Page 32 - Balfour100-E

32 Battle of Beersheba Preparations ✡

‘Australian mounted
infantry came onto

the plain east of

Beersheba under

Turkish artillery fire,

but they galloped
under the guns,

whose marksmen

could not adjust

The famed Australian Light Horse cavalry
charge which outpaced the defenders’ the range quickly
guns and secured Beersheba, and (left)
an Australian camel corp enough.’

To achieve this ambitious plan it The Zionist equation Anzac and British horsemen of the
would be necessary to: Desert Mounted Corps under the com-
a) Maintain complete secrecy as to For Britain’s geo-political plan to suc- mand of the Australian General Harry
the real objective. They needed to fool ceed – that at the end of the war they Chauvel, would launch a surprise attack
the Turkish and German leadership would control the lion’s share of the from the eastern side. The horsemen
into believing the attack on Beersheba east bank of the Suez Canal including moved to their positions well to the
was merely a feint, and that the main Palestine – she needed to find an ap- south and east of Beersheba in the days
assault would be at Gaza, while in fact propriate solution to the internation- prior to the attack. The attack would
it was the opposite. This objective was alisation scheme. Britain had to gain begin on 31 October 1917.
delegated to the British intelligence the support and agreement of her allies, Early that morning British infantry
service, which devised numerous quite namely France, Russia, Italy, the United attacked the entrenched Turkish posi-
outstanding decoys. States of America and the Vatican. This tions. The bulk of the heavy fighting
b) Determine that it was logistically would be a daunting task. fell upon these infantry, and they made
possible to achieve such an ambitious It was at this time that the Zionist slow but steady progress through the
plan. The major problem was the issue Organisation stepped forward. Already morning hours. Then Anzac horsemen
of water. Although there were ample known in Government circles through began moving towards their objectives
supplies of water at Beersheba, suf- the good services of Herbert Samuel and to the east of the town. New Zealanders
ficient water to the south and east also Chaim Weizmann, the Zionist Organisa- and some Australians made a concerted
had to be discovered in order to sustain tion was then asked to submit a formal attack upon the well-defended high
the troops and their horses prior to request to the British Government point of Tel el Saba (Tel Beer Sheba),
the attack. Ancient wells were then re- outlining its desire for a Jewish national the Beersheba of Abraham’s time. At
discovered in that barren region. entity in Palestine (once the land had about this time the men of the Brit-
When Allenby arrived in late June been captured from the Turks of course). ish War Cabinet were beginning their
1917 he basically endorsed Chetwode’s This request came in the form of a letter discussion on the Zionist proposal for
plan. from Lord Rothschild on behalf of the establishing a Jewish national entity
Zionist Organisation. in Palestine.
After considerable activity and ac- By early afternoon the British in-
Kelvin Crombie, an Austral-
ian, lived in Israel for 25 years. tion, a final decision pertaining to the fantry had achieved most of their goals,
As a young boy he wanted to Zionist request would be taken at the and when the New Zealanders finally
know why Australian soldiers War Cabinet meeting scheduled for 31 captured Tel el Saba in mid-afternoon,
served in the Middle East, and October 1917 in London. the major obstacle on the eastern side
why the Jewish people were persecuted. He had been overcome. But it was getting
went to Israel as a young man searching for
answers – and became a follower of Jesus in Final move on Beersheba late in the afternoon and it was essential
1981. In 1986 he began working as the guide to capture the town in one day, so as to
at Christ Church, studying the activities of the It was absolutely imperative that the maintain the element of surprise and
British, Protestants and Anzacs in the Middle plan of the attack on Beersheba was also to take possession of the vital water
East. He has since written 12 books related concealed from the Turks. British in- wells. General Chauvel had to make a
to this subject and been involved in several
documentaries, the latest being ’31 October – fantry would attack from the southwest quick decision.
Destiny’s Date?’ and western side of Beersheba, while Contrary to military reason he de-