OCCUPATION OF JERICHO.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 14609, 20 May 1918, Page 6

OCCUPATION OF JERICHO.

i PUSHING BACK THE TURKS. - NEW ZEALANDERS PARTICIPATE. An interesting., description of the opf erations "leading.. up < to t\ie occupation of Jericho, iii which New Zealand troops - participated, is .given in & letter written * by a member of ihe Wellington Infan- | try. The Avrite'r says that' the Noav Zear 1 landers, Who left Bethlehem on Febru- * ary 17, .. camped that night at- Obeid'. 1 Next day they received oraers to move off at 6.30 that, night to support the 1 London Scottish, who Avere to attack * a very strong Turkish position at dayL light the following morning. Tlie Lon- * don Scottish .arrived before the Turkf ish position at 5.30, but, after firing [ 'about six shells from a mountain battery and firing a few shots from the rifles, j tho enemv evacuated the position. ; The ; New Zealanders remained in their posi- „ tions expecting an attack at any '■ moment. ' ' "At 3.30 p.m.," the letter proceeds, * "we moved off on foot, leaving one man with every four horses. The previous j evening the Canterbury and Auckland £ Regiments and 1 the Ist Australian Light 3 Horse had arrived, and Avere stationed about si?:, miles nearer. Jerusalem. They 2, had- instructions' to join u^yiat 4 a.m., Jt when we were to make an attack on 1 a strong Turkish position, on a high--5 ridge. Wo arrived tlie- position j just beforo daylight and split up into small parties, to attack from (Jifferent , t positions. The No\ 2. Troop, 2nd Squadb ron — of which I ain one— under Lieut. .' "Ricketts. advanced on a steep ridge, and Xoun'd Avhen we got to the top that _ jtlio Turks had gone. It Avas now dayq light, aiid after a. short rest Ave moved 1 off again, and) at 7 a.m. came up to the enemy, .who. Avero entrenched' on a i high ridge, Avith machine guns and yr rifles. "Unfortunately the Canterbury, Auck--1 land 1 and Australian troops had missed t their way on the rough range's aiid' liad 3 not arrived, so tho attack Avas left to a the Wellington Mounted Rifles. We got i* into very heavy fire, and' had to take 3 cover, ; as thero Avas about 500yds. of flat in frpnt of the position, and it Avas 1 impossible ifo niake a frontal attack li without assistance from the other regif ments or artillery. This was at eight 3 o'clock^ and Ave kept quiet until mid--1 day, .wjhen the other troops arrived- )' and' the' Turks immediately retired along the ridge.7- We had five men ' Avoundedl The Turks suffered more severely. , The other boys no\v. brought up the led horses and we pushed on -about, two miles, audi had a l*es£ behind a ridge .* .which the Tommies 'had captured' earlier, , in'the day. ' Z. '•'This Avas at Muutal, and, avo were now in position to support the Scotjsh * on the right flank. They had also ' pushed on Borne' distance. They attacked '. the Turkish position in tho •afternoon', and it Avas a sight to see. In ono of their previous engagements they had to retire, leaving some of their wounded, and the Turks had' stripped their clothes off them, and the Scottish hadn't forgotten it. Their artillery kept up a constant tiro on the position, and so prevented! the enemy from using his rifle fire, 'and the Scotish charged up the face of the hill and got right on to them. The Turk cannot stand the bayo- ; net, and . at opce held up his hands, but the Scottish, remembering how their mates' had been treated, took no 'pris-. { oners. At 5 p.m. we were ordered to .unsaddle, arid the horses must liave felt relieved, as they had not had their saddles off for three .days and tAvo ■nights. I "had a couple of hours' sleep also, Avhich was the first I had had for three nights. "We were all saddled and ready to move off at four o'clock next morning. < February 21, but it Avas six o'clock be : : gore pur outposts ', '"reported all clear, so at 6.30 wo pushed on again in pursuit 7 of the Turk, avliq Avas going fpr his life. At 9.15 a.m., we arrived in the " Jordan Valley, at the end of the Dead j Sea, about two miles from Jericho. The Ist Australian Light .Horse .and the \ Canterbury Regiment had been sent on before" us, and had entered Jericho at 5.30 a.m. Avith' very little opposition. At ] 1.30 Ave put down our horse lines and , put up our 'bivvies' in preparation for ) a night's rest, Avhich Ave badly needed, j In the meantime the Turk, had 1 retreated | across^ the' Jordan river,- "uijfy was ' amus- , ing himself by sending a f eAv shells \ across our Avay, but he hadn't got the range, so avo didn't take any notice of them. As soon as AV"e'had tea, I went to bed and had a good sleep."