AN AUTOMOBILE HIGHWAY IN THE HOLY LAND The going is seldom smooth for a motor car in Palestine, and the rainy season offered additional obstacles to the British in their advance upon Jerusalem. But the mud and the mountain torrents were far preferable to the suffocating dust and almost unendurable desert heat of the dry season, when the Jordan Valley advance was made. During the summer of 1916 I visited every part of the Sinai front, and in no part of the war zone have I seen men undergo greater privations and hardships. Every gallon of water had to be carried. forward in great tin boxes, called "fantasses"; and in time the British mustered the greatest camel transport the world has ever seen, running into the tens of thousands of burden beasts. It was no easy matter to move forward the guns and keep up the lines of communication, for the wheels of the motorcars and artillery sank deep into the soft sand. One enterprising young officer discovered that by laying chicken wire on the sand, motor-cars and guns could be moved forward. THE GREAT BATTLE WITH DESERT THIRST On the desert, many weary months went by. The army had not only to fight the Turk, but the heat, dust, flies, and thirst as well. And the worst hardship of all was the unquenchable thirst. Only those who have gone into the desert really know this awful, unbearable, ever-gripping, burning thirst. The desert thirst has no equal. The sizzling hot sun on the sand, the glaring light, and the burning heat get into the blood, and the victim begins to want water. If he is fortunate enough to have the water, he drinks, but his thirst remains unsatisfied; and then, after he drinks, he begins to perspire and his throat becomes dry and parched and his body becomes a roaring furnace, while his clothes are soaked with perspiration. He can literally drink gallons. But the lads who went over the scorching sands of Sinai had only one gallon of water a day per man-one gallon for cooking, washing, and drinking. Photograph from C. W. Whitehair THE WILDERNESS OF JUDEA FROM THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE DESERT MOUNTED CORPS OF THE BRITISH FORCES The British army in Palestine had not only to fight the Turk, but the heat, dust, flies, and thirst-that awful, gripping, burning, unquenchable desert thirst GENERAL VON FALKEN HAYN AND DJEMAL PASHA LEAVING THE MOSQUE OF OMAR IN JERUSALEM This is one of the numerous official Turkish photographs which fell into the hands of the British following their successful "Palestine push." There is no more formidable fighting man in the world than the Turk, and Germany sent some of her ablest officers to the Near East to organize and direct the operations of the Ottoman troops against the British; but the triumph of General Allenby's men was complete. In the entire campaign, every gallon of water had to be brought from the River Nile by means of pipes. The water was stored in great reservoirs prior to being filtered for the troops. It was not only necessary to bring the Nile water hundreds of miles for the army, but in many instances water had to be furnished to the captured civilian population along the line of march, due to the fact that the Turks destroyed the wells as they retreated. But, in spite of heat, thirst, the difficulties of transport, and the combined Turkish and German resistance, the British forces moved slowly forward until they reached the strong enemy line. stretching from Gaza to Beersheba. It was at this juncture in the operations that General Allenby, in June, 1917, came out from France, took over the command, and began the "Palestine push." The success of the whole campaign very largely centered around the railroad, which was constructed mile by mile as the army moved forward. Much of it had to be built under constant fear of aërial bombardment. But probably no railroad has carried as large an amount of freight in the same length of time, for all the food, munitions, guns, and men for Palestine are moved over the one track. THE GIFT OF THE LAST CRUSADERS Before the war, in going to Jerusalem it was necessary to proceed by boat from Port Said to Jaffa, thence by rail to Jerusalem, for the trip across the sands of Sanai took about eight days by camel. Today the traveler can go to bed on a Photograph by American Colony, from C. W. Whitehair CELEBRATING AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY IN JERUSALEM UNDER THE AUSPICES OF BRITISH COMMANDERS The officer in the foreground, to the right of the children, is General Allenby, the distinguished victor in the great "Palestine push"; behind him stands Col. Ronald Storrs, the British Military Governor of the Holy City comfortable train at the canal base camp, Kantara, and arrive early the next morning in Jerusalem. This quick and comfortable trip has been made possible by the last Crusaders, many of whom sleep beneath the lonely crosses that mark the road from the Suez Canal to the gates of the Holy City. On December 5 the British forces had fought forward to a line from Neby Samwil to a position opposite Ain Karim, a distance of just under five miles. Neby Samwil is 2,935 feet above sealevel and quite the highest point in the vicinity of Jerusalem. It is about four and a half miles from the north wall of the city. Ain Karim, the traditional birthplace of John the Baptist, is about four miles slightly to the southwest of Jerusalem. HOW THE ATTACK WAS LAUNCHED The actual attack on Jerusalem was begun on the morning of December 8. Unfortunately, on December 7 it had begun to rain, and there was a deluge for three days, as it was the rainy season. Mist and fog hung over the hills and made aeroplane observation practically impossible. The rain also made the roads almost impassable for mechanical transport and the camels were useless. The troops had been moved up in the same clothing they had worn in the desert campaign-khaki drill and shorts-and the men suffered severely from the intense cold. The general who commanded the 60th division told me that on the night of December 7 he had brought up from Jaffa all the oranges he could get, and then went among the troops and threw the fruit on the ground and made the men scramble for it as they would in a football game, to get them warmed up. The only food the troops had was bully beef and biscuits. But in spite of cold, rain, and rough food, they were all exceedingly keen to go forward. Every Every soldier, that cold, rainy December night, seemed to be inspired with the spirit of the old Crusaders, as he went forward, singing, to the attack. About midnight the British forces reached the position of deployment and the attack began. By dawn they had cap tured all of their first objectives. It is impossible to speak of this attack as a charge, because, as I went over all the ground, I found it was quite difficult even to crawl up the side of the hill. Their last objective lay quite a little. way out of the city. It was an old factory on top of the hill, in which there had been installed a large number of machine guns, which swept the slopes. At 8 o'clock on the morning of December 8, the British left the Turkish trenches they had captured and made for the factory. The only cover was the big rocks on the hillside, and they went forward in the style of the old Indian fighter. At 4 o'clock that afternoon they made a final rush and seized the crest. o'clock the assailants were in possession, and this practically meant the capture of Jerusalen, as there were no more_commanding heights to which the Turks could retire. THE SURRENDER OF THE CITY At 5 On the morning of December 9, Privates H. E. Church and R. W. J. Andrew, of the 220th London Regiment, sighted a white flag outside of Jerusalem. The news was immediately wired back to Major General Shea, who at once wired General Allenby. General Allenby telegraphed: "Go forward at once and receive the surrender of the city in my name." General Shea immediately went forward and from the acting mayor and chief of police he received the surrender of Jerusalem. Of course, it was received outside the city wall. At noon on December 11 General Allenby made his official entry into Jerusalem through the small, narrow Jaffa Gate, on foot, in his ordinary active service uniform, without even the display of military medals. What a contrast to the entry of the Kaiser, when he made his pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1898! His agents had the Turks tear down a part of the city walls rear the Jaffa Gate so that he could advance through a passage made solely for himself, and on horseback he entered, with all the pomp and glory and display of wealth that the Teutonic mind could conceive. |