THE GREAT WARTHE GREAT WAR||MIDDLE EAST CAMPAIGN MIDDLE EAST CAMPAIGN
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Pushing forward at a walking pace
on the right of the British line, the
men of the 54th Division advanced
towards the entrenchments along the
Beersheba road which were held by
units of the Turkish 53rd Division.
They were operating on a two-
brigade front, with the 163rd on the
easternmost flank, spearheaded by
the 4th Norfolks on the left, aiming
for a scarcely discernible line of
trenches, and the 5th Norfolks on
the right, making for a hilltop
redoubt near Khirbet Sihan.
The plan, as relayed to the
territorials, was to seize the two
enemy positions “before swinging
round in a flanking movement to
attack Ali Muntar” with the support
of the 8th Hampshires (Isle of Wight
Rifles) and the 5th Suffolks.
But hardly had the offensive barrage
ceased and the advance begun than
the enemy artillery opened up with
devastating effect, knocking out one
of the tanks almost immediately and
wreaking havoc among the exposed
infantry.
Not long after, the grim rattle of
machine gun fire joined the deadly
chorus. It sounded to Lt Murray
Buxton like “a perfect hell”.
Caught in the open on ground
almost devoid of cover, there was no
escaping what 24-year-old Private
Len Beck called a “holocaust” of“withering fire”. “We were mercilessly
mown down,” he later recalled. “On
both sides of me men fell, some
wounded, many, luckier perhaps,
were killed outright.”
Moments later he was struck by
a bullet just above the knee. But
inspired by those around him,
many of whom were wounded but
struggling on, he continued for
another 20 yards, his leggings soaked
with blood, until another bullet
through his thigh stopped him in
his tracks.
Advancing just behind the leading
companies of the 5th Norfolks,
Private A M Mann recalled passing
“rows of dead amongst which dying
and wounded men were crying for
water”. “Although against orders,” he
later wrote, “many men knelt down
to ease their pals’ suffering, but it
was often necessary forcibly to drag
the water bottles from the wounded
men’s lips...”.
It was a hellish scene with a
stampede of fear-stricken mules
adding to the terrifying mayhem. Yet,
in spite of it all, small parties ofABOVE
A posed shot
of a Turkish
machine gun
detachment that
took part in the
defence of Gaza.LEFT
Turkish officers
pose alongside
the burnt-out
wreck of ‘Nutty’
on Tank Redoubt,
a key objective
that was briefly
captured by a
small party of
the 5th Norfolks
and only given
up after a
desperate fight.