoy that arrived at Jenin on the 21st had to hand over all its rations to them. As our own men carried three-days men's and two-days horses' rations on the man and horse, they did not actually have to go hungry, but the food question had become acute, and, until the prisoners could be got away, no further move forward could be contemplated. Fortunately, on the following day, it was found possible to send most of them back to Kakon, near Tul Keram, where they were taken over by a brigade of the 60th Division.

The Commander-in-Chief motored to Lejjun on the morning of the 22nd, and met General Chauvel.

'Well, how are you getting on?' was his greeting.

'Pretty well, Sir, pretty well,' replied the General; 'we've got 13,000 prisoners so far.'

'No ... good to me!' exclaimed the Chief, with a laugh; 'I want 30,000 from you before you've done.'

He was to have over 80,000 from the Corps before the operations ended.

The 5th Cavalry Division concentrated at Nazareth on the 22nd, preparatory to an advance on Haifa and Acre, its place at Afule being taken by the 3rd A.L.H. Brigade. The 5th A.L.H. Brigade rejoined the Australian Mounted Division at Jenin during the day.

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In the early hours of the morning an enemy column, with transport and guns, was reported by our aeroplanes to be moving north along the Ain Shibleh-Beisan track, its head being then nine miles south of Beisan. This was part of the force that had been caught and heavily bombed by our aeroplanes the day before in the gorge of the Wadi Farah, as it was trying to escape towards the Jordan.

The 4th Cavalry Division at once sent a force from Beisan along the Ain Shibleh track to intercept the column, and despatched Jacob's Horse over the bridge of Jisr el Sheikh Hussein to push patrols down the track which follows the Jordan on its east bank, so as to secure any parties which might escape across the river. At the same time the 20th Corps cavalry regiment, the Worcester Yeomanry, was ordered to advance northwards from Ain Shibleh, supported by infantry, to collect stragglers, and to drive any formed bodies into the arms of the 4th Cavalry Division.

Our airmen then proceeded to attack the column with bombs and machine guns, and, in a short time, had completely broken it up. The enemy scattered in panic into the hills in small parties, which were rounded up by the 4th Division next day. The Worcester Yeomanry rode as far as the gorge where the ill-fated column had been caught by our aeroplanes, and here its farther advance was stopped, as the track was completely blocked by overturned vehicles and the dead bodies of men and horses. On one stretch of the track just here, under five miles long, eighty-seven guns and 900 motor lorries and other vehicles were afterwards found by the infantry, when clearing up the area.

About mid-day the 11th and 12th Light Armoured Car Batteries were sent to occupy Haifa, which was[Pg 227] believed to have been evacuated by the enemy. With them went the General commanding the artillery of the Cavalry Corps, in a large and beautiful Rolls-Royce car, with the Commander-in-Chiefs union Jack on the bonnet, and a proclamation in his pocket to read to the peaceful inhabitants.

He met with a warm reception. As the cars neared the town, several enemy batteries opened fire on them, while machine guns on Mount Carmel swept the road. The batteries had evidently registered carefully, for almost the first salvo hit the General's car, knocking it into the ditch and smashing the flag. The General himself, with his staff, had to take cover in the same ditch, and quickly too, and there they lay, getting the proclamation covered with mud, till the armoured cars succeeded in retrieving them. It was a shocking affair, and showed a sad lack of respect on the part of the enemy. The 'Haifa Annexation Expedition,' as it was irreverently called, returned to Afule in somewhat chastened mood, but fortunately without any serious casualties.

The chief movement of the day took place in the Jordan Valley. Early in the morning the New Zealand Mounted Brigade succeeded in getting astride the Nablus-Jisr el Damieh roads at El Makhruk, after a sharp fight, taking 500 prisoners, including a divisional commander. About an hour previously the 38th Royal Fusiliers, one of the two Jewish battalions with the force, had captured the enemy position covering the river ford at Umm el Shert, while, about half-past ten, the New Zealand Brigade, with a West Indies battalion, seized the bridge at Jisr el Damieh, and crossed to the east bank. In the attack on the bridgehead the New Zealanders and the 'coloured gentlemen' both charged the Turks simultaneously, and had a severe hand-to-hand struggle before achiev[Pg 228]ing their object. The 2nd A.L.H. Brigade also crossed the river at Ghoraniyeh, and, in conjunction with the 20th Indian Infantry Brigade, drove in the Turkish outposts, and, by nightfall, was facing the main enemy position at Shunet Nimrin.

Early in the night it became clear that a general retirement of the Turkish IVth Army had begun, and orders were issued for the force to follow it vigorously on the morrow.

aircraft

German aircraft captured intact at Afule. Mount Tabor in the background.

enemy

In the hands of the enemy! Some of our Horse Artillery guns captured in the second trans-Jordan raid.
(From an enemy photograph.)