own army, had been given to a German. He made trouble and caused delays in the working of a system which could not really have been efficient even if worked with perfect goodwill.
As the Taurus and Amanus tunnels were not yet open for ordinary traffic, all stores coming from the W. to Bozanti had to break bulk there and, reloaded into narrow-gauge trucks, to be taken through the tunnel by compressed air engines, or hauled by lorry, mule or camel to Dorak, where they were again packed into standard-gauge trucks. The same performance had to be repeated at Baghche for transport across the Amanus to Islami6. Stores could be taken thence in standard-gauge trucks as far as Rayak, where they had to break bulk for the fifth time to be restowed in narrow-gauge trucks for Damascus, where, owing to lack of railway rolling-stock, a portion was sent to the front by lorry via Jisr Banat Ya'qub on the Jordan, Nazareth, Nablus and Jerusalem. Where railway rolling-stock was available fuel was often scarce, locomotives had to be adapted to burn wood, and instances occurred of this being supplied in unsuitable lengths, so that trains were delayed while the crews cut up the wood afresh before it could be fed to the furnaces.
General Allenby, however, having brought his railway right up to the front and constructed a strategic development of his pipe-line in addition, to the considerable improvement of his local water supplies, determined to forestall the impending Turkish offensive. His force was disposed along a front of some 22 m. from Gaza to Gamli and beyond to where the Desert Mounted Corps had detachments as far inland as Asluj, 38 m. from the coast. On the eve of the British attack the rival forces were disposed as follows. Facing one another in the strongly fortified Gaza sector were the Turkish VIII. Army (Gen. Kress von Kressenstein) consisting of the XX. Corps (3rd, yth and 53rd Divs. the 7th being in reserve near Herbie, 10 m. behind the line) and the XXII. Corps (i6th, 26th, Fakhr-ed-Din Bey, and 54th, Nasuhi Bey, Divs.) aligned out towards Tellesh Sharia, opposing the British XXI. Corps (Lt.-Gen. Sir E. Bulfin) consisting of the 5 2nd (Lowland), Maj.-Gen. Hill, the 54th (East Anglian) Div., Maj.-Gen. Hare, and the 75th Div., "Maj.-Gen. Palin. The British XX. Corps (Lt.-Gen. Sir P. Chetwode) , consisting of the 53rd Welsh Div. (Maj.-Gen. Mott), the 6oth London Div. (Maj.-Gen. Sir J. Shea) and the 74th Yeomanry Div. (Maj.-Gen. Gird wood), was wheeling into posi- tion in support of the Desert Mounted Corps (Lt.-Gen. Sir H. G. Chauvel), consisting of the 4th Cav. Div. (Maj.-Gen. Sir G. Barrow), the Australian and New Zealand Mounted Div. (Maj.-Gen. Sir E. W. C. Chaytor) and the Australian Mounted Div. (Maj.-Gen. Hodgson); this was concentrating near Khalasa for its swoop upon Beersheba, held by Ahmad Feizi Pasha's VII. Army consisting of the III. Corps (Ismet Bey) com- posed of the 24th Div. (Wilmer Bey), the 2 7th (Arab) Div. in Beersheba itself, with the 3rd Cav. Div. in front of it, and the XV. Corps, which was hardly constituted as yet, its ipth Div. (Sedad Bey) being still in the XX. Corps area behind Gaza on its way to the front, and its 2oth Div. being still on the b'nes of communication S. of Aleppo and not destined to arrive even at Ramleh, far in the rear, until Nov. 6. General Allenby further had the support of certain warships, H.M.S. " Grafton " (a " blister "), four monitors, 15, 29, 31 and 32, the destroyers " Staunch " and " Comet " and the gunboats " Amphis " and " Ladybird," which were able to enfilade the Turkish positions near Gaza and destroyed important ammunition dumps.
During the night of Oct. 30-31 1917 the British XX. Corps had moved forward to positions of deployment, and at dawn, when the Desert Mounted Corps had got right round to the E. of Beer- sheba, the 6oth and 74th Divs. were ready to close in from the W., while the 53rd Div. at Abu Irgeig threatened the Turks along the Wadi Saba front in such a position as to break through them and take in flank any reinforcements which might be sent down to the Turkish III. Corps in Beersheba.
At 05:55 (5:55 A.M.) on Oct. 31 a hundred field guns and how- itzers opened against a Turkish front of 4,500 yd., while the 96th Bde. R.G.A. was engaged in counter-battery work. At 08:30 the iSist Bde. (Brig.-Gen. Da Costa) of the 6oth London
Div. captured the first Turkish position; at 12:15, the guns hav- ing moved up to cut the Turkish wire, the main assault was delivered and all objectives gained by 13:30, whereupon the 23oth Bde. (Brig.-Gen. McNeill) of the 74th Div., which had formed the extreme left of the main assault, cooperated with the i6oth Bde. (Brig.-Gen. Pearson) of the 53rd Div. against the Wadi Saba front and rolled up all the Turkish defences as far as the Beersheba-Tell el Fara road. Meanwhile the cavalry had completed their wide swing round from the E., and after hard fighting the 2nd A.L.H. Bde. (Brig.-Gen. Ryrie), belonging to the Anzac Mounted Div., was astride of the Hebron-Beer- sheba road by 13:50.
At 16:00 the 4th A.L.H. Bde. (Brig.-Gen. Grant), belonging to the Australian Mounted Div., which had reached Iswaiwin by ii :oo, moved forward against Beersheba itself. It charged over a succession of strong Turkish positions, demoralized the defence and captured the town at 18:00 with 1,148 prisoners, and was joined at 18:30 by the 7th Mounted Bde. (afterwards I4th Cav. Bde. then commanded by Brig.-Gen. Wigan), which had turned the Turkish defences on Ras Ghannam.
Immediately upon its capture the Royal Engineers, upon whose careful preparatory work in the provision of pipe-lines and camel-convoys of water the success of the attack had been based, began to develop the wells in hopes of being able to pro- duce enough water for the horses and men, who required 400,000 gal. per day. Fortunately the Turkish evacuation had been so hurried that the wells were less damaged than had been expected, and two reservoirs were left intact. The discomfort of the thirsty cavalry was much enhanced by the fact that a hot khamsin blew up off the desert, and on the afternoon of Nov. 3 the water situation was most acute, as all stored water had been drunk, and the output was barely adequate for the demand, and at 16:00 a brigade some 2,000 strong rode into Beersheba with a 48 hours' desert thirst. Fortunately at 17:00 a new well came into working, and by midnight the brigade was watered, con- suming some 8,000 gallons.
Owing to this water difficulty the Australian Mounted Div. had to go into reserve temporarily, and actually returned to Karm for water while preparations were made for the next attack against the positions covering Tellesh Sharia. The fall of Beersheba had cost the Turks over 500 killed, 2,000 prisoners and 13 guns, and exposed the left flank of the Gaza position.
The next step towards the final attack on Gaza was the capture of Umbrella Hill by the is6th Bde. (Brig.-Gen. Lcggett) of the 52nd Lowland Div., temporarily attached to the 54th Div., at 1 1 :oo on Nov. i as a preliminary to the main assault timed for 03 :oo on Nov. 2. This attack with its preliminary bombardment caused severe casualties to the Turks and, so far from being able to detach troops from Gaza to strengthen the left flank, the Yilderim command had to bring the 7th Div. into the line. The attack, therefore, of the 54th Div. had the required effect of " pinning " the Turks in the Gaza sector, and cost them over 1,000 dead in the captured positions, 654 prisoners and 3 guns.
Meanwhile, next day Gen. Allenby delivered another heavy blow with his right when the 53rd Welsh Div., temporarily under the Desert Mounted Corps, attacked the VII. Army at Khu- weilfe on the extreme eastern end of the line, and by its obstinate fighting against great odds did much to persuade the Turks that the British were trying to make a great turning movement from the E., whereas in point of fact the loth, 6oth and 74th Divs. were about to break the line between the VII. and VIII. Armies in order to make a gap through which the Desert Mounted Corps could pass. After fighting for three days and nights almost continuously against what was left of the III. Corps and the igth and 26th Divs. brought across from the coastal sector, the positions were captured by the isSth Bde. (Brig.-Gen. Vernon) and held in spite of counter-attacks on Nov. 6 and 7, and on Nov. 8 the division concentrated in Khuweilfe.
The Turks being thus fully occupied on the extreme left of their front and " pinned " by operations at Gaza, Gen. Allenby at dawn on Nov. 6 broke through the middle of their line with an attack against Kawuka with his loth, 6oth, 74th Divs. and
