The Story of the Great War, Volume 7: American Food and Ships; Palestine; Italy invaded; Great German Offensive; Americans in Picardy; Americans on the Marne; Foch's Counteroffensive.
History
The Story of the Great War, Volume 7: American Food and Ships; Palestine; Italy invaded; Great German Offensive; Americans in Picardy; Americans on the Marne; Foch's Counteroffensive.
World War, 1914-1918
The British infantry, who were sent forward about dusk to occupy
Junction Station, met with some resistance and halted, for the night,
not much more than a mile west of the station. Early next morning
(November 14, 1917) they occupied the station.
The Turkish army had now been broken into two separate parts, which
retired north and east respectively.
In fifteen days the British force had advanced sixty miles on its right
and about forty on its left. It had driven a Turkish army of nine
infantry divisions and one cavalry division out of a position in which
it had been intrenched for six months, and had pursued it, giving battle
whenever it attempted to stand, and inflicting on it losses amounting
probably to nearly two-thirds of its original effectives. Over 9,000
prisoners, about eighty guns, more than 100 machine guns, and very
large quantities of ammunition and other stores had been captured.
After the capture of Junction Station on the morning of November 14,
1917, the British secured a position covering the station, while the
mounted troops reached Kezaze that same evening.
The mounted troops pressed on toward Ramleh and Ludd. On the right
Naaneh was attacked and captured in the morning, while on the left the
New Zealand Mounted Rifles had an engagement at Ayun Kara (six miles
south of Jaffa). Here the Turks made a determined counterattack and got
to within fifteen yards of the British line. A bayonet attack drove them
back with heavy loss.
Flanking the advance along the railway to Ramleh and covering the main
road from Ramleh to Jerusalem, a ridge stands up prominently out of the
low foothills surrounding it. This is the site of the ancient Gezer,
near which the village of Abu Shusheh now stands. A Turkish rear guard
had established itself on this feature. It was captured on the morning
of November 15, 1917, by mounted troops, who galloped up the ridge from
the south. A gun and 360 prisoners were taken in this affair.
By the evening of November 15, 1917, the mounted troops had occupied
Ramleh and Ludd, and had pushed patrols to within a short distance of
Jaffa. At Ludd 300 prisoners were taken, and five destroyed aeroplanes
and a quantity of abandoned war material were found at Ramleh and Ludd.
Jaffa was occupied without opposition on the evening of November 16,
1917.
The following situation had now developed: The Turkish army, cut in two
by the capture of Junction Station, had retired partly east into the
mountains toward Jerusalem and partly north along the plain. The nearest
line on which these two portions could reunite was the line Tul
Keram-Nablus. Reports indicated that it was the probable intention of
the Turks to evacuate Jerusalem and withdraw to reorganize on this line.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account