Chapter 10

Jerusalem

November 1917 to January 1918

Although the British War Office supported General Allenby in his push for Jerusalem and beyond, the horrendous cost of the September–October Ypres offensive on the Western Front meant that he would soon be called upon to sacrifice some of his infantry divisions to that cause. Capturing Jerusalem would be no easy task.

On 18 November 1917, the Australian Mounted Division outflanked the enemy defences at Latron, 25 kilometres west of Jerusalem. While Grant’s 4th Brigade made a direct assault, Wilson’s 3rd Brigade advanced on the left, where the 8th and 9th Light Horse struggled forward over rough ground and, as the 8th’s war diary noted, even the water cart broke to pieces and was abandoned.¹ But light horse patrols did get behind the Turkish lines and reach Yalo, about 6 kilometres east of Latron, causing the defenders at Latron to withdraw. On 21 November, the frustrated German staff officer Major von Papen wrote, ‘now the VIIth Army bolts from any cavalry patrol’.²

For the final attack on Jerusalem, General Allenby’s aim was to use the Yeomanry Mounted Division to cut the Nablus road north of the city and thus cut supply to the 7th Army defending the city. But the Turks took up strong positions astride the main road west of Jerusalem. ‘The mountain where the Turks are, between here and Jerusalem, proved to be impassable for mounted troops,’ Harold Mulder wrote, ‘and we now have to wait for the infantry to come up . . . Jerusalem won’t fall for a few days.’³ The deteriorating weather did not help. On 19 November, the rains came and the nights got colder. That day Gordon Cooper wrote, ‘Cruel night, rained incessantly.’⁴ With the rain came the mud, slowing down operations and the vital supply lines that supported them.

Four wide-eyed Turkish officers strike a pose. Ralph Kellett collection.

Meanwhile, infantrymen from the 75th Division occupied Latron, but to the east the main road rose up into the mountains via narrow passes, where any further advance could be readily stymied. North of the 75th, the Scots of the 52nd Division advanced into the hills over rough tracks that limited how many guns could be used. On the left flank of the Scots, the Yeomanry Mounted Division tried to reach the Nablus road but found the tracks near impassable and ‘were held up alike by the difficulties of the terrain and the tenacity of the Turks’.⁵

Map 6: Jaffa to Jerusalem

The two infantry divisions kept at it and gradually forced the Turkish defenders back across the ridges towards Jerusalem, the 75th Division advancing under the cover of thick fog over the same country as King Richard I’s crusaders in 1192. On 26 November the 60th Division, later joined by the 74th, relieved the 75th and 52nd on the front line. Though they had six infantry divisions in the line from Bethlehem to the Nablus road north of Jerusalem, the Turks were only just holding on while daily wasting away. Major von Papen wrote that 200 officers and more than 5000 men had been arrested in Jerusalem for desertion.⁶ West of Jerusalem the Turks made three counterattacks on the British infantry at Nebi Samwil but each was held. On 30 November, Henry Langtip wrote, ‘the Turks attacked at 3.00 this morning and the Scotties and Tommies knocked them back but suffered a good many casualties’.⁷

With the poor weather persisting, the British offensive stalled. ‘A sea of mud and water all round,’ Harold Mulder wrote on 21 November. Two weeks later, conditions were still dire. ‘All our motor lorries and tractors are stuck all over the country and we’re having a pretty bad time for supplies,’ he added.⁸ To keep supplies moving forward, 2000 donkeys were put into service. The decision was also made to switch the main focus of the offensive against Jerusalem from the north-west to the south-west.⁹

Meanwhile, north-east of Jaffa, Chauvel sent his forces across the Auja River on 24 November to prevent the Turkish forces on the coastal flank from moving to support Jerusalem. The desired outcome was achieved when Turkish forces counterattacked the Auja bridgehead that night. Further inland, the light horsemen of the 3rd Brigade fought in the hills near El Burj as infantry, where the 8th Light Horse was prominent. On 1 December two officers—Captain George Fay and Lieutenant Vin Moore—were killed and another three wounded. As one of the men observed, ‘there is no doubt the 8th is rough on officers’.¹⁰ ‘Jacko attacked in force . . . Our boys gave them hell,’ John Stephen wrote of the attack. ‘We appreciate this dismounted stunt as no horses to feed or water,’ but ‘it was hard work scrambling over rocks and boulders with all our gear and blankets slung around our shoulders’. Some days later, Stephen went back over the battlefield where some 65 Turks lay unburied, ‘some with arms and legs blown off. Heads shattered, blood over everything. It was a sight not fit to be seen, but it brought to me the grimness and horror of war.’¹¹ Writing to his wife on 6 December, Granville Ryrie reflected the view of many of the troopers: ‘I am sick of this fighting and goodness knows how much longer it is going to last.’¹²

Leaving their mounts behind, the light horsemen move into the rugged Judean Hills, December 1917. Godfrey Burgess collection.

The new push on Jerusalem began on 8 December. Again the British infantry was checked by the strong Turkish redoubts in the rugged hills west of Jerusalem. But with the capture of Bethlehem to the south on 9 December and mounting pressure from the north, the noose was tightened and the Turks pulled out of Jerusalem, the last troops leaving that same day. ‘Gitmaya mejburuz,’ was the cry across the city: ‘We’ve got to go.’¹³ As the Turks fled north for Nablus and east for Jericho, Governor Izzet Bey was one of the last to leave. Major General John Shea took the surrender of the city while the diverse population celebrated and welcomed the British Army, its presence ending some four centuries of Turkish rule. There were still Turkish troops on the Mount of Olives to the east, firing across the valley of Jehoshaphat, but they were soon cleared out at the point of British bayonets.

City parking lot, Jerusalem. Reg Dixon collection.

That afternoon, Major Charles Dunkley rode into the holy city at the head of his 10th Light Horse squadron. These light horsemen were the first Australian troops to enter Jerusalem. Robert Fell wrote of ‘Great rejoicing at Jerusalem falling to us.’¹⁴ Henry Gullett watched the ‘amazing traffic’ that had gathered on the Latron road up to Jerusalem: ‘Caterpillars, motors, lorries, horses, donkeys, mules, camels.’¹⁵ These were all the trappings of an army in transition between different forms of horsepower.

The 6th Light Horse passing through Jerusalem. Ralph Kellett collection.

General Allenby entered Jerusalem on 11 December, his path flanked by the wide variety of troops from all the countries under his command. ‘Great masses of colour against the old grey stone walls,’ Henry Gullett wrote. ‘Troops very lean and worn but keen and exhilarated.’¹⁶ Captain Hugo Throssell, the only light horseman to have been awarded the Victoria Cross in this war, commanded the ceremonial guard at the ancient Jaffa Gate. Eschewing any show of grandeur, Allenby dismounted and used the side entrance of the gate. Though the British Empire forces under his command had done all the fighting, no British flags were flown.

Despite the onset of seasonal rains, Allenby was determined to push on north while the Turkish forces were still on the back foot. As always, the supply lines would be critical, and Egyptian labourers were immediately set to work on the Jaffa to Jerusalem road. Meanwhile, on the coastal flank, pontoon bridges were brought forward to help carry the advance over the Auja River. On the night of 20 December, following a very heavy bombardment that lasted more than seven hours, the Scottish Lowlanders of the 52nd Division crossed the pontoon bridges and advanced north.

A 12th Light Horse transport wagon stuck in the mud, Christmas 1917. Godfrey Burgess collection.

On 27 December, Private James Duffy, an Irishman serving with the 6th Battalion, the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, went out with another stretcher-bearer to bring in a badly wounded man. The man with Duffy was then also wounded and his replacement was killed, leaving Duffy alone. Despite that, he was able to bring the first wounded man to cover and then the wounded stretcher-bearer, saving both lives. For his selfless bravery, Duffy was awarded the Victoria Cross.

With the onset of winter weather, the transport lines struggled to cope. With so much infantry in the line and supply difficult, the mounted divisions were withdrawn to obviate the need to supply fodder for the horses. On 22 December, Jim Greatorex wrote of ‘country in very bad state mud and water everywhere’.¹⁷ The 1st and 2nd Brigade moved to the railhead at Esdud, and at New Year the Australian Mounted Division was withdrawn back to Deir el Belah. On 6 January, Edwin Brown watched them march back: ‘Black and wet mud, rain with water laying everywhere made it very miserable for them to travel.’¹⁸ Stan Parkes wrote, ‘When we marched out at 1000 it was pouring rain and almost a gale blowing which was bitterly cold, the roads were in an awful state and a number of wagons were stuck fast in the mud.’¹⁹ There were also special moments that would never be forgotten. After a night when Frank Hurley was asked to talk of his Antarctic experiences to the men, he wrote, ‘I felt, in the interest expressed on the faces around me, a reward for the tribulations of the South.’²⁰

A group of 6th Light Horse troopers sits down to Christmas dinner in the holy land. Roy Millar collection.

With the retreat of the Turkish forces to the north and the capture of Jerusalem, it was possible to resupply Colonel Lawrence’s Arabs via a more direct route. Bert Inall was part of a camel convoy sent out to do just that. The camels were loaded up with ammunition and explosives and sent out, the convoy travelling by night and passing through rocky outcrops. The men made certain they had their Australian rising sun badges attached to their collars, and for good reason. When the last man in the line felt an arm around his neck during the night, a knife was held to his neck and a hand felt for the badge, thus confirming that the camel convoy was friendly. A tap on the head confirmed all was okay.²¹

When the camel convoy reached an oasis, the men in the convoy looked up at the sand hills around them and spotted groups of Arabs all around. With only one rifle between them, the men had no chance if the Arabs were hostile. ‘We’re fucked, we’re fucked,’ one cried out. Bert Inall, who was 26 years old and known as Pop, settled the men down as the Arabs advanced on them. It was Colonel Lawrence and a band of his Arab raiders. Their presence certainly made for a good photo.²²

Some of Colonel Lawrence’s Arab irregulars. Bert Inall collection. Courtesy of Barry Inall.

In the 6th Light Horse trenches defending the Jordan Valley bridgeheads. For sniping the men usually worked in pairs. Here Ralph Kellett is the rifleman on the right and Robert May is the observer. ‘Our steel helmets were like ovens,’ Sydney Barron wrote of his time in the valley. Ralph Kellett collection.