The Territorial Divisions, 1914-1918Stirling, John
History
The Territorial Divisions, 1914-1918
Stirling, John
World War, 1914-1918 -- Regimental histories -- Great Britain
Paragraph 11 and 12 deal with a raid on Amman. The troops employed
were the 60th Division, the Australian and New Zealand Mounted
Division, the Imperial Camel Brigade, etc., the whole under the
General Officer Commanding 60th Division. Heavy rains made the
crossing of the Jordan a task of almost insuperable difficulty and
also made progress very slow when the eastern bank was reached.
On 24th March the 60th Division drove the enemy from a position
which blocked the road to Es Salt, captured three guns and pursued
him for four miles. On the 25th they occupied Es Salt. The mounted
troops effected the destruction of portions of the railway. There
was heavy fighting on the 29th and 30th March, the Turks having been
reinforced; thereafter the Commander-in-Chief ordered a withdrawal
and this was carried out by the evening of 2nd April. Troops were
left on the east side of the Jordan to form a bridgehead. Over 900
prisoners were taken in this raid.
On 30th April operations east of the Jordan were again undertaken.
“The 60th Division captured the advanced works of the Shunet Nimrin
position but were unable to make further progress in face of the
stubborn resistance offered by the enemy.” On 2nd May there was
another attack but the Turks were found to be in great strength.
“The 60th Division was unable to make any substantial progress, in
spite of determined efforts.” About 1000 prisoners were taken in this
operation. On 4th May the force was withdrawn.
Paragraph 15 of the despatch refers to the reorganisation of the
Palestine Army consequent on the departure of the 52nd and 74th
Divisions for France, and it states that 24 British battalions were
also withdrawn from the remaining divisions and sent to France. The
60th contributed its share of these, while the remainder of the
Division continued to set a very high standard of efficient work in
the field to the troops brought to Palestine from Mesopotamia and
India, to take the place of those who had left for the western front.
The 2/20th joined the famous 62nd Division in August 1918.
In the despatch of 31st October, 1918, as to the final overthrow of
the Turks in Palestine, paragraph 9 shows that the break-through by
the infantry was entrusted to Sir E. Bulfin’s XXI. Corps, to which
the 60th Division was attached, it having been moved from the right
to the left of the line. At 4.30 a.m. on 19th September, the XXI.
Corps attacked and, within 36 hours, “the greater part of the VIII.
Turkish Army had been overwhelmed.”
The 60th Division attacked in the coastal sector, then moved inland
to leave “the coast route clear for the Desert Mounted Corps.”
After the 20th the infantry had heavy marching but no severe
fighting. The operations 19th-25th September are now “The Battles of
Megiddo.”
The armistice with Turkey came into force on 31st October, but
fighting had ceased on the 26th. The 60th Division had certainly done
a great deal to bring about the satisfactory conclusion of the War
with Turkey.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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