Hell in the Holy Land: World War I in the Middle East

6. Breakout

6. BREAKOUT On October 30, Blunt of the Civil Service Rifles and Calcutt of the Queens Westminster Rifles, 179th Brigade, 60th Division, prepared for the final approach march to Beersheba. Their route took them across a wilderness of bare, rocky hills and numerous wadis. AUenby wanted the 60th Division, in league with the 74th Division, to pin down the Turks in the southwest defenses of Beersheba while mounted forces stormed the town on its eastern side. Calcutt and Blunt were given tea and rum for the following day and their final haversack rations: five onions, one tin of bully, a slice of cooked bacon, some dates, and biscuits. They moved out after the sun set, which was quite early in the Palestinian winter, about 5 P.M. "We have orders read out to us and wait by the route to fall in in our place," Calcutt recorded in his diary. "Miles of troops, and guns and horses and donkeys and camels and cavalry and limbers and luggage and weird shaped things of unknown purpose file by. The London Scottish with fixed bayonets. All trailing along in the dust towards one spot. Horses struggling with guns and blowing. Poor Tommy ladened up like a camel himself yet found time to pity the poor fucking horses."1 Turkish snipers welcomed Blunts battalion when it reached its deployment point, some 2,000 to 2,500 yards from the enemy's earthworks. Blunt, who had enlisted in March 1917, experienced his first shots fired in anger. "Here we got our baptism of fire and a taste of fighting, wind up," Blunt wrote in his diary. "Rifle fire opened up and enfiladed us from neighbouring hills. It was a rather terrifying experience in the dark hearing bullets whizzing about all over the place with no idea from where they came. . . . The numerous little wadis and gullies made excellent cover and we were able to lay down and await the dawn in comparative safety. In spite of the rifle fire I managed to get a hours sleep. Oh how I awaited the light of dawn—thinking, wondering and praying."2 Breakout 105 Third Battle for Gaza. After a chilly night, the morning broke hot and airless. To neutralize the enemy s artillery and soften up his defenses, the British had 116 artillery pieces along a front of some three miles, a much smaller concentration of artillery than at Gaza. Gunners had spent the night sandbagging their positions. H. }. Earney, a signaler with the 9th Mountain Brigade, RGA, XX Corps, worked frantically to dig a dugout and arrange sandbags . "Never before had I felt so tired as I did at that time, yet my mind was alert and all through the day the same condition prevailed," he noted in his diary. I sat in the dugout, Hqrs telephone strapped to my ear and we waited for the signal to begin. We had not long to wait. The battery opened fire with ranging shots registering targets. Afieldbattery just behind us also opened up, as also did several btys around. Every time a gun was fired a piece of our dug-out would fall in, usually down the back of the neck. Bullets whistled over the top of the dug-out and an occasional shrapnel burst unpleasantly near. At noon, 106 Hell in the Holy Land all batteries having registered targets the signal for the bombardment was given. Then we heard the music of the guns. It was great—for us, but I guess not so for "Johnnie."3 Blunt, who anxiously waited throughout the morning to go "over the top," observed with fascination the work of British gunners. His battalion could not advance until the commanding Hill 1070, which extended in front of the enemy's primary defensive position, had fallen. "All the morning we were deafened by heavy artillery fire. It was intense and especially our bombardment of Hill 1070," he observed. "We appeared to have a great superiority over the Turks in heavy guns. Our London Scottish machine gunners were putting up a good show over the near ridges, with their Lewis guns." As he lay on the ground under the boiling sun, Blunt asked himself if he were frightened. He could not give a proper answer. "All I knew," he reflected, "was that over the ridge in front of us were the Turkish lines and these had to be taken."4 During the...