The Battle of Beersheba

The taking of the wells at Beersheba on 31 October 1917 formed the single most thrilling image from the Great War. The Charge of the Light Horse is the lingering memory. Many legends have arisen about the Charge which have become embedded within the national story and now seem to have replaced the facts, both officially and unofficially. These legends are addressed. The Battle of Beersheba was not only the famous charge but many other actions all of which culminated in the victory.

Items

Outline

Beersheba Chargers - Men who possibly charged

4th Light Horse Brigade

4th Light Horse Regiment

Men who possibly charged at Beersheba - 12th LHR

 

Official War History Accounts

Australia

Gullett

New Zealand

Powles New Zealand Official History

British

Falls - the British Infantry

Falls - the fall of Beersheba

 

Analysis

Australian Analytical Accounts

Foster account about the fall of Beersheba

Keogh account about the fall of Beersheba

 

British Analytical Accounts

Kearsey account about the fall of Beersheba

 

British General Accounts

Massey account about the fall of Beersheba

Lock account about the fall of Beersheba

 

German Accounts

Kress's account about the fall of Beersheba

 

Italian Accounts

Italian Forces at Beersheba

 

War Diaries

Australian War Diaries

General Staff Headquarters, Anzac Mounted Division, AIF, War Diary Account

RHA Headquarters, Anzac Mounted Division Account

1st Light Horse Brigade Account

1st Light Horse Field Ambulance Account

1st Light Horse Machine Gun Squadron Account 

1st LHR War Diary Account

2nd LHR War Diary Account

3rd LHR War Diary Account

2nd Light Horse Brigade Account

2nd Light Horse Field Ambulance Account 

2nd Light Horse Machine Gun Squadron Account

5th LHR War Diary Account

5th Mounted Brigade, War Diary, Account

6th LHR War Diary Account

7th LHR War Diary Account

Headquarters, Imperial Mounted Division Account

General Staff Headquarters, Imperial Mounted Division, AIF, War Diary Account

3rd Light Horse Brigade Account

3rd Light Horse Field Ambulance Account 

3rd Light Horse Machine Gun Squadron Account

8th LHR War Diary Account

9th LHR War Diary Account

10th LHR War Diary Account

4th Light Horse Brigade Account

4th Light Horse Field Ambulance Account 

4th Light Horse Machine Gun Squadron Account

Bourchier, CO 4th LHR War Diary Account

Grant, GOC 4th LH Bde War Diary Account

Cameron, CO 12th LHR War Diary Account

 

British War Diaries  

20th Corps, War Diary Account

 

Orders issued regarding the impending Beersheba battle

4th LH Bde, AIF, Operation Order No. 37

 

New Zealand War Diaries

New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade Account

Auckland Mounted Rifles Account

Canterbury Mounted Rifles Regiment Account

Wellington Mounted Rifles Account 

 

Unit History Accounts

Australian

1st LHR AIF account

1st Australian Armoured Car Section Account

1st Australian Signal Troop, AIF Account

2nd LHR AIF Account

2nd FSE, AIF Account

2nd Australian Signal Troop, AIF Account

3rd LHR AIF Account

3rd LH Bde, AIF Account

3rd LHFA, AIF Account

3rd LHMGS, AIF Account

4th LH Bde, AIF Account

4th LHFA, AIF Account

4th LHR, AIF Account

5th LHR, AIF Account

6th LHR, AIF Account

7th LHR, AIF Account

8th LHR, AIF Account

8th Sanitary Section, AIF Account

9th LHR AIF Account

9th Mobile Veterinary Section, AIF Account

10th LHR, AIF Account

11th LHR, AIF Account

12th LHR, AIF MSS 38 Account

ICC Account

 

New Zealand

AMR Account

CMR Account

WMR Account

 

British Unit Histories

20th Machine Gun Squadron Account

Fife and Forfar Yeomanry Account

 

Newspaper Accounts

Massey Times account about the fall of Beersheba

Sydney Mail account about the fall of Beersheba

 

Personal Diary accounts of the Beersheba battle

2639 Tpr Arthur Wilson Beatty account of Beersheba

Auchterlonie [8th LHR] account about the fall of Beersheba

Fowler [12th LHR] account about the fall of Beersheba

Idriess and his Beersheba Charge description

 

Lieutenant Colonel Hüseyin Hüsnü Emir, Yildirim

Part II Chapter III - Events during October in Palestine

Colonel Hüsnü, Yildirim, Page 96

Colonel Hüsnü, Yildirim, Page 97

Colonel Hüsnü, Yildirim, Page 98

Colonel Hüsnü, Yildirim, Page 99

Colonel Hüsnü, Yildirim, Page 100

Colonel Hüsnü, Yildirim, Page 101

Colonel Hüsnü, Yildirim, Page 102

Colonel Hüsnü, Yildirim, Page 103

Part III Chapter I - The Battle of Beersheba, 31 October 1917.

Colonel Hüsnü, Yildirim, Page 104

Colonel Hüsnü, Yildirim, Page 105

Colonel Hüsnü, Yildirim, Page 106

Colonel Hüsnü, Yildirim, Page 107

Colonel Hüsnü, Yildirim, Page 108

Colonel Hüsnü, Yildirim, Page 109

Colonel Hüsnü, Yildirim, Page 110

Colonel Hüsnü, Yildirim, Page 111

Colonel Hüsnü, Yildirim, Page 112

Hüsnü’s observations and critiques on the Ottoman conduct of the capture of Beersheba, 31 October 1917.

Colonel Hüsnü, Yildirim, Page 113

Colonel Hüsnü, Yildirim, Page 114

Colonel Hüsnü, Yildirim, Page 115

Colonel Hüsnü, Yildirim, Page 116

Colonel Hüsnü, Yildirim, Page 117

Colonel Hüsnü, Yildirim, Page 118

Colonel Hüsnü, Yildirim, Page 119

Colonel Hüsnü, Yildirim, Page 120

 

Karm and surrounding supply stations

Karm, 25 October 1917

Tractor Park at El Gamli

Tractor Testing at El Gamli

Well at Khalasa

 

Train Timetable for October 1917

Desert Mounted Corps Operational Orders - Train Timetable

 

The Charge

Grant, GOC 4th ALHB, account about the fall of Beersheba

"Put Grant straight at it."

Hand drawn map of the 4th LHB prior to charging into Beersheba, 31 October 1917

Bourchier, CO 4th ALHR, account about the fall of Beersheba

Cameron, CO 12th ALHR, account about the fall of Beersheba

Colonel Cameron, 12th LHR, letter to Dr Bean

FAMOUS CHARGE BY 4TH AUSTRALIAN LIGHT HORSE BRIGADE by Vivian Sharpe

Official map of the Beersheba Charge

Pictures (taken 2006) of the route taken by the 4th LHB charge at Beersheba

 

The alleged Elliott photograph examined

9th LHR On Manoeuvres

9th LHR On Manoeuvres, Part 2

Fleas on fleas -The results from careless work - a case study

 

Ottoman Dispositions

Turkish map detailing troop dispositions and the battle at Beersheba

Turkish intelligence assessment of projected Allied attacks, August 1917

Roll of Honour

Australian and New Zealand Roll of Honour

British Forces Roll of Honour

Lest We Forget

Further Reading:

The Battle of Beersheba, Palestine, 31 October 1917

Australian and New Zealand Roll of Honour

Battles where Australians fought, 1899-1920

Citation: The Battle of Beersheba, Palestine, 31 October 1917, Contents 

Posted by alh-research at 12:01 AM EADT

Updated: Tuesday, 3 November 2009 7:15 AM EAST

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Web Sites of Interest

Below is a list of web sites that  might be of further interest.

Genealogical Links

1. NSW Births and Deaths Records Search

2. Victorian Births and Deaths Records Search

3. Australian Cemeteries

4. England- 1901 Census

5. Scotlands People

6. Society of Australian Genealogists

Other Links

Families and Friends of the First AIF

 

Military History Society

Military History Society, Victoria Branch

The Charge at the Nek, Gallipoli - 7th August 1915 - Presented by Jeff Pickerd, MHSA Victoria Branch. 

The Rifle Club Movement and Australian Defence 1860-1920, Andrew Kilsby 

Citation:  Web Sites of Interest

Posted by alh-research at 12:01 AM EADT

Updated: Friday, 30 October 2009 10:48 PM EADT

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 Battle of Romani

Sinai, August 4 to 5, 1916

The Battle of Romani was the first major engagement after Gallipoli which involved the Light Horse working as a mounted formation.

Items

Outline

Romani, Sinai, August 4 to 5, 1916

Roll of Honour

Battle of Romani, Sinai, August 4 to 5, 1916, Roll of Honour, British Forces 

Battle of Romani, Sinai, August 4 to 5, 1916, Roll of Honour, Smith's Column, British and Australian Casualties

Battle of Romani, Sinai, August 4 to 5, 1916, Roll of Honour, Australia and New Zealand 

Brigade

Battle of Romani, Sinai, August 4 to 5, 1916, Roll of Honour, 1st Australian Light Horse Brigade

Battle of Romani, Sinai, August 4 to 5, 1916, Roll of Honour, 2nd Australian Light Horse Brigade 

Battle of Romani, Sinai, August 4 to 5, 1916, Roll of Honour, 3rd Australian Light Horse Brigade  

Battle of Romani, Sinai, August 4 to 5, 1916, Roll of Honour, New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade 

 

Pictures

Encampment near Romani, August 1916

 

Maps

General

1:125,000 map of Romani area

1:40,000 Maps

1:40,000 map of Mt Meredith area

1:40,000 map of Mt Royston area

1:40,000 map of Dueidar, Hassaia and Nuss area

1:40,000 map of Bir el Abd area

British War History

Official British War History map of Romani, 4 August 1916

 

Unit Accounts Map

1st ALHR AIF account map

German Map

1:250,000 German map of Romani area

Romani and Bir el Abd

Official Turkish Account Map

 

Order of Battle

Turkish

1 nci Kuvvei Seferiye (1st Expeditionary Force)

British

No. 3 Section Canal Defences 

Australian and New Zealand

Australian and New Zealand Mounted Division

 

Accounts

German

Liman von Sanders Account 

 

Allied Official War History Accounts

Australia

Gullett Australian Official History account about Katia

Gullett Australian Official History account about Romani

New Zealand

Powles New Zealand Official History account about Romani

British

The British Occupation of Romani 

The Turkish Advance

The Turkish Attack on The 4th August 

The Pursuit on The 5th August 

The end of the pursuit 

The Results of the Battle 

Turkish and German Forces Engaged 

Distribution of E.E.F., 27 July 1916 

The State of The Royal Flying Corps in Egypt at the time of the Battle of Romani 

The Evacuation of the Wounded

 

Analysis

Romani and Bir el Abd summary, Keogh Account 

 

War Diary Accounts

Australia

General Staff Headquarters, Anzac Mounted Division, AIF, War Diary Account

Anzac Mounted Division Artillery, AIF, War Diary Account

1st Light Horse Brigade Account

1st LH Bde, AIF, War Diary Appendix Account

1st Light Horse Field Ambulance Account

1st Light Horse Machine Gun Squadron Account  

1st ALHR, AIF, War Diary, account

2nd ALHR, AIF, War Diary, account

Account of the 2nd Light Horse Regiment's participation in the Battle of Romani, War Diary, Appendix 4.

3rd ALHR, AIF, War Diary, account

2nd Light Horse Brigade Account

2nd Light Horse Field Ambulance Account

2nd Light Horse Machine Gun Squadron Account 

5th ALHR, AIF, War Diary, account

5th LHR, AIF account about the Battle of Romani, Killed in Action

6th ALHR, AIF, War Diary, account

7th ALHR, AIF, War Diary, account

3rd Light Horse Brigade Account

3rd Light Horse Field Ambulance Account  - No War Diary entries for July and August

3rd Light Horse Machine Gun Squadron Account 

8th ALHR, AIF, War Diary, account

9th ALHR, AIF, War Diary, account

10th ALHR, AIF, War Diary, account

11th ALHR, AIF, War Diary, account - Bir el Aweidia

 

New Zealand War Diaries

New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade Account

Auckland Mounted Rifles Account

Canterbury Mounted Rifles Regiment Account

Wellington Mounted Rifles Account

 

British War Diaries

42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division War Diary Account

125th Infantry Brigade War Diary Account

126th Infantry Brigade War Diary Account

127th Infantry Brigade War Diary Account

52nd (Lowland) Division, War Diary Account

157th Infantry Brigade War Diary Account

157th Infantry Brigade War Diary Account, Appendix- The Mass Heatstroke March

 

Unit Histories

Australia

1st ALHR AIF account

2nd ALHR AIF account

3rd ALHR AIF account

5th LHR, AIF account

6th LHR, AIF account

7th LHR, AIF account

8th LHR, AIF account

9th LHR, AIF account

10th LHR, AIF account

11th LHR, AIF account - Bir el Aweidia

 

New Zealand

AMR, NZMRB account

CMR, NZMRB account

WMR, NZMRB account

 

British

5th Battalion, Highland Light Infantry, Unit History Account

Newspaper Accounts

New York Times account of Romani, 6 August 1916

London Times account of Romani, 10 August 1916

 

Individual Accounts

859 Corporal Francis Patrick Curran, 7th LHR

Further Reading:

Battle of Romani, Sinai, August 4 to 5, 1916

Bir el Abd, Sinai, 9 August 1916

Battles where Australians fought, 1899-1920

Posted by alh-research at 12:01 AM EADT

Updated: Saturday, 31 October 2009 10:55 PM EAST

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Bir el Abd

Sinai, 9 August 1916

Contents

Items

Bir el Abd, Sinai, 9 August 1916, Outline  

 

Roll of Honour

Bir el Abd, Sinai, 9 August 1916, Roll of Honour, British Forces

Bir el Abd, Sinai, 9 August 1916, Roll of Honour, Australia and New Zealand

Brigades

Bir el Abd, Sinai, 9 August 1916, Roll of Honour, 1st Australian Light Horse Brigade 

Bir el Abd, Sinai, 9 August 1916, Roll of Honour, 2nd Australian Light Horse Brigade

Bir el Abd, Sinai, 9 August 1916, Roll of Honour, 3rd Australian Light Horse Brigade

Bir el Abd, Sinai, 9 August 1916, Roll of Honour, New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade

Lest We Forget

 

Maps

Romani and Bir el Abd

Official Turkish Account Map

 

Bir el Abd

1:40,000 map of Bir el Abd area 

Anzac MD Post Battle Unit Deployment Map 

 

Romani

1:40,000 map of Mt Meredith area

1:40,000 map of Mt Royston area

1:40,000 map of Dueidar, Hassaia and Nuss area

Official British War History map of Romani, 4 August 1916

1st ALHR AIF account map

1:250,000 German map of Romani area

 

History

Official Turkish War History

Official Turkish Account

 

German History

Friedrich Freiherr Kress von Kressenstein Account 

Liman von Sanders Account

 

Official Australian War History 

Gullett Account

 

Official British War History

The British Occupation of Romani 

The Turkish Advance

The Turkish Attack on The 4th August 

The Pursuit on The 5th August 

The end of the pursuit 

The Results of the Battle 

Turkish and German Forces Engaged 

Distribution of E.E.F., 27 July 1916 

The State of The Royal Flying Corps in Egypt at the time of the Battle of Romani 

The Evacuation of the Wounded

 

Analysis

Romani and Bir el Abd summary, Keogh Account 

 

War Diaries

Australian War Diaries

General Staff Headquarters, Anzac Mounted Division, AIF, War Diary Account

Anzac Mounted Division Artillery, AIF, War Diary Account

1st Light Horse Brigade Account

1st Light Horse Field Ambulance Account

1st Light Horse Machine Gun Squadron Account 

1st Light Horse Regiment Account

2nd Light Horse Regiment Account

3rd Light Horse Regiment Account

2nd Light Horse Brigade Account

2nd Light Horse Field Ambulance Account 

2nd Light Horse Machine Gun Squadron Account

5th Light Horse Regiment Account

6th Light Horse Regiment Account

7th Light Horse Regiment Account

3rd Light Horse Brigade Account

3rd Light Horse Field Ambulance Account  - No War Diary entries for July and August

3rd Light Horse Machine Gun Squadron Account

8th Light Horse Regiment Account

9th Light Horse Regiment Account 

10th Light Horse Regiment Account

 

New Zealand War Diaries

New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade Account

Auckland Mounted Rifles Account

Canterbury Mounted Rifles Regiment Account

Wellington Mounted Rifles Account 

 

Unit History Accounts

Australian

1st LHR Unit History Account 

2nd LHR, AIF, Unit History Account

3rd LHR, AIF, Unit History Account

5th LHR, AIF, Unit History Account

6th LHR, AIF, Unit History Account

7th LHR, AIF, Unit History Account

8th LHR, AIF, Unit History Account

9th LHR, AIF, Unit History Account

10th LHR, AIF, Unit History Account

11th LHR, AIF Unit History Account

 

New Zealand

New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, Unit History Account

Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment, Unit History Account

Canterbury Mounted Rifles Regiment, Unit History Account

Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiment, Unit History Account

Further Reading:

Battle of Romani, Sinai, August 4 to 5, 1916 

Bir el Abd, Sinai, 9 August 1916

Battles where Australians fought, 1899-1920

Posted by alh-research at 12:01 AM EADT

Updated: Friday, 23 October 2009 12:56 PM EADT

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Bir el Abd

Sinai, 9 August 1916

Outline

[Photo by Terry Kinlock, author of Devils on Horses: in the Words of the Anzacs in the Middle East 1916-19.]

Keeping constant pressure on the Turks resulted in one engagement tending to merge into the next, as was the case with Katia and Bir el Abd. This was an oasis 22 miles east of Romani, on the track to El Arish.

El Arish was on the south-east corner of the Mediterranean and came to be considered by the Anzacs as some far-off Holy Grail. If the enemy could be dislodged from Bir el Abd, he must retreat the 50 miles further on to El Arish because there was almost no water between the two places. El Arish was close to the Palestine border, where the Sinai desert ended. Elopes and dreams began to form and tantalise. They could get off the sand! Mirages, milk-and-honey visions of plains and trees, cities, grass feed, roads, water, flowers beckoned.

First things first: attack the enemy rearguard, capture his guns, destroy the remainder of his force. Reconnaissance early on 8 August showed that the Turks had abandoned Oghratina. Patrols probed forward and found him at Bir el Abd.

Chauvel shifted his HQ forward to Oghratina, with the New Zealand and Yeomanry brigades. Royston, temporarily in command of both the 1st and 2nd Light Horse Brigades, was to march from Katia overnight and at daylight on the 9th take up a position just north-east of Abd. The New Zealanders and the 3rd Light Horse Brigade were to start the advance, the first directly on the Turks centre, the second to swing round behind them from the south, blocking their retreat. The Yeomanry were in reserve.

The whole ANZAC Mounted Division would be engaged, though it was reduced by sickness and exhaustion of both horses and men to 3000 dismounted rifles. Two regiments of Royston's were down to 180 rifles and the 7th Regiment mustered 214. But the Turks were said to be weak and the operation looked to be relatively easy. Because of the distances, no infantry were to be used and the job fell to the mounted troops again.

The Turks proved to be decidedly strong: 6000 men deployed on commanding sandhills, well supported by artillery.

The overnight ride by the 1st and 2nd Brigades was marked by precipitous sand cliffs, up or down which no horse would have gone, had it seen them. With daylight, the troopers were awed to see what they had come through.

At 4 am, the New Zealanders attacked the Turkish centre and the 3rd Light Horse Brigade started its encircling movement from the south. They encountered strong resistance. Royston's brigades, coming in from the north, were also checked. The dispositions left large gaps between the ANZAC units: 800 yards between Chaytor's New Zealanders and the 2nd Brigade on the left, a mile between Chaytor and the 3rd Brigade on the right.

Suddenly, things started to look grim. There were fire fights all along the line. The scattered Anzacs, after galloping in until the machine-gun and artillery fire became too heavy to risk the horses, dismounted and sent them back. For some hours, it was a near stalemate of no advance and no retreat, though marked by particular strokes of brilliance such as a bayonet charge by the Wellingtons, before which the Turks refused the steel and bolted, and the 'admirable tenacity and reckless courage' of the out-gunned batteries of Royal Horse Artillery, which from close behind the dismounted men waged an unequal contest with the Turkish guns.

About midday, the Turks counterattacked from one end of the line to the other and threw Chauvel's troops on the defensive. There were seesawing attacks and counterattacks for two hours, and while the ANZAC front was unbroken, they suffered a net loss of ground. Sniffing victory, the Turks' fire reached a pitch of concentration never experienced before, even at Gallipoli.

By 4.30 Royston's left had been almost completely turned and the Turks threw between 2000 and 3000 men against his centre. The ensuing crescendo of fire was most destructive to both sides. The New Zealanders gave no ground in their forward position, even as a retirement of the 3rd Brigade on their right and another by Royston's brigades on their left exposed them to enfilade fire on both sides. Still they hung on.

At 5.30, Chauvel ordered a general withdrawal. It was then a matter of getting away unscathed in a fighting retreat, another searching test of steadiness under fire, with troop deliberately laying back on troop and squadron laying back on squadron, while keeping the enemy at bay with their own shooting.

That accomplished, the Anzacs were once more exhausted. They had ridden all night and fought from daylight to sunset on a quart of water in the heat of a ship's stokehold. Their elbows were blistered from constant contact with the scalding sand as they fired their weapons. Chauvel's choice was between bivouacking that night nearby and resuming the assault next day, or retiring to Oghratina. After consulting his brigade commanders, he opted for the latter, posting the 3rd Brigade out on the flank.

Two hundred and ten wounded were carried out of Abd and greatly hampered the withdrawal, but with the exception of a few New Zealanders their countrymen could not possibly reach, all were borne back safely. The standard 'ambulance' was a camel cacolets, or litter - a narrow, swaying pannier atop the beast that so tormented wounded men they came to be feared by the Anzacs, and led to the Australian innovation of sand carts. However, these could not be deployed to the front line and the men were taken out on horses; and their preference then was to ride them home. Two men of the 5th Regiment with broken thighs rode home from Abd and one survived.

This 'law' about saving wounded men was dangerous and frowned on by anonymous high command mandarins, but the men went into action knowing that if it was humanly possible to be carried out, they would not be allowed to fall into the Turks' hands, or left to the murderous Bedouins who prowled around the edges of battlefields. As vindication, after two and a half years of constant fighting, only 73 Light Horsemen had been taken prisoner, most of them wounded, and not a single officer was captured. But they themselves captured between 40,000 and 50,000 Turks.

Casualties for Bir el Abd were 73 dead and 243 wounded.

Extracted from the book produced by Lindsay Baly, Horseman, Pass By, East Roseville, N.S.W. : Simon & Schuster, 2003, Ch. 5.

Further Reading:

Battle of Romani, Sinai, August 4 to 5, 1916

Bir el Abd, Sinai, 9 August 1916

Battles where Australians fought, 1899-1919

Posted by alh-research at 12:01 AM EADT

Updated: Thursday, 22 October 2009 8:33 AM EADT

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