How Jerusalem Was Won: Being the Record of Allenby's Campaign in PalestineMassey, W. T. (William Thomas)
History
How Jerusalem Was Won: Being the Record of Allenby's Campaign in Palestine
Massey, W. T. (William Thomas)
World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Palestine
While this ruling of the authorities at home prevailed
it was impossible for me to give the names of officers or to mention
divisions or units which were doing exceptionally meritorious work.
Unfortunately the bureaucratic interdict continued till within a
few days of the end of the campaign, when I was told that, 'having
frequently referred to the work of the Australians, which was
deserved,' the mention of British and Indian units would be welcomed.
We had to wait until within a month of the end of the world war before
the War Office would unbend and realise the value of the best kind
of propaganda. No wonder our American friends consider us the worst
national advertisers in the world.
The officer who was mainly responsible for the success of the Auja
crossing was Major-General J. Hill, D.S.O., A.D.C., commanding the
52nd Division. His plan was agreed to by General Bulfin, although the
Corps Commander had doubts about the possibility of its success, and
had his own scheme ready to be put into instant operation if General
Hill's failed. In the state of the weather General Hill's own
brigadiers were not sanguine, and they were the most loyal and devoted
officers a divisional commander ever had. But despite the most
unfavourable conditions, calling for heroic measures on the part of
officers and men alike to gain their objectives through mud and water
and over ground that was as bad as it could be, the movements of the
troops worked to the clock. One brigade's movements synchronised with
those of another, and the river was crossed, commanding positions were
seized, and bridges were built with an astoundingly small loss to
ourselves. The Lowland Scots worked as if at sport, and they could not
have worked longer or stronger if the whole honour of Scotland had
depended upon their efforts. At a later date, when digging at Arsuf,
these Scots came across some marble columns which had graced a hall
when Apollonia was in its heyday. The glory of Apollonia has long
vanished, but if in that age of warriors there had been a belief
that those marble columns would some day be raised as monuments to
commemorate a great operation of war the ancients would have had a
special veneration for them. Three of the columns marked the spots
where the Scots spanned the river, and it is a pity they cannot tell
the full story to succeeding generations.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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