"At a mile distant their thousand hooves were stuttering thunder, coming at a rate that frightened a man - they were an awe inspiring sight, galloping through the red haze - knee to knee and horse to horse - the dying sun glinting on bayonet points..." Trooper Ion Idriess
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The Battle of Polygon Wood, Belgium, 26 September 1917, Outline Topic: BatzWF - Westn Front
The Battle of Polygon Wood
Belgium, 26 September 1917
Outline
Polygon Wood by Louis McCubbin, 1919.
Polygon Wood, fought on 26 September 1917, following the successful outcome of the British attack at Menin Road (q.v.). The two Australian divisions used in that attack were quickly relieved - on the right the 5th replacing the 1st, on the left the 4th replacing the 2nd - and preparations were put in train for the next blow in the sequence. Another advance of some 1,500 metres was intended, this time through the shattered remains of a young plantation.
Map detailing the area of action at Polygon Wood.
The day before the scheduled operation, a German counter-thrust fell upon the British 10th Corps immediately south of the 5th Division's Flank. This was a potentially disastrous event, because although the 15th Brigade helped its neighbouring British units to fight off the attack and secure its own start-line for the next day, it was not possible to clear all the enemy from this area. Thus the Australian right faced the prospect of having its flank insecure when the time came for the advance.
The Mound at Polygon Wood.
At 5.50 a.m. on the 26th the protective artillery barrage descended as planned, and the two Australian divisions went forward behind it at the centre of a front extending nearly ten kilometres. All the objectives along the Australian front and points north were, with minor exceptions, quickly captured. On the exposed southern flank, the 15th Brigade - reinforced by two battalions of the 8th Brigade - managed to take not only its own final objective but also part of that of the 10th Corps. Again, any German counterattack was thwarted by the curtain of artillery fire lowered as soon as the troops had reached their positions. Australian losses in the action amounted to 5,770 men.
How the men saw Polygon Wood after the war, an oil painting by George Edmund Butler.
Extracted from the book produced by Chris Coulthard-Clark, Where Australians Fought - The Encyclopaedia of Australia's Battles, Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 1998, p. 131.
Additional References cited by Chris Coulthard-Clark:
C.E.W. Bean, (1933), The Australian Imperial Force in France 1917, Sydney: Angus & Robertson.
The Battle of Semakh, Palestine, 25 September 1918, Outline Topic: BatzP - Semakh
The Battle of Semakh
Palestine, 25 September 1918
Outline
The Semakh Rail Station House
Semakh, at the southern end of Lake Tiberias in northern Palestine, was the scene of a short sharp action on 25 September 1918 in which Australian light horsemen were pitted against a mixed forced of Turks and Germans. Being eager to prevent the enemy from occupying effective blocking positions west and south of the lake, from where movements against Damascus or the important railway junction at Deraa might be opposed, the commander of the Desert Mounted Corps, Lieut.-General Sir Harry Chauvel, sent the 4th Light Horse Brigade under Brig.-General William Grant to seize Semakh. The importance of the place had already been appreciated by the German commander of Turkish forces in Palestine, Field Marshal Liman von Sanders, and the small garrison available for defence had been stiffened by the addition of German machine-gunners and command entrusted to a German officer.
Map of North Palestine
Marching by moonlight with only one regiment and part of another, Grant was approaching Semakh from the south shortly before dawn on the 25th when his leading troops were heavily fired on. Although the situation was obscure the order was immediately given to charge, whereupon the men drew swords and set off at the gallop towards the flashes of the enemy machine guns - two squadrons of the 11th Regiment heading for the eastern end of the town, two squadrons of the 12th Regiment making for the western end. The fight which followed in and around the railway station and other buildings lasted an hour.
Once it was over at 5.30 a.m., 100 of the town's defenders were dead and 365 captured-nearly all those killed and half those taken prisoner (many of whom were wounded) being found to be German. The Australians suffered 78 casualties (including fourteen killed) and had nearly half their horses hit. Although costly, the affair could have only been worse had Grant delayed to bring up more of his brigade, as daylight revealed that the town's buildings dominated approaches over bare open plain for several kilometres.
Bodies of the 11th LHR men after the battle
Extracted from the book produced by Chris Coulthard-Clark, Where Australians Fought - The Encyclopaedia of Australia's Battles, Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 1998, p. 162.
Additional References cited by Chris Coulthard-Clark:
H.S. Gullett (1944) The Australian Imperial Force in Sinai and Palestine, Sydney: Angus & Robertson.
The Battle for Haifa, 23 September 1918, Outline Topic: BatzP - Megiddo
The Battle for Haifa
Palestine, 23 September 1918
Outline
Map detailing the movement of the 13th Cavalry Division in the Capture of Haifa.
[From: Falls, C.; MacMunn, G.; and, Becke, AF, Military operations: Egypt and Palestine, (London 1930), Sketch 34.]
From "A brief record of the advance of the Egyptian expeditionary force under the command of General Sir Edmund H. H. Allenby ... July 1917 to October 1918", Despatch dated 31st October 1918:
19. Whilst the 4th Cavalry and the Australian Mounted Divisions were collecting the remnants of the Vllth and Vlllth Turkish Armies, I ordered the Desert Mounted Corps to occupy Acre and Haifa. The roads leading to Haifa from Tul Keram are only country tracks, which, in the event of rain, might become impassable for motor lorries at any time. Any force, advancing northwards from Haifa along the coast, would have to depend on supplies landed at that port. It was necessary, therefore, to occupy the town without delay, in order that the harbour could be swept for mines, and the landing of stores taken in hand. The 13th Cavalry Brigade of the 5th Cavalry Division, which had entered Nazareth on Sept. 20, and had then marched to El Afule, returned to Nazareth the following day.
Part of the garrison of Haifa, which was attempting to reach Tiberias, was intercepted by this brigade on the morning of Sept. 22. At 0130 this column approached the outposts of the 13th Cavalry Brigade. It was attacked in the moonlight by the 18th Lancers, who killed a large number of Turks and captured over 300.
That afternoon Haifa was reconnoitred by a battery of armoured cars. It was held by the enemy. The road was barricaded, and the armoured cars were shelled from the slopes of Mount Carmel.
On Sept. 23 the 5th Cavalry Division, less the 13th Cavalry Brigade, marched from El Afule to capture the town. The 13th Cavalry Brigade marched direct from Nazareth on Acre.
Capture of Acre and Haifa, Sept. 23.
The road from El Afule to Haifa skirts the north-eastern edge of the Mount Carmel range. Some two miles before Haifa is reached, the road is confined between a spur of Mount Carmel on the left, and the marshy banks of the River Kishon and its tributaries on the right. When the 5th Cavalry Division reached this point on Sept. 23 it was shelled from the slopes of Mount Carmel, and found the road and the river crossings defended by numerous machine guns.
Whilst the Mysore Lancers were clearing the rocky slopes of Mount Carmel, the Jodhpur Lancers charged through the defile, and, riding over the enemy's machine guns, galloped into the town, where a number of Turks were speared in the streets. Colonel Thakur Dalpat Singh, M.C., fell, gallantly leading this charge.
In this operation 1,350 prisoners and seventeen guns were taken.
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