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
The Midlanders rode straight at the guns and sabred
every artilleryman at his piece. The Londoners say they heard all the
guns stop dead at the same moment and they knew they had been silenced
in true Balaclava style. Having wiped out the batteries the yeomen
again answered the call of their leader and swept up a ridge to deal
effectively with three machine guns, and having used the white arm
against their crews the guns were turned on to the retreating Turks
and decimated their ranks. This charge was witnessed by General Shea,
and I know it is his opinion that it was executed with the greatest
gallantry and élan, and was worthy of the best traditions of British
cavalry. The yeomanry lost about twenty-five per cent. of their
number in casualties, but their action was worth the price, for they
completely broke up the enemy resistance and enabled the London
Division to push straight through to Huj. The Warwick and
Worcester Yeomanry received the personal congratulations of the
Commander-in-Chief, and General Shea was also thanked by General
Allenby.
During this day General Shea accomplished what probably no other
Divisional Commander did in this war. When out scouting in a light
armoured car he was within 500 yards of a big ammunition dump which
was blown up. He saw the three men who had destroyed it running away,
and he chased them into a wadi and machine-gunned them. They held up
their hands and were astonished to find they had surrendered to a
General. These men were captured in the nick of time. But for the
appearance of General Shea they would have destroyed another dump,
which we captured intact.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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