THE PALESTINE CAMPAIGN

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 91, 14 October 1922, Page 17

THE PALESTINE CAMPAIGN

"The New. Zealanders in Sinai and Palestine." By Lieut.-Colonel 0. Guy Powles, C.M.G., D.5.0., being Vol. 111. of the Official History of New Zealand's Effort in the Great WarC Messrs. Whitcombe and Tombs, Ltd., Wellington.

Of all the wars, both big accf little, that went to make up what we call the Great War, the most romantic to future ages will almost certainly be that last of the crusades which in. a series of campaigns swept the.Turk from the border of Effypt to the frontier of Asia Minor—from the Suez Canal to the Taurus Mountains. It was in no way like the terrible war of attrition in France, a titanic struggle of trenohes and gas and liquid fire, and all the abominations of modern "civilised" war in a thickly populated country. The war in Palestine was a. good war, if there can be such a thing as a good war; it lid the Holy Land of the incubus of the Turk, which was making a desert of what was once described as a "land flowing with milk and honey," and a horde of miserable helots out of one of the great races of the world. It was also a fair and square ■war, within the laws of the game, such as they are. There were no particular atrocities, as far as the present writer can recall, and gas, he believes, was used once only, and that by the British at Gaza.

Further,- it was the most successful of all our "side wars," as they used to call them, those critics who thought everything should be dropsed fo. the Western Front. There was "but one real check in.tjhe campaigns of two years from th? Canal to Aleppo, and that was at Ga2a in March and April of the year 1917, whan General 'Murray attempted to conauet Jerusalem from Cairo, and added to the disgrace of defeat by dishonestly claiming a victory. And yet on the first .attack on the 26th March the New Zealand Mounted Brigade was actually at Gaza, and the Canterbury Regiment in the enemy stronghold of Mi <?] Muntar by 5 o'clock in the afternoon, when the prdei came to retire. "The opinion was freely expressed." says Lieut.-Colonel Powles in his book, just published, "The New Zealanders in Palestine," "that, had the infantry taken advantage of a fog (which formed a natural screen in the morning) Gaza would have fallen." CAVALRY WARFARE. This brings us to our book and 1 subject. The Palestine campaign, which includes the crossing of Sinai and the hurricane oouqueat of Syria, was essentially cavalry warfare. -With.the exception of the oaplure of Jerusalem in the early winter of 1917, and the second attack on Gaza, and the trench fighting in' Judaea, in 1918, the work fell almost entirely on the horsemen, and no better mounted force appeared in the whole war or, perhaps, in any war than the famous Anzac Mounted Division, afterwards embodied in the equally famous Desert Mounted Corps. In those two splendid bodies of warriors in the saddle, the New Zealand Mounted Brigade played a most distinguished and honourable part. They were in all the fighting from start to ' finish, and were conspicuous in the Battle of Romani, which in August, 1916, sent a picked army of Turks and Germans 'reeling back across the Sinai Desert from a formidable attack on Egypt; in the capture of Maghdaba and Rafa at the end of the year; in the first, second-, and third battles of Gaza, and the stubborn fighting across the Plain of Philistia to the gates of Jaffa, which they were the first to enter; in the famous raid on Ammon after taking Jericho, and in "the final act of the war— the destruction of the Tnricish army ' across .the Jordan. CLEAR 4.ND SOLDIERLY STYLE. The, story of the New Zealand Mounted Brigade is' told by Colonel Powles in a clear and soldierly- manner, adequately within the limited space allotted to him in the third volume of the Official' History of New Zealand's Effort in the Great War. As an official historian, Colonel Powles has to record in detail the military movements of the New Zealand section of the Mounted Division, and these are excellently illustrated by the best series of military maps the present writer had had the fortune to see in any history of the war, official or otherwise. They are admirably prepared and admirably printed. The complicated movements of both armies after the fall of Gaza and Beer, Sheba at the beginning of November, 1917, have never been better shown, and the greatest credit ;s due to all those concerned in the preparation of the maps. Their names are given with acknowledgments at the end of the volume. The purely military side of the New Zealanders' experiences in the Holy Land is supplemented, wherever possible, by the picturesque touches that add life to a purely military history.

It is impossible here to follow Colonel Powles through his all-too-brief account of the New Zealanders in Palestine. He himself has not been given a large enough canvas for so great a theme, but within the limits he has done the work ex-, ceedingly well. The story should be' read by every' New Zealander, not only as a stirring tale of adventurous warfare in a romantic country, but for the light it throws on the character of the New Zealander as a horse-lover and a horsemaster, and an ideal mounted soldier. The personnel of the thirteen thousand New Zealanders who have volunteered for service again in the event of another war against the Turks lias not been analysed, but one would like to wager it includes a large number of the veterans ■of the New" Zealand Mounted Brigade that beat the Tm-kg evsry time in a. long series of engagements'in Palestine. They helped with the rest of Allenby's great army to make a complete clean up of the Turks in the Holy Land, and it was the politicians who made a mess of things afterwards. N TESTIMONIES. As an introduction to the -book are the testimonies of the various commanders of the armies in which the Brigade fought. Following are brief selections from the tributes paid:— General Sir John Maxwell : "New Zealand has every reason to be proud of what her sons have done for the Empire, and in no theatre have they more reason to be so than the glorious, and bewilderingly successful campaign "in Palestine." , General Sir Archibald Murray: "Fortunate indeed is a commander in the field who has at his disposal Now Zealand mounted troops, for he can depend 6n them at nil times to display energy, resource, and endurance. . ■ . . Not only •is the brigade equal to any troops in energy, resource, and endurance but in addition it is second to none in determination and dash. ... I have had New Zealand troops under my command in other lands than Egypt, and have gained a lasting: and sincere affection for them, collectively and individually. They are n magnificent, lot of men, who play j the game at all times. I feel sure that! t this history will bring homo to. ..all N<MY

Zealanderg and the Empire generally the grand part played in the Great War by their mounted troops. It will also be cherished as a priceless memento by those who haTO lost near and dear relatives who gave up their lives for their. King and country, and now He buried in a far distant land. , . . The Empire, is proud of the New Zealand Mounted Brigade, and I owe it personally a debt of lasting gratitude." Field-Marshal Lord Allenby.: , "I am/ proud to have had the honour of commanding them, and they have my congratulations, my thanks, and. my good wishes."

General Sir Harry Chauvel. Desert .Mounted Corps Commander: "The achievements of the mounted men of New Zealand form a record oi „ which their country and the Empire have every reason to be proud." To such testimony there can be nothing to add: ■

Note.—The above review was written by one. who was on active service in Palestine.