THE CROWN OF VICTORY.
The moment things were satisfactorily settled in the neighbourhood of Es
Salt I hurried on to Amman. Jumping into a passing motor, I discovered
that the name of the officer in the car was Lowe, and on asking him
whether he was, by chance, any relation of a man I knew named Harry
Lowe, he replied, "I am his brother."
On our arrival at Amman I found that General Chaytor's camp was some
distance beyond the town and close to the Hedjaz Railway Station. Seeing
the divisional flag flying over his tent, I made for it, and was
delighted at last to run him to earth.
I heartily congratulated him on the great victory he had won in such
record time. In four days his troops had covered over 60 miles; he had
forced his way through the hills and mountains of Moab, a most difficult
country, in the face of a superior force; he had captured the two
ancient cities of Es Salt and Amman, got astride of the Hedjaz Railway,
and had completely routed the 4th Turkish Army. He had captured
altogether some 11,000 prisoners, some 60 guns, about 150 machine-guns,
hundreds of tons of ammunition of all kinds, millions of rounds of
small arms ammunition, large quantities of railway rolling-stock, and
all kinds of other material, foodstuffs, horses, mules, transport
wagons, motor lorries, etc.--altogether as brilliant a piece of work as
was done in this or any other theatre of the Great War.
[Illustration: ROMAN ARCH AT AMMAN
(_See page 145_)]
[Illustration: IN THE OLD CITADEL AT AMMAN
(_See page 145_)]
I would have those who pin their faith to the sword make a special note
of the fact that not a single sabre or lance was carried by the mounted
men. The hefty Anzac was able to do all that was wanted by the
combination of man, horse, and rifle.
Of course Chaytor's Force lacked one great weapon, and that was a war
correspondent to write up its deeds!
While I was in General Chaytor's camp a sad accident happened. A
Signalling Sergeant quite close to us was examining a "dud" aerial bomb
when it exploded in his hands, killing him and wounding several others.
I found Amman (the Philadelphia of the Romans) rich in old Græco-Roman
architectural remains. A mighty amphitheatre, still in a fairly good
state of preservation, stands out boldly amidst the ruins. Judging by
the number of shattered columns and broken arches strewn about over a
wide area, it must have been a very important city in the days when Rome
was mistress of the world. Little or nothing of the old Rabbah Ammon is
left. The walls of a very ancient citadel still crown a hill-top close
by the Roman city, but whether it is the citadel which so long resisted
Joab, or a later structure, I cannot say.
I remained at Amman all night, in the shadow of the great ruined
amphitheatre. Once it must have rocked to the roar of the multitude
encircling its spacious arena. Now all was silent. Only bats and owls
circled through its broken arches or flew from its tilted columns,
alarmed perchance by the curse of an Australian trooper sleeping
uneasily amidst its ruins. While the bivouac fires yet flickered on this
hoary pile I sought the shelter of a motor lorry, in which, rolled in a
blanket, I lay snug and warm throughout the night.
From my own observation I can testify that the words of the Prophet
Ezekiel were literally fulfilled when he wrote: "And I will make Rabbah
(Ammon) a stable for camels, and the Ammonites a couching place for
flocks."--(Ezekiel, Chap. XXV. verse 5.)
It must have been a very pleasant city in the old days, and I see no
reason why its glories should not be revived under a stable form of
Government. The country all round is fruitful and its waters sweet and
abundant.
In the present straggling town there is a large colony of Circassians,
and in the two previous raids made by the British on this place these
people had in each case made a treacherous attack on our rearguard. The
New Zealand Mounted Rifles suffered somewhat severely in the raid made
on March 30th, 1918.
I left the ancient capital of the Ammonites soon after daybreak and, as
I journeyed towards Es Salt, I had a magnificent view of the snow-capped
Lebanons away in the far distance, while Gilead and Bashan lay spread
out before me to the foot of Mount Hermon.
Es Salt and the hills surrounding it form the gateway to a vast rich
hinterland. I have never seen grapes as large as those that grow in
Gilead, or tasted any to compare with them in flavour. Figs, too, were
delicious and abundant in and about Es Salt.
[Illustration: PART OF THE GREAT AMPHITHEATRE AT AMMAN
(_See page 145_)]
[Illustration: CIRCASSIAN CART AT AMMAN
(_See page 146_)]
Rumours now began to get about that the Turkish force, still on the
Hedjaz Railway to the south of Amman, would attempt to break through and
try to escape northwards to Damascus by way of Nimrin.
General Chaytor ordered me to take steps to meet such an emergency, so I
wired to Major Neill to put the place in a state of defence, and on
September 28th I proceeded there myself and resumed command of the
battalion.
While Chaytor's Force was holding the enemy on the Jordan and, later,
chasing him through the Moab hills, the C.-in-C. was using the bulk of
his forces in destroying the enemy holding the country to the West of
the Jordan, and a very brief account of the operations may prove
interesting to the reader.
In the neighbourhood of Jaffa a Franco-British force was assembled
consisting of five Divisions of Infantry, a French detachment about
4,000 strong, the 5th Australian Light Horse Brigade, two brigades of
mountain artillery, and eighteen batteries of heavy and siege artillery.
Carefully concealed in the orange and olive groves round about Jaffa and
Ludd lay the 4th and 5th Cavalry Divisions, the Australian Mounted
Division (less one Brigade), and four squadrons of French Colonial
Cavalry (Spahis and Chasseurs d'Afrique).
All these were ready to dash north the moment the infantry and artillery
had broken a gap in the enemy's line to the North of Jaffa.
With this highly mobile force a brilliant victory was achieved, but of
course the historian will not give to the E.E.F. campaign the
extravagant praise which has been lavished upon it by an ill-informed
public, ignorant as yet of the fact that in the field of operations the
strength of the British to that of the Turk was as that of a tiger to a
tom-cat.
The bulk of the Turkish forces were on or south of a line drawn from
Jisr ed Damie, on the Jordan, through Nablus and Tul Keram to the
Mediterranean. His fighting strength on this front was, roughly, 17,000
Infantry, 1,000 Cavalry, and 266 guns. His line of communication was
long and bad. He was about 1,200 miles from his base at Constantinople,
and, owing to incomplete tunnels at Amanus and Taurus and a change of
gauge at Ryak, there were no less than three bad breaks in the single
line of railway which had to carry his reinforcements, munitions,
equipment, and food both to the Palestinian and Mesopotamian fronts.
His troops were badly fed and badly led; medical arrangements were very
poor; there was considerable friction between the Turks and Germans, and
the Turkish Army was composed of a mixture of races, many of them hating
their masters with a fierce hatred.
Here were all the elements of a _débâcle_ on a grand scale.
On the morning of September 19th one of the most triumphant cavalry
marches ever recorded in the world's history began at Jaffa, and before
the troops engaged in it drew rein in far-off Aleppo, five weeks later,
they had covered some 500 miles through an enemy's country, captured or
destroyed over 50,000 Turks, seized Damascus, Beyrout, and Aleppo, and
brought to an inglorious end the Ottoman Empire.
This was no mean record for a mere handful of mounted men to accomplish.
We must not forget, however, that without the lavish help of the other
arms--infantry, artillery, and especially the Air Force, victory on such
a colossal scale could not have been achieved.
It almost seems as if this crowning victory had been pre-ordained to
take place in the year 1918. Everybody knows that the Jewish era differs
from the Christian era, but perhaps not so many are aware that the
Jewish year 5679 corresponds to the year 1918 of our era. A peculiarity
of the Hebrew language is that every numeral has a special meaning other
than that connected with time or figures. In the dim and distant past,
when seers, sages, and scribes were devoutly engaged in evolving such
things, was it even then pre-ordained that this crowning victory--this
victory which will surely hasten the restoration of Israel--should take
place in the year 5679? However that may be, it is certainly
extraordinary that the figures 5, 6, 7, 9, being interpreted, should
mean Ha-atereth--"Crown of Victory."