[Editor: This article, regarding the Battle of Beersheba (1917), which took place during the First World War (1914-1918), is an extract from the “Notes for soldiers” column, published in The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.), 8 November 1921.]
Charge at Beersheba
Included in the exhibition of war pictures at the town hall, Prahran, is a remarkable photograph of the famous charge by the Australian Light Horse at Beersheba. It is a picture of great historical value. With each photograph, Captain W. D. Joynt, V.C., who is in charge of the exhibition, has supplied interesting particulars.
Of the charge at Beersheba, he explains that the horsemen were armed only with rifles and bayonets. Suddenly the order came to charge the Turkish trenches, and under General Grant (a Queenslander) they obeyed.
“Cheering and shouting, the three long lines of magnificent horsemen went charging over the desert, with not a vestige of cover to protect them from the withering file of Turkish rifles and machine-guns. Some drew their bayonets and flourished them in the air like swords, others actually fixed their bayonets and used them as lances. The horsemen came thundering on, galloped right over the trenches, and in a few minutes had captured Beersheba, an important tactical position held strongly by the Turks. The position outflanked Gaza, the key to Palestine.”
Source:
The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.), 8 November 1921, p. 10
Also published in:
The Western Star and Roma Advertiser (Roma, Qld.), 19 November 1921, p. 6
Editor’s notes:
Grant = William Grant (1870-1939), grazier and soldier; during the First World War (1914-1918) he commanded various Australian Light Horse units, and was promoted to the rank of brigadier general
See: A. J. Hill “Grant, William (1870–1939)”, Australian Dictionary of Biography
[Editor: The original text has been separated into paragraphs.]
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