the Yeomanry Mounted Div. The Turks opposed him with the right wing of their VII. Army and the left wing of their XXII. Corps, but by 14:30 the i7gth Bde. (Brig.-Gen. Edwards) and the iSoth Bde. (Brig.-Gen. Hill) had captured Sharia for the 6oth Div., while the 74th Div. was stiffly engaged to the right. The Turks, however, still held positions above Sharia, and it was not until 06:00 on Nov. 7 that the 6oth Div. was finally able to open the way through the Turkish line for the Desert Mounted Corps. The stout defence made by the VII. Army, the artillery of which was notably accurate, and the XXII. Corps, had delayed the start of the cavalry advance, which was still further hindered by lack of water, and Gen. Allenby was unable to cut off the Gaza troops by a flanking attack from the N.E., the more so as the Turks, under pressure of bombardment by land and sea on Nov. 5 and 6, had begun to withdraw. Their rearguards were unable to hold even the most formidable positions.
Outpost Hill and Middlesex Hill fell to the 233rd Bde. (Brig.- Gen. Colston) during the night of Nov. 6, and by 13:30 on Nov. 7 the 232nd Bde. (Brig.-Gen. Huddleston) had taken 'Ali Muntar itself and a number of strongly fortified works. Farther to the E. the 52nd Div. and the XXI. Corps Cav. had pushed through on the heels of the retiring Turks. The Imperial Service Cav. Bde. (Brig.-Gen. Harbord) actually rode through the ruins of Gaza at 09:00 on Nov. 7. Gaza had fallen, and all that re- mained for the Yilderim command was to get its armies away.
In places their moral was shaken, but for the first stages of the retreat the Turks fought strong rearguard actions, notably at Deir Sineid, where the Turkish XX. Corps four times recaptured the position from the 52nd Lowland Div., and at Huj, where the Turks stood up to a cavalry charge by the 5th Mounted Bde. (Brig.-Gen. Fitzgerald) and served their guns until actually cut down. The VIII. Army retreated along the line of the light railway and the motor road on Ramleh while the VII. Army fell back on Hebron and the main N. road. The line of advance across the Plain of Philistia was easier than that over the hills of southern Judea, consequently British transport was concen- trated as far as possible so as to facilitate the advance of the left wing, and the 54th Div. was immobilized at Gaza as all its transport went N. with the rest of the XXI. and Desert Mounted Corps which pressed on regardless of thirst, greatly enhanced by a hot khamsin which began to blow on Nov. 19.
The hardest fighting during the pursuit was that at Qatra and El Mughar on the Wadi Tahhana, when the 3rd, 7th and loth Divs. tried to hold the 52nd Lowland Div. on Nov. 13. In ordinary circumstances perhaps such a pronounced advance of a left wing would have been dangerous, as the VII. Army was still in the Hebron area and even tried to make a diversion, but Gen. Allenby declined to be overawed by a force which he rightly estimated to be largely disorganized and almost destitute of transport. He attached the XX. Corps Cav. to the 53rd Welsh Div. and sent them to be known as Mott's detachment to contain the southern detachments of the VII. Army.
General Allenby proposed to push the VIII. Army back beyond Jaffa and contain it while he turned to the E. and struck up through the hills at Jerusalem, upon which the Turks were concentrating. The Holy City, of no great strategic or commer- cial value in itself, had an immense sentimental value, and the Turks were unwilling to suffer the blow to their prestige which its loss would entail, the more so as Mecca and Bagdad were now no longer in their possession. Ramleh was taken on Nov. 15 and Jaffa by noon next day, while the 54th Div., which had regained its transport, was hurrying up from Gaza, arriving in the Desert Corps area on Nov. 18. Next day the advance to- ward Jerusalem began and the 6oth Div. started N. from Gaza. The 75th Div. had to encounter much resistance near Saris amid the barren and precipitous hills dominating the main road to Jerusalem, while the 52nd Div., moving eastward up the parallel valley of Beth Horon, had turned off up the Beit Likia road in face of Turks on the heights and transport difficulties in the valleys, and the Yeomanry Mounted Div., which was trying to reach the Nablus-Jerusalem road in order to force an evacua- tion of the Holy City, had even greater difficulties to surmount.
All through Nov. 20 and 21 there was hard fighting during which the Turks were steadily thrust back, a fog being of great value to the 75th Div. just before the attack on the positions covering 'Enab, which the 232nd and 233rd'Bdes. (Brig.-Gens. Huddleston and Colston) took at the point of the bayonet at 17:00 on Nov. 20. Kustuland Soba, two dominating positions, were taken next day by the 232nd and 234th Bdes. (Brig.-Gen. Anley), and at 23:45 Nebi Samwil was successfully stormed by the last-named brigade, and contact was established with the 52nd Div. at this point. Both divisions, however, were suffering much from rain and cold winds, and having come straight from an exhausting and rapid advance from the heat-stricken plains, were marching light with nothing to protect them from the cold. In the plain the 54th Div. went into the Desert Corps area to hold the front N. of Jaffa and Ludd, where it was faced by the 3rd, 7th, i6th and parts of the igth and 2oth Turkish Divs., and the 6oth Div. arrived near Mejdel from Gaza where it had had to wait until the 54th was off the lines of communication.
The VII. Army, now consisting of the 3rd Cav. Div., engaged against the Yeomanry on the extreme right of the Turkish line, and the 24th, 54th, 26th, 53rd Divs. covering Jerusalem from the W., while the 27th was observing Mott's detachment as a cover against a possible advance from Hebron, now made strong counter-attacks against Nebi Samwil; and although unable to recover it was at least able to prevent either the 75th or the 52nd from taking Ej Jib. It became apparent that for the moment the British thrust had spent itself. Accordingly the wearied divisions which had forced their way so far into the mountains were taken out of the line and sent to rest near Ramleh; their hard-won positions were turned over to the 6oth and 7oth Divs.
The delay in the British advance occasioned by this necessary relief gave fresh hope to the Turks, who began, after a period of depression, to hope once more that they might retain Jerusalem; accordingly reinforcements were brought down from the N. and across from beyond Jordan by way of Jericho, and by the time that the British were ready to resume their advance after the loth Div. had arrived from Gaza, the igth Div. and parts of the 2oth, 48th and 49th Divs. had arrived to strengthen the VII. Army, which held a strong series of positions overlooking from the E. the steep slopes of the deep valley of the Sarar (vale of Sorek) and across the Bethlehem road.
After a preliminary concentration during which Mott's detach- ment was advanced up the Hebron road to within striking dis- tance, and heavy guns had been brought up into the mountains, the general assault which was to result in the fall of Jerusalem began in driving rain at dawn on Dec. 8. The 6oth Div. had great difficulty in capturing the " Heart " and " Liver " re- doubts, and the strong works at Deir Yesin, and was hampered by the inability of the 53rd Div. to cooperate with its right flank owing to the strenuous Turkish opposition and the bad weather which were delaying its advance. However, by night- fall the British were established on the crests to the E. of the valley of the Sarar, and the iSoth Bde. (Brig.-Gen. Watson) of the 6oth Div. took Lifta by dusk, and by 07 :oo on Dec. 9 the Worcester Yeomanry had moved across the front of the 53rd Div. and got astride of the Jerusalem-Jericho road.
The news of the capture of Lifta started a panic among the Turks, and a disorderly retreat ensued which would have been disastrous for the Turks had not Gen. Allenby been unwilling to allow any hostilities in the immediate vicinity of the Holy City. It was now militarily speaking untenable, and he was anxious to secure a peaceful occupation even at the cost of spar- ing the Turks in this panic-stricken withdrawal.
At 07:00 on Dec. 9 the last Turkish troops left Jerusalem, "Izzet Bey, the Mutesarrif, being the last civil official to depart. Before 08:00 the mayor started out to surrender, and by 09:30 Brig.-Gen. Watson, the first British soldier to reach the Jaffa Gate, arrived and posted guards in anticipation of the formal act of accepting the surrender, which was performed by Maj.- Gen. Shea, in command of the 6oth Div., soon after 11:00.
Having thus obtained the chief objective of the campaign all that was now necessary was to thrust back the Turks in order
