by Sir Harry Chauvel
As A.J. Hill, Sir Harry’s biographer noted, he “wrote no book, he had a contempt for showmanship and, as a field commander, gave too little thought to what is now called public relations; it could have been said of him as Kipling said of Lord Roberts ‘….he does not advertise’” (Chauvel of the Light Horse, 1987, p.xx). But he did write something about many units of the light horse and the men who served in them. At the conclusion of the war, Sir Harry was approached by a number of Light Horse units to write the Forewords to their histories.
These Forewords are gathered together here for the first time to illustrate the admiration and affection he had for the Light Horse units and those who served within them – those who were so instrumental in his operations in that theatre of the war. The benefit of the World Wide Web provides us with the opportunity to link some parts of Sir Harry’s texts to visuals of some of the people and the things to which he refers.
Foreword: History of the Desert Mounted Corps
It gives me great pleasure to write a few words of introduction to Lieut. Col. Preston’s History of the Desert Mounted Corps, which I had the honour to command. In writing this History Lieut. Col. Preston has done a service to his country which I am sure will be fully appreciated, particularly, perhaps, by those who served in the Corps, and who feel that the part they played in the Great War is but little known to the general public. As a work on Cavalry Tactics, I trust it will be of some value to the student of Military History, and, if it does nothing else, it must demonstrate to the world that the horse-soldier is just as valuable in modern warfare as he ever has been in the past. Indeed, the whole of the operations in Palestine and Syria, under General Allenby, were text-book illustrations of the perfect combination of all arms, both in attack and defence, and the last operations in this theatre, which led to the total destruction of the Turkish Arms and the elimination of Germany’s Allies from the War, could not have been undertaken without large masses of Cavalry.
Lieut. Col. Preston is well qualified to undertake the work. First of all in command of one of my finest Horse Batteries, and subsequently as C.R.A. of the Australian Mounted Division, he was often in touch with my Staff, being constantly employed on reconnaissance duties, in which he was peculiarly expert. He served throughout the whole of the operations of which he writes, and had considerable previous experience in the Sinai Campaign, in which the Horse Artillery of the Desert Column played so conspicuous a part.
This History commences with the re-organisation of the British Troops in the Egyptian theatre of the War, on Sir Edmund Allenby taking over command in June 1917. The troops operating East of the Suez Canal had hitherto been known as the ‘ Eastern Force,’ which had been successively commanded by Sir Herbert Lawrence, Sir Charles Dobell and Sir Philip Chetwode, who were again directly under the orders of the Commander-in-Chief in Cairo.
The advanced troops of ‘Eastern Force,’ viz., all the available Cavalry, Horse Artillery and Camel Corps, with from one to two Divisions of Infantry, had been organised into what was called ‘ The Desert Column.’ Sir Edmund Allenby decided to take command of the troops in the Eastern Field himself. The available Infantry was formed into two Army Corps, and the Cavalry of the Desert Column was formed into a Cavalry Corps of three Divisions (subsequently increased to four on the arrival of the Indian Cavalry from France early in 1918). The name of the original Desert Column was preserved as far as possible in the title of the new Cavalry Corps, as most of the troops composing it had fought throughout the Sinai Campaign, and by them much had already been accomplished. The Turk had been driven from the vicinity of the Suez Canal, across the Sinai Desert to the Palestine Border and beyond, and several hard-won battles had been fought. Also, covered by these operations, a railway and pipe line had been constructed, without which, under modern conditions, the further invasion of Palestine could not have been attempted.
The Desert Mounted Corps was composed of Australians, New Zealanders, British Yeomanry, and Territorial Horse Artillery and Indian Cavalry, with French Cavalry added for the last operations; and it says much for the loyalty of all, and the mutual confidence in each other, that the whole worked so harmoniously and efficiently to one end. It will be readily understood, too, that operations of the nature Colonel Preston describes could not have been carried out successfully without a highly efficient staff. I was peculiarly fortunate in the personnel of my staff and also in my Divisional Commanders, two of whom were Indian Cavalry Officers, one a British Cavalry Officer, and the fourth an Officer of the New Zealand Staff Corps.
To a leader or a student of military history the campaign was intensely interesting, but at the same time there were many hardships — intense heat in the summer, with dust and insect pests inconceivable to those who did not go through the campaign, and cold and heavy rains in the winter. The fortitude and endurance of the troops was beyond all praise, but the summer of 1918 spent by the Corps in the Jordan Valley, at about 1200 feet below sea-level, with a temperature varying from 110 to 125 degrees, will not be forgotten by them.
The occupation of this area was essential to the success of General Allenby’s final operations; and everything possible was done to alleviate the conditions — with considerable success, as, though our wastage from malaria and other diseases was heavy, the greater bulk of the cases of malaria were contracted after leaving the areas which had been treated under the supervision of our Medical Staff. Our most serious losses occurred after reaching Damascus, and, on the farther advance to Aleppo, one division was brought to a complete standstill by the ravages of this disease.
Though drawn from such widely different quarters of the Empire, the personnel of the Corps was well fitted for the class of warfare it was called upon to undertake. The horsemen of Australia and New Zealand were accustomed to wide spaces and long days in the saddle, and were full of initiative, self-reliance and determination to overcome every obstacle in their way. The Yeomanry, though not so accustomed to hardships, had behind them the glorious traditions of the British Cavalry, in the annals of which their charges at Huj and El Mughar will live for all time. The Horse Artillery too, drawn from the Counties of England and Scotland and the City of London, lived through the whole of the campaigns in Sinai and Palestine with their comrades from overseas, and showed themselves no whit behind-hand in the matter of endurance. The value of their work is best shown by the esteem in which they were held by the other troops. The long apprenticeship of the Indian Cavalry to the trench warfare of the Western Front had robbed them of none of their dash and brilliancy in the open warfare to which they were so eminently fitted. The personnel of the Signal Service, Engineers, Army Service Corps, Army Ordnance Corps, Army Medical Corps, and Army Veterinary Corps came from the same sources as the other troops — units often being composed of mixed personnel — and to the efficiency of these the successes attained by the Corps were very largely due.
HARRY CHAUVEL,
Lieut.-General,
late Commanding the Desert Mounted Corps
Commonwealth of Australia
Department of Defence
Office of the Inspector-General
September 1920
Post Script
It is interesting to note that when Sir Harry penned this Foreword, he chose to include as many of his combat and combat support assets as possible in his praise, along with their origins. This sentiment is reflected in his efforts to include all in a stele that was placed near the mouth of the Dog River (Nahr al-Kalb) in Lebanon at the conclusion of the campaign. The original inscription had only cited ‘The British Desert Mounted Corps….aided by the Arab Forces of King Hussein’. A J Hill, Sir Harry’s biographer noted that ‘it was 1927 before he found an opportunity of revising the Dog River inscription. He seized it and after three years – three governments being involved – the work was put in hand and completed’ (Chauvel of the Light Horse, 1978, p.193). The finished inscription is:
THE DESERT MOUNTED CORPS
COMPOSED OF
BRITISH, AUSTRALIAN, NEW ZEALAND
AND INDIAN CAVALRY
WITH A FRENCH REGIMENT OF
SPAHIS AND CHASSEURS D’AFRIQUE
AND THE
ARAB FORCES OF KING HUSSEIN
CAPTURED DAMASCUS, HOMS AND ALEPPO
OCTOBER 1918
2nd Light Horse Regiment
Sir Harry’s Foreword to the ‘History of the 2nd Light Horse Regiment’, authored by George Bourne, and published in 1926 by Northern Daily Leader: Tamworth, NSW
It gives me great pleasure to write a few words of introduction to the History of the 2nd Light Horse Regiment during the Great War of 1914-18, more particularly as this Regiment is the direct representative today of the Queensland Mounted Infantry, a Regiment which I joined as a subaltern thirty-six years ago and served with for many years, both in peace and during the South African War.
Under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel R. M. Stodart, the 2nd Light Horse, included in the 1st Light Horse Brigade, came under my command in the late war in Maadi, Egypt, in December, 1914, and, except for a few months when I commanded an Infantry Division, it served under my command during the whole war.
The reputation gained by the Queensland Mounted Infantry on the fields of Sunnyside, Kimberley, Paardeberg and Diamond Hill was more than maintained by the 2nd Light Horse during the Great War, whether charging from Quinn’s Post, fighting a rear-guard action at Romani, attacking at Magdhaba or holding at all costs its surrounded positions at Abu Tellul.
On Gallipoli it fell to its lot immediately on arrival to hold the most difficult part of the whole Anzac line, at Quinn’s Post, and finally to attack from that Post during the Battle of Sari Bair, an attack which I think has few parallels in history. Later, under Lieutenant-Colonel (now Major-General Sir William) Glasgow, it took part in all subsequent operations at Anzac.
Under Lieutenant-Colonel G. H. Bourne, the Regiment took a prominent part in all the successful operations in Sinai and Palestine. At Romani it was undoubtedly the stubborn resistance of the Regiments of the 1st Light Horse Brigade (the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Light Horse) against the Turkish attack during night of the 3rd/4th August, 1916, and their skilful delaying action on the morning of the 4th which won the Battle, thereby changing the whole phase of that campaign from an offensive to a defensive one, which culminated in the conquest of Syria and the elimination of Germany’s allies from the War.
In the Jordan Valley early in the summer of 1918, the Regiment bore the brunt of two Turkish attacks, at Ghoranieh, and Abu Tellul. In the latter action, the gallant resistance of its posts, surrounded on all sides as they were by the enemy, together with the spirited counter-attack of the 1st Light Horse Regiment, saved what might easily have been a very serious situation on the right of our lines.
I commend this History to the people of Australia and particularly to those of Queensland, whose horsemen the members of the Regiment were so typical.
HARRY CHAUVEL
Lieutenant-General
late Commanding the Desert Mounted Corps
Melbourne
17th November, 1926
5th Light Horse Regiment
Sir Harry’s Foreword to the ‘History of the 5th Light Horse Regiment’, authored by Brigadier Lachlan Wilson and Captain Henry Wetherell, and published in 1926 by Motor Press: Sydney
In writing a few words of introduction to the History of the 5th Light Horse Regiment in the Great War of 1914-18, I am more or less introducing my own people, as this Regiment was raised from representatives of my original Regiment, the Upper Clarence Light Horse (later the Northern River Lancers), and from the Queensland Mounted Infantry, a Regiment in which I served for many years.
The 5th Light Horse came under my command on Gallipoli in May, 1915, immediately after its arrival on the Peninsula, when it was attached to my section of the Anzac Defences as reinforcements during a Turkish Attack on the trenches held by the 1st Light Horse Brigade and the 4th Australian Infantry Brigade. It was then commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Hubert Harris, an old friend and comrade of many years in the Queensland Mounted Infantry, who lost his life shortly afterwards. Again, in November, 1915, as a component part of the 2nd Light Horse Brigade, which was attached to the 1st Australian Division, the Regiment came under my command, and with the exception of a short break during the reorganisation of the Australian and New Zealand Forces in Egypt after the evacuation Gallipoli, continued to serve with me until the conclusion of the War.
Its service on Gallipoli is recorded on the maps of Anzac in “Harris Ridge”, ”Wilson’s Lookout”, and “Chatham’s Post”.
Under the able leadership of Lieutenant-Colonel (now Brigadier General) L. C. Wilson, the Regiment joined the Australian and New Zealand Mounted Division (commonly known as the Anzac Mounted Division) at Serapeum on the 16th March, 1916. It was the first Australian Regiment to cross the Suez Canal in the great advance which ended in the out-skirts of Asia Minor, and it took a prominent part in the triumphs and shared the hardships of the Anzac Mounted Division from the Battle of Romani, in August, 1916, to the dramatic collapse, at Ziza, in September, 1918, of the Turkish Forces which had been operating against the Arabs south of the Dead Sea, when, under the command of LieutenantColonel Donald Cameron (who succeeded General Wilson on the 30th October, 1917 and led the Regiment with conspicuous success from the Battle of Beersheba onwards), it had the unique experience of joining hands with our late enemies in protecting the latter from our allies.
Commanded as it was, in succession, by three old comrades of the South African War, officered also largely by men with experience in South Africa, and composed of men from districts I know so well, I expected much of the 5th Light Horse, and l am very proud of its achievements. I wish its members every success in the future.
HARRY CHAUVEL
Lieutenant-General
Late commanding the Desert Mounted Corps
Army Headquarters.
Melbourne,
February 24th, 1926
7th Light Horse Regiment
Sir Harry’s Foreword to the ‘History of the 7th Light Horse Regiment’, authored by Lieut-Colonel J. D. Richardson D.S.O., and published in 1919 by Radcliffe Press: Sydney
I have been greatly honoured by being asked to write a few words introduction to the History of the 7th Australian Light Horse Regiment.
Raised in New South Wales in 1914, the Regiment was early in the field, and took a prominent part in all the important operations in the Egyptian Theatre of the War. It first came under my command on Gallipoli in November, 1915, and continued therein until the conclusion of the War. At the Battle of Romani, it was largely due to its stubborn defence and spirited counter-attack under the leadership of Lieut. Colonel (now Brigadier-General) G. Macarthur Onslow that the victory was so complete. At the first Battle of Gaza, it was this Regiment that led the Anzac Mounted Division through the night to its position in rear of the city, and which captured the new Commander of the Gaza Defence,* who was on his way to take up his command.
During the Battle of Beersheba and the pursuit which followed the Regiment sustained the fine traditions it had already established for dash and gallantry. In the raids across Jordan and throughout the long summer of 1918 in the Jordan Valley, it bore its share of the fighting and the hardships, from the bitter cold of Gilead in mid-winter to the scorching heat of Jericho in July. Under Lieut.-Colonel J. D. Richardson it played a brilliant part in the final victory, which destroyed three Turkish Armies and brought Germany’s Allies out of the War.
The Regiment suffered many casualties in battle and through the ravages of disease, and those of its numbers who are left are scattered throughout Australia, though many are still serving in the Militia Forces. I congratulate them all on their achievements during the War, and wish them every success in whatever spheres of Iife they are now engaged in.
Harry Chauvel
Lieut.-General
Late Commanding Desert Mounted Corps
* see Gullett, Vol. VII, Ch. XVII, p.268-269 for recounting.
9th Light Horse Regiment
Sir Harry’s Foreword to the 9th Light Horse History: ‘With the Ninth Light Horse in the Great War’, authored by: Major Thomas Darley in 1924 and published by Hassell Press in Adelaide.
I have been greatly honoured by being asked to write an introduction to the History of the 9th Australian Light Horse Regiment, which was included in my Command during the Great War of 1914-1918, from the 16th March, 1916, to the conclusion of the War. The great traditions which it had already established on Gallipoli were more than sustained in the Egyptian Theatre of the War. Very early in 1916, the Regiment, under Lieut.Colonel W. H. Scott, C.M.G., D.S.O., provided the greater bulk of the Force which took part in the Jif-Jaffa Raid. This raid was of importance as it was the first demonstration of a swift and successful blow by Lighthorsemen across many miles of waterless desert. The Regiment has also the unique distinction of being the proud possessor of the only Regimental Flag captured from the enemy during the whole campaign. From the Battle of Romani to the Capture of Damascus, the Regiment always bore its share of the fighting, hardships, and sacrifices, whether the piece was set in the Desert of Sinai, the cold and wet of the Judean Hills in mid-winter, the scorching heat of the Jordan Valley, or the fertile plains of Syria. No words of mine can do adequate justice to the skill, courage, and determination of the officers and men of the 9th Australian Light Horse Regiment, and it is always with pride that I look back on my long association with them in the stirring days of the E.E.F. Campaign.
HARRY CHAUVEL
Late Commanding
The Desert Mounted Corps.
Army Headquarters,
Melbourne, December 4, 1923.
10th Light Horse Regiment
Sir Harry’s Foreword to ‘Westralian Cavalry in the War’, authored by Arthur Olden and published in 1921 by Alexander McCubbin: Melbourne.
It gives me great pleasure to write a few words of introduction to Lieut.-Colonel Olden‘s History of the 10th Light Horse, a Regiment for which I have the greatest admiration and regard.
Drawn from our most typical class, the horsemen of the Australian Bush, this Regiment, after distinguished service on Gallipoli, where it took a prominent part, as Infantry, in one of the hardest fought battles of that historic campaign, early demonstrated its efficiency and peculiar suitability to the conditions of desert warfare and established a standard which it maintained to the termination of the Great War.
Under the skilled and gallant leadership of the late Lieut.-Colonel Todd – from the elimination of the enemy’s water supply in the Wadi Mukhsheib to the capture of Damascus – it responded to every call, no matter how arduous and difficult the task. To this Regiment fell the honour of being amongst the first Allied Troops to enter Jerusalem on the 9th December, 1917, and of being actually the first to enter Damascus on the 1st October, 1918, a record of which any Regiment would be justly proud.
This book should not only be of great value to military students and to those who served with Lieut.-Colonel Olden, but it should be of great interest to the General Public, as it gives a graphic description of the whole campaign in which the Egyptian Expeditionary Force was engaged, a campaign of which, though so full of historic interest, so little is yet known.
Lieut.-Colonel Olden is well qualified to undertake the work, as, joining the Regiment on its inception, he served with it throughout the War, and, though twice wounded, was never long away from duty. He temporarily commanded it during the absence (wounded) of Colonel Todd on more than one occasion (notably during the 2nd Battle of Gaza), and finally succeeded to the command after the death of Colonel Todd. He has modestly omitted his own name from the text, but he was present at all the operations of which he writes, and was the officer who took the surrender of Damascus from the Emir Said on the early morning of 1st October, 1918. To his energy and initiative the Regiment owes much of its success. When the insurrection suddenly broke out in Egypt, in March, 1919, Lieut.-Colonel Olden was sent out hurriedly to one of the worst centres of the disturbance, in command of a mixed force of Australians, composed entirely of volunteers from convalescents at the hospitals waiting shipment to Australia. It was largely owing to his prompt and energetic leadership that a considerable amount of valuable property was saved and the insurrection quelled in that area.
He pays a generous tribute to his late commander, Lieut.-Colonel T.J. Todd, C.M.G., D.S.O., whose loss has been a severe one both to his country and to the Australian Military Forces. A gallant and capable leader – his first thought was always his regiment, which he brought to a state of efficiency which placed it second to none in the Egyptian Expeditionary Force. His regiment owes him much, and I think his country too.
HARRY CHAUVEL
Lieut.-General, late commanding
The Desert Mounted Corps
Department of Defence
Inspector-General
Army Headquarters
Melbourne, 11th May, 1921
11th Light Horse Regiment
Sir Harry’s Foreword to the ‘History of the 11th Light Horse Regiment’, authored by E.W. Hammond, and published in 1942 by W. Brooks & Co: Brisbane
It gives me great pleasure to write a “Foreword” to the history of the 11th Light Horse Regiment in the War of 1914-1918.
It is a regiment for which I have the greatest regard and affection. Not only were a number of its officers and men old friends of mine, but it was largely raised in my old District in Queensland and represents to-day my original Queensland Regiment, the Darling Downs Mounted Infantry which I joined in 1890.
The original Commanding Officer, Lieut -Colonel (afterwards Brigadier-General) W. Grant, C.M.G., D.S.O., served with me for many years, prior to the War, in the old Queensland Mounted Infantry and was a great personal friend up to the day of his death.
My war-time experience of the Regiment commenced on Gallipoli in August, 1915, when a squadron under my old friend and comrade of the South African War, Major J. A. Loynes, D.S.O., joined my Brigade to be attached to the 2nd Light Horse Regiment. The squadron remained with the Brigade until the evacuation, and took part in all the vicissitudes of trench warfare incidental to that campaign.
I saw little of the Regiment again until a few days after the Battle of Romani, in August, 1916, when it appeared at a very opportune moment on the right flank of the Anzac Mounted Division as part of a Mobile Column under Colonel C. L. Smith, V.C., of the Imperial Camel Corps, to cut off the retreat of the enemy and help to remove, for the time being at any rate, the threat to the Suez Canal.
It was employed then in, more or less, independent operations in the Sinai Desert until the formation of the Imperial (afterwards “Australian”) Mounted Division In March, 1917, under Major-General H. W. Hodgson, C.V.O., C.B. The Imperial Mounted Division consisted of two Yeomanry Brigades (the 5th and 6th Mounted Brigades) and two Australian Brigades (the 3rd and 4th Light Horse Brigades. The 4th Brigade (11th, 12th and 4th L.H. Regiments) had been re-formed for this purpose under Brigadier-General J. B. Meredith, D.S.O., who had commanded the 1st Light Horse Brigade at Romani. The 4th L.H. joined its Division on the 15th April at Deir-el-Belah, just prior to the 2nd Battle of Gaza, in which it distinguished itself (the part played by the 11th Light Horse is well described in this history).
After the 2nd Battle of Gaza the Regiment came actually under my command for the first time and remained therein until April, 1919. It took a prominent part in all the operations of the Desert Mounted Corps, from Beersheba to Homs, and particularly distinguished itself at Beersheba, Sheria, Um-es-Shert (in the Jordan Valley) and Semakh. This last brilliant little fight, with the capture of Tiberias which followed, concluded the Battle of Megiddo and left the way open for the advance on and capture of Damascus.
During its period under my command the Regiment responded gallantly to every call, and I am proud of my connection with it.
I congratulate all who were concerned with the compilation of this History, and particularly the Regimental Historian, Sergeant E.W. Hammond, who enlisted originally on 8th August, 1914, for service in the Islands, and, when that was completed, joined the 11th Light Horse, with which he served throughout the rest of the War.
HARRY CHAUVEL
27th March, 1942
Melbourne
With the Cameliers in Palestine
Introduction: With the Cameliers in Palestine
Major Robertson is doing a great service to his old comrades in publishing this History of the New Zealand Companies of the Camel Corps. In New Zealand as in Australia, it is only natural that more interest has been shown in the Western theatre of the Great War than in the Eastern theatres as the great bulk of their soldiers served in the former. The Palestine campaign is consequently little known in these countries. Nevertheless, that campaign has been more used as a “text book” for the examination of officers in the British Army than any other phase of the Great War. In fact it bids fair to take the place of Stonewall Jackson’s campaign in the Shenandoah Valley which had been used for this purpose for several generations before the Great War. In spite of the fact that no American troops fought in Palestine, Lord Allenby’s campaign is better known in the United States Army, particularly in the cavalry, than it is in Australia and New Zealand whose troops played such an important part in it.
Owing to its extreme mobility and suitability for desert warfare, The Imperial Camel Corps Brigade had many and varied roles to fill, all of which were filled with credit to the brigade and its gallant leader. The map of Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula is better known to its members than to any other troops. In Palestine where there is little desert, the particular value of their camels largely disappeared, but the brigade held its own with the cavalry in the fighting round Beersheba, the pursuit up the Philistine Plain, and the raid on Amman. After their transformation to cavalry, as the 14th and 15th PAGE 8Australian Light Horse Regiments and the 2nd New Zealand Machine Gun Squadron, the Australian and New Zealand “Cameliers” well upheld their traditions in the Battle of Megiddo and the advance on, and capture of, Damascus.
The memory of the Imperial Camel Brigade is being perpetuated in the Australian Army by the 14th and 15th Light Horse Regiments, the motto of the latter (incidentally my own regiment) being “Nomina Desertis Inscripsimus” (“In the Desert we have written our names”), and its crest, the date-palm tree of the Desert Mounted Corps.
I have read this book with much interest and commend it to the people of New Zealand. It gives a short but graphic account of the campaign in Egypt, Palestine and Syria, and contains much interesting information about the Holy Land.
Harry Chauvel,
General,
Late commanding The Desert Mounted Corps.
Melbourne.
The New Zealanders in Sinai and Palestine
Introduction: The New Zealanders in Sinai and Palestine
It was my good fortune, as well as an honour which I appreciate very highly, to have the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade included in my command during the operations in Sinai and Palestine.
I had previously had considerable experience of the horsemen of New Zealand in the South African War and on the Gallipoli Peninsula (as infantrymen) and knew their sterling qualities and what might be expected of them; but when the Anzac Mounted Division was formed early in 1916, the most confirmed optimist could never have conceived the opportunities which would come in their way; opportunities which, with their Australian brothers, they grasped with both hands.
In the early part of the Great War the day of the mounted man appeared to be gone forever, and it remained for the Australian Light Horse and New Zealand Mounted Rifles to demonstrate to the world that the horse soldier was as essential in modern warfare as he had ever been in the past. It was the splendid work of these Australians and New Zealanders in the Sinai Peninsula which, in the first place, turned a defensive campaign into an offensive one and, in the second place, led to the enormous increase in the cavalry in the Egyptian theatre of the War. Without large forces of cavalry, the final operations, which destroyed three Turkish armies and forced Germany’s allies out of the War, could never have been undertaken.
From the Battle of Romani to the Armistice with Turkey the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade took a prominent part in all the operations, under the brilliant leadership of Major-General Sir Edward Chaytor and Brigadier-General W. Meldrum, and I am personally much indebted to these officers and all ranks of the Brigade for much of the successes achieved, first of all by the Anzac Mounted Division and later by the Desert Mounted Corps.
The achievements of the mounted men of New Zealand form a record of which their country and the Empire have every reason to be proud.
Harry Chauvel
Melbourne
Late Commanding the Desert Mounted Corps
Australia in Palestine
Sir Harry’s Foreword to ‘Australia in Palestine’, edited by Henry Gullett and Charles Barrett, published in 1919 by W.C. Penfold & Co.: Sydney, is a collection of stories, images, and poems from various contributors.
“Australia in Palestine” should prove of great interest to the people of Australia, and especially to those whose lives have been spent outside the great cities, for it includes a record of the achievements of their ” very own”—the horsemen of Australia, and of the Flying Corps and the Anzac Section of the Imperial Camel Corps, which were recruited from them, and co-operated with them in the greatest war yet known to history.
The Australian Light Horseman—and under this name I include the Field and Signal Engineers and Medical Services connected with him, who come from the same stock—is of a type peculiarly his own and has no counterpart that I know of except in his New Zealand brother. His fearlessness, initiative and endurance, and his adaptability to almost any task, are due to the adventurous life he leads in his own country, where he has been accustomed to long hours in the saddle, day and night, and to facing danger of all sorts from his earliest youth. Perhaps these qualities are inherited from his pioneer parents. His invariable good humour under the most adverse conditions comes from the good-fellowship and camaraderie which exists in the free and open life of the Australian Bush. His chivalry comes from the same source, and it is one of his strongest points. In other words, the life he has been accustomed to lead has fitted him to become, with training and discipline, second to no cavalry soldier in the world.
As far as Australia is concerned, the Palestine Campaign may be said to have commenced with the crossing of the Suez Canal by the Anzac Mounted Division at Kantara on the 23rd April, 1916, to re-occupy Romani and the western end of the Katia Oasis Area. The mounted troops of Australia and New Zealand had already proved their extraordinary adaptability to circumstances as infantrymen in the hard school of Gallipoli, but it yet remained for them to show their value as cavalry. The occupation of Romani was followed by long and trying marches in the Desert of Sinai, during the hottest summer known in Egypt for many years, after an elusive enemy who did not appear in any force until July, 1916, when he advanced on Romani preparatory to his second attack on the Suez Canal. The disastrous defeat inflicted on the Turkish arms at Romani, and the pursuit which followed, not only demonstrated the inestimable value of the horsemen of Australasia as cavalrymen, but opened the way for the advance to the Eastern Frontier of Egypt which ended the enemy’s menace to Egypt. The systematic advance of the British Force from Romani to the Egyptian Border was covered by Australian and New Zealand horsemen, British Yeomanry and the Imperial Camel Corps, ably assisted by the reconnaissance of the R.F.C. and Australian Flying Corps. The victories of Magdhaba and Rafa completely cleared the enemy from Egyptian territory and opened the way for our advance into Palestine. The operations which began with the capture of Beersheba and concluded with the capture of Damascus and Aleppo, and eventually led to the complete surrender of the Turkish Forces, are dealt with in this volume, and I will say no more of them than that the brilliant part in those operations played by the Australian and New Zealand mounted troops has more than upheld the reputation they established on the battlefield of Romani.
The splendid record of the 1st Squadron of the Australian Flying Corps speaks for itself. It was formed in Egypt and has grown with the campaign to a state of efficiency which places it second to none of the same arm.
The casualties in action in this campaign have been light compared with the results achieved. In a very large measure this was due to the dash of the troops, which saved heavy losses on many occasions; but many brave fellows have given their lives through diseases contracted in areas which the exigencies of the service required to be occupied and fought in.
Before concluding, I would like to say a word for the Medical Services, which have endured the same hardships as the combatant arms, and always performed their duties cheerfully and efficiently under the most adverse conditions.
H.G. Chauvel
The Desert Column
Sir Harry’s Foreword to ‘The Desert Column: leaves from the diary of an Australian trooper in Gallipoli, Sinai, and Palestine’, authored by Ion Idriess and published in 1932 by Angus and Robertson: Sydney
I gladly send a few words of preface to Trooper Idriess’ book on the Campaign in Sinai and Palestine. Not only is it a narrative of personal adventure which is full of interest, but it is, as far as I am aware, the only “soldier’s” book yet written on that campaign. Several books have been written by officers and war-correspondents but in this the campaign is viewed entirely from the private soldier’s point of view. It is of absorbing interest to a leader and should be to the general public.
At the same time there is an accuracy in the descriptions of operations which could only be provided by a singularly observant man. Idriess was, I think, above the average in this respect though I must say that the Australian Light Horseman was generally very quick in summing up a situation for himself. No doubt his early training in the wide spaces of the Australian bush had developed to an extraordinary degree his individuality, self-reliance and power of observation, and the particularly mobile style of fighting he was called upon to take part in suited him and brought out his special qualities far more than any trench warfare would have done. In addition to giving a vivid description of the campaign as he saw it, Trooper Idriess also shows the interest that was taken in the Holy Land and its previous history. I think that this was not peculiar to the Australians but was common to all British troops thanks very largely to the padres of all denominations who, intensely interested themselves, made it their business to interest others by lectures and personally conducted tours, etc.
I would commend this book to leaders who took part in the theatre of war with which it deals and also to the general public.
General Sir Harry Chauvel, C.C.M.G, K.C.B.
Commander Desert Mounted Corps