Battle of Beersheba - a turning point in World War I

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Vince has just had a Facebook message from a friend who does endurance riding (on horseback). She had just set her alarm for 3am. She and her husband are in southern Israel as part of a group who have just taken part in a scaled-down re-enactment of the Battle of Beersheba. Beersheba has always been strategically important because of its wells. In World War I, Allied forces, together with the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, were advancing on Gaza in an attempt to defeat the Ottoman Empire, which was Germany’s ally. On the evening of October 31, 1917, despite the best attempts of the Allied troops who were unable to overcome the heavily entrenched Turks surrounding Beersheba, the critical water sources remained in Turkish hands. As a last resort, mounted infantrymen drew their sabres and charged the town. This involved a six-mile trek across the desert, with a gallop at the finish, jumping trenches as they went, then engaging in hand-to-hand fighting to eventually force an entry into the town. Following the taking of Beersheba and weeks later, the Allies were able to capture Jerusalem. The campaign redrew the map of the Middle East. A hundred years later, the event has been commemorated with a parade through the town and a ‘charge’ across the desert. Also important has been the acknowledgement of the part played by indigenous Australians. With this victory, the Light Horsemen captured the imagination of Australians of the day and cemented their place in a young nation’s history. The photo is of a memorial erected in their honour. It stands on a hilltop in Albany, Western Australia, which would have been the last sight of their homeland for most of the soldiers involved in the Battle of Beersheba.