Читать книгу Australia in Palestine онлайн

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A few days after Beersheba the Turkish line was broken by the infantry at Sheria, and again between Gaza and the sea. The mounted men were turned loose on the heels of the retreating enemy, and the wild stern chase was continued for nearly fifty miles. The speed of the horsemen was regulated chiefly by difficulties of transport and water supply; but all the way the Turk fought clever rear-guard actions, making therein especially effective use of his strong equipment of machine guns. The Australians’ work was fast and bold throughout. There were scores of fights by night and day, which brought credit to the staff work and Brigade and Regimental fighting. Up till then it was the grandest cavalry drive in the war, and perhaps it has no equal in any campaign of the past. When the British forces came to a halt on a line running roughly from the coast a few miles north of Jaffa eastward to the mountains, the cessation of the pursuit was due not to enemy resistance, but to the impossibility, at that time, of extending our lines of communication any further. During this great cavalry drive, the Desert Mounted Corps, which embraced all the mounted troops, was under the command of Lieut.-General Sir H. G. Chauvel, who enjoys the distinction of being the first Australian to rise to the leadership of a Corps. And, with the 3rd Light Horse Brigade under General Wilson and the 4th under General Grant, the four Australian Mounted Brigades were, for the first time, all under Australian commands.