PALESTINE.

Evening Star, Issue 16847, 24 September 1918, Page 6

PALESTINE.

THE TURKISH DEBACLE. ARMIES CEASE TO EXIST. 25,000 MEM CAPTURED. 40,000 MORE CUT OFF. High Commissioners Cable. LONDON, September _23. Palestine official' The of the Jordan were dosed by us on Sunday. _ The Seventh and Eighth Turkish Armies leave ceased to exist, and their cmire transport has been captured. Already 25,€-00 prisoners and 260 guns have been counted, and many more are iwaiting count. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. NEW YORK, September 25. (Received September 24, at 8.50 a.m.) 'the Turkish nrmv in Palestine has ■eased to exist. The British have, capnurd 25.000 Turks and 2GO guns. Later. Fortv-thousand Turks have been rar- , minded, and it i? not believed that, they have any chance of escape. THE JORDAN CROSSINGS. NEW ZEALANDERS SEIZE ONE. LONDON, September 25. (Received September 24, at 9.10 a.m.) Mr W. T. Massey, writing from Paleaine Headquarters on Sunday, states : There is "still a great deal of dealing up do. hut the first battle is practically r-vc-r. General Allenby has secured one of the most complete victories in the war. A. few unimportant enemy sections may Jtavo got away in driblets, but the Turkish | armies have ceased to exist as armies. The troops have been killed or captured, and they have lost almost their entire war material of ©very description. If a new army is to be created for operations in Palestine and Syria the Turks must provide not only tlie men but tho mechanism of war. Nearly all their guns on this front, their transport, rolling stock, and engineers’ stores have fallen into our hands. Gnr infantry alone have taken 270 gnns, and our cavalry are too busy securing prisoners to count or send in reports oi their gun captures. I have been over a large portion of tho battlefield, a hundred square miles in extent, and have seen tho debris of the routed army, and now I realise that it must be some time before a full statement of the enemy losses is possible. This much, however, is certain : Bold strategy, backed by the victorious action of enthusiastic and determined troops, has obtained a victory for the Allies from which the Turks cannot hop© to recover. (Received September 24, at 10.35 a.m.) Mr Massey savs: To-day's nows is as good as tho’ preceding days. In the Jordan Valley wo made important ground. A few of the enemy had come down from Nablus and got across the Jordan by the Jisr-cd-Damioh ferry (25 miles north of the Dead Sea). The New Zealanders at 8 o’clock got across the track to stop this exit, and rounded tip SCO prisoners, including tho staff and commander of the Turkish Firiy-third Division. Apparently it brings bad luck to command this division, for in the first Katie of Gaza_the Australians caught its commander in his carriage. At 1 o’clock to-day the New Zealanders crossed the Jordan and secured the Damieh bridgehead. East of Jericho the infantry who rolled up the enemy from the west had little to do to-day beyond taking tho .surrender of isolated parties, but they increased their capture© of guns. The Irish, Welsh, and Indian infantry operating about th© Nablus road got well north and east of Nablus, adding to the discomfiture of tie retreating enemy. The Irish covered 21 miles, lighting over the | mountains, in 56 hours. , j Our cavalry have approached Kefr Kannaj and Seffarieh, north of Nazareth. Yesterday tho Yeomanry and Indian cavalry beat off an attack on the Tebriah (or l'ubarivch)-Acrs road (from tho Sea ol Galileo to th© Levant coastl north of Nazareth, from the direction of Haifa (on the roast, 1 . OUR INDIAN TROOPS TOUGH, KEEN FIGHTERS AGAINST THE TURKS. FLYING MEN’S FEATS, LONDON, September 25. (Received September 24, at 11.20 a.m.) Mr Massey writes : Th© British and Australian airmen have been carrying on as usual, but they chose a new tic.d to-day when they attacked motor and othei transport trying to escape on the fcliawoSebrim road.' They dropped four tons of bombs, inflicting severe damage to men and material. In my wanderings I have seen the extraordinary success achieved by the airmen in these operations. On the Tulkeram-Nahlus road our pilots flew at a very low altitude, _ and dropped bombs where it was impossible to miss. Th© road fox miles is choked with smashed lorries, wheels, transport, dead men and horses. Having broken up the transport columns and made it difficult for the men to move, cur airmen returned and machine-gunned the troops endeavoring to hide. What they accomplished in tnis neighborhood was repeated on th© Damieh road and ebewbere. The airmen's total casualties inflicted on the enemy must reach high figures. All the prisoners speak with dread oi tho sound ol aircraft. One feature of this battle has been the ma <r nifieent dash of th© Indian troops. The veteran soldiers of India were expected to do well, and have lived up to their high reputation. Tho young battalions who replaced tho white troops sent from Palestine for service on the western front were an unknown quantity, but these young Indian battalions came through th© ordeal magnificently- They fought like seasoned warriors, and cheerfully answered any

call. Their divisional commanders toll me that they are delighted with the Indians'’ valor under all conditions. Forty-seven hours of continuous fighting and marching tested them to tho utmost, but they behaved superbly, their onlv fault being too great eagerness to push on. In Thursday’s tremendous attack against the coastal defences their officershad _ to restrain the men from rushing into our artillery barrage. These, who took the place of some of the Londoners sent to France, were tremendously keen to preserve their record. A division of Indians, with some Londoners, who were first into Jerusalem, and first over tho Jordan, wanted also to be first through the coastal defences. They succeeded, went on. and secured the crossing oi the Wadi Falik for our cavalry. They advanced northeastward of Tnlkeram, covering the astonishing distance of 22 miles in 151 hours, including trench fighting and actions in the open. This wonderful performance is an example of what the young Indian battalions are capable of. _‘\il are practically of the same quality. For skill in Hill fighting it would be hard to find a parallel for this incident; The, r was a stern struggle for the Bietlid Hilts, s,COOrds from Nablus. On Friday, when Nablus was captured, it was decided to take a station which commanded the south by a high, steep hill. A Sikh battalion crept up tho irregular slopes in the moonlight, and caught’ tho garrison entirely unprepared. They rushed the surprised German machine-gunners, and sustained not one single casualty among the Sikhs. The Indians, marching over the hilly country, had to leave all their artillery behind'except tho mountain guns. DUNEDIN’S RECOGNITION. At noon to-day the Town Hall bell was rung in recognition oi the news. This was followed by the ringing of other bells and tho blowing of whistles. A good crowd assembled in front of the Town Hall steps, and were addressed by the Mayor (Mr J. J. Clark, 0.8. E.). Great enthusiasm was shown, and cheers were given for the victors, and also for the New Zealanders fighting on all fronts.