by Peter Haydon
Part 10 – The Charge of Beersheba “The Most Famous Calvary Charge in History”
It was the 31 October 1917. They waited and waited in the wadi. The light was waning and the horses had not had water for 36 hours.
There seemed only one alternative. That was to capture the wells at Beersheba or perish. The order came through “Mount Up”, they had to capture the wells at “All Cost”. Five minutes later, the 4th on the right and 12th on the left, Australian Light Horse Regiments were on their way. 800 riders charged across the open ground. As they came to the trenches the whole of the 4th Regiment dismounted continuing the fight on foot while members of the 12th swept on into the town.
Guy gave this following account of the charge in his letter to his family back at Bloomfield:
“You will know from my Cable that I am in Hospital here with a rather nice wound, a bullet about 2 inches to the left of the crupper bone. I will try and give you an account of exactly what happened from the start of operations until I was knocked out.
We left our Camp at Tel-al-fare on the night of the 29th at 5 p.m. and marched to a place called Essani reaching there about 11 p.m. and camped there the night and all next day. About 3 p.m. an enemy Plane came along but was driven off by our planes. At 5 p.m. we moved off again and marched to Khalassa reaching there at 10.30 p.m. and camped. At 2 p.m. the following day the enemy plane again endeavoured to fly over our lines but was attacked by two of our Bristol Fighters and much to our satisfaction they succeeded in shooting her down with their machine guns.
At 5 p.m. we were off again and marched all night and on until 9 a.m. next day when we halted in some broken country 4 ½ miles east of Beersheba. The previous instructions were that the mounted troops were to attack Beer-sheeba at 10 a.m. and we all quite expected to do so as the infantry were due to attack on the other portions of their line at that time, but 10 a.m. came and went and nothing doing, everyone wondered what could have gone wrong. Had the Infantry failed or had the attack only been postponed for a few hours.
Our Brigade was in reserve and we knew that if any hot job happened along, we would get it. At 4 p.m. orders came to mount and we marched along to within 3 miles of the town until we could go no further without being in full view, then we got the shock of our lives, the order came back “All pack horses, excepting Hotchkiss rifle packs, fall out and remain behind”.
Then followed a few moments later the order,
“The I2th. & 4th. L.H. Regiments will charge Beersheeba on Horseback, the town is to be taken at all costs” and five minutes later we were on the way.
We trotted for the first 2 miles then the Turks opened fire on us from a line of redoubts about half a mile out from the town and we could hardly hear anything for the noise of their rifles and machine guns. As soon as their fire started we galloped, and you never heard such awful war yells as our boys let out, they never hesitated or faulted for a moment, it was grand.
Every now and again a rider would roll off or a horse fall shot but the line swept on. As we neared their trenches, our men were falling thicker and thicker and the pace became faster. 30 yards from their trenches were some old rifle pits and as soon as my eye lit on them I wheeled my horse round and yelled to the nearest men to jump off, let their horses go and get into the pits and open fire. Just previously I had seen Major Fetherstonhaugh’s Horse go down killed, the Major get up and run for cover only to fall again shot through both legs. A few seconds afterwards a bullet hit me high up in the left buttock, just under the belt, lifting me clear off my horse and dropping me sprawling on a heap of dirt that had been thrown out of a rifle pit, and I rolled down into the pit and into safety.
But all this time, really only a few seconds, the charge went on, men raced their horses through and over the trenches and while some of us were still engaged in hand-to-hand fighting in the trenches, the remainder had charged through the town and went on to the high ground a mile beyond. The town was ours.
It is impossible to describe the charge, I was talking to a British Cavalry Officer in Hospital who had arrived 3 days previously from France, he went to France with the first batch of English Cavalry and had been there ever since, and he said “I have seen every action in which the British Cavalry have taken part, but the charge of the L.H. at Beersheeba yesterday, is the finest thing that I have ever seen mounted troops do.” Our Brigadier received a wire from the G.O.C. congratulating him on the brilliant work his Brigade had done.
It is impossible to describe one’s feelings, but for myself although it is the heaviest fire I have been under, I never felt less afraid, and I was terribly disappointed in being shot before reaching the town.
We took 2,000 Prisoners and their trenches were full of dead. Two Regiments of the first Brigade also had a charge, but they were further round on our right and we didn’t see them, anyway we had the town before they got there. I will give you my experiences from the time I was hit until my arrival here.
I lay in the hole for about 2 hours listening to poor devils groaning all round me, and then an M.O arrived with a lantern and some sandcarts, he planked the lamp down near me and the stretcher bearers brought in the wounded from all points of the compass to be dressed, after being dressed the worst cases were loaded into carts and sent off to the Ambulance, 4 of the poor chaps died there within a yard or two of me, but it did not worry me, I had got past worrying.
At last there was only myself and 1 man left and we had to lie there all night. One of the boys got me a blanket off a dead horse but it was terribly cold, and I shivered all night long and in the morning my wound was so stiff that I couldn’t move. About 7 a.m. a sandcart arrived and I was taken to the Field Ambulance where my wound was carefully dressed, then, we went per car to Beersheba then on to the rail head to a big casualty clearing station, where we spent the night. At 9 a.m. we were loaded onto the Hospital Train and reached El-Arish about 2.30 p.m. that afternoon. We spent the night there and left the next day at 12 a.m. for Kantara which we reached about dusk. The next day at about 11 a.m. we boarded the train for Cairo and finally reached the 14th A.G.H. (The best spot on this side of the water). At 4 p.m. today I was X rayed and the bullet was located about half way up my back and about an inch to the left of my spine, it must have hit a bone and turned at right angles, otherwise it must have gone right through my belly a wonderful streak of luck, am not suffering much pain and don’t know when they will operate on me, but hope it will be soon as I don’t want to be stuck in here any longer than I can help.
I can’t get any correct estimate of the killed and wounded in the 12th yet but may hear in time to put it in this letter yet.
LATER. Was operated on the day before yesterday and bullet removed, am sending you the bullet for a Christmas Present by the same Officer who takes this letter. Am having very little trouble with my wound except at night when it aches a lot, but it is nothing to what some of the poor devils have to suffer. Poor old Nearguard was killed, I was awfully sorry about him, he was such a good Soldier, absolutely fearless. Roy Whiteman and Maclean both have commissions. Roy did splendidly, so well in fact that he was paraded to the Divisional General Hodson and actually promoted on the field of battle. Major Fetherstonehaugh got a D.S.O. He is the bed opposite me. His wife nearly went mad when she heard about it. As far as can gather, there, there must have been about 27 12th L.H. killed in the charge and about 15 wounded. A very high percentage of Killed.”
Guy later told his brother Barney that after he was knocked off his horse she came back and stood over him. He was worried she would get shot again so he a grabbed handful of dirt and threw it at her to get her to move out of the gunfire.
During the clean up after the battle, the Australians were amazed to find the sights on the Turkish rifles were still set at long distances. They had not dropped back their sights as the Australians got closer. The orders to wind down their sights could not keep up with the speed of the galloping horses. It meant the speed of the attack had got the Australians under the enemy fire. The bullets were landing behind them. The speed of the courageous, galloping horses had won the day. In Guy’s words “they never hesitated or faulted for a moment, it was grand”.
In the Haydon Archives is a letter written by Captain Jack Davies of the 12th Light Horse to his brother. He carried a sword was one of the first to enter the town. He describes how he was so lucky to be on the extreme left flank of the charge…..
“Providence guided me that day and I rode into the town as if I knew all the roads leading into it……I’ve seen some surprised people, but those Turks were certainly not expecting us, not just then……they got out in such a hurry that though they had the wells and the Railway Station and the approaches to the town mined, they forgot to let them off, or when they tried and they failed to explode properly they did not try again.”
He continues:
“I counted my little lot of prisoners and sent them away under escort (it was a beautiful moonlight night and I counted them like a lot of sheep with Marnie and Haft keeping tally. 647 and 38 officers was the number as well as I remember the odd figures – the other right (4th Light Horse got 350 odd more and we collected about 30 strays during the night)……He mentions the commendations…..Colonel Cameron (long on from Rouchel) got a D.S.O, Featherstonhaugh and Hyman a D.S.O each. Robey and myself an M.C, three D.C.M.s and 5 MM’s. Grant our Brigadier got a bar to his D.S.O. Bouchier of the 4th a D.S.O., one of his Majors a D.S.O. and two Captains M.C,s 2 D.C.M.s and 4 Military medals. Not bad going for an hour’s job, more especially as Allenby personally gave Grant his bar next day and gave his orders for the immediate decoration of us other lessor lights. They were all though inside four days i.e. by the 5th November. I was jolly pleased that Featherstonhaugh got a D.S.O., because he thoroughly deserved a recognition for the splendid cool way he deployed the Squadron in action, when his horse was wounded the first thing he did was shoot his horse out of pain, shortly after he was hit through both legs…he’s a great old bird….when General Hodgen was giving out the ribbons he made a general speech to us all. When he came along to me he said “Captain Davies has done excellent work. I hope soon to have the pleasure of pinning a D.S.O. along side that.” And he tapped the M.C. he had just put on. Well I don’t mind taking one you know, but I am not anxious to be winning one again.”
Part 11 – The Bullet
The bullet is still in the Archive Room at Bloomfield after Guy sent it home to his parents as a Christmas present. It is still in its Queen Mary Christmas container. It was a memento of his close shave with death.
When examined the point of the bullet is still sharp and intact as if it had not hit any solid object on its way through. It passed through Midnight’s stomach killing her. It then passed through the back of the saddle, and then the saddle roll, through Guy’s left buttocks lodging in the flesh next to his spine. Another inch and he would not have made it. The mare had saved his life absorbing the initial point-blank shock of the bullet.
Guy was left lying in agony in the pit with the bullet wound in his back. There was carnage all round him. Four of his mates died right next to him. He humbly accounts that there were others worse off than him, given the groans of agony he could hear. His beloved mare was lying dead just near the pit. It was a long freezing painful night. The longest in his life.
Major Featherstonehaugh writes “ Guy would not allow them to take him in that night as there were others he considered worse cases than him, so he stayed out all night………you will all be very proud of your gallant, self-sacrificing son. God bless him for staying out all night so that other cases could be attended to…….he deserves a decoration.”
On the fifth night Guy finally arrived at the hospital in Cairo. This was after travelling by car to the casualty clearing station at Beersheba. They had captured the train so they were then transported by rail to El Arish, then to Kantara, finally getting the train to Cairo.
In Cairo, they operated to remove the bullet. They were surprised to find the point of the bullet was still sharp and intact. It had not hit anything hard to blunten the point. The bullet had lodged just a hairs distance from his spine. It was fortunate that it was the early days of X-rays and they could locate the bullet and remove it. A fraction further and he would have died along with his gallant mare. She had miraculously saved his life but his war was over.
Three days after removing the bullet they had to operate again to drain the septic wound and insert a tube to drain the puss out. This was before antibiotics were available to stop the infection. He had very high temperatures above 103 and was in a very serious condition for another two days fighting for his life. The cut in his back was 6” long and 2 ½” deep. Another was 3” deep and 2 ½” deep and would take a long time to heal, requiring six weeks in bed.
He was sent back to Sydney for further treatment arriving on 31 January 1918 three months after the charge. Infections would be a problem for the rest of his life, he had a hole in his back you could fit a fist in.
Three days after removing the bullet they had to operate again to drain the septic wound and insert a tube to drain the puss out. This was before antibiotics were available to stop the infection. He had very high temperatures above 103 and was in a very serious condition for another two days fighting for his life. The cut in his back was 6” long and 2 ½” deep. Another was 3” deep and 2 ½” deep and would take a long time to heal, requiring six weeks in bed.
He was sent back to Sydney for further treatment arriving on 31 January 1918 three months after the charge. Infections would be a problem for the rest of his life, he had a hole in his back you could fit a fist in.
General Allenby addressed the troops a few days later with these memorable words:
“You did something that teachers of military history say could not be done. You galloped over strongly defended positions and demoralised the enemy. He’s finished. His cavalry will never face you again. You have put new life into my army and you rank with the finest cavalry the British Army has ever had”
The Water of the Wells
Emu Plumes on a felt slouch hat and a rifle ‘cross their back
Eight hundred Aussie horsemen, many learnt to ride outback.
They swept towards the Turkish lines across the Sinai sand
To Beersheba, where the Turkish troops did elect to make their stand.
It was the secret to this desert war, the only water to be found
And five thousand British troops had failed to take the town.
These Australian Light horsemen had a commander named Chauvel
Whose orders were impossible, they were, to take the well.
Six thousand yards to the Turkish line must these gallant horsemen ride
At full gallop they must go till they reach the Turkish side.
Artillery shells flew overhead, as across the sand they raced
Not fast enough were the Turkish guns to check their lightning pace.
As they cleared the Turkish trenches, machine gun bullets filled the air
But they sped on to Beersheba with the Turks now in despair.
With bayonets drawn, they charged the town, they were a fearsome sight
But they had fulfilled their orders, they took the town by night.
And forty gallant horsemen paid the ultimate price to see
The fulfilment of God’s prophecy, to set Jerusalem free.
By Warren Eggleton, July 1998
Above and below: Buildings at Beersheba including the railway station and bakehouse
Above: Barney’s Christmas Card he sent home
Right: Abraham’s well as it is today in Beersheba
Part 12 – The Road to Damascus
The Australian Walers were the envy of the entire cavalry world.
An account by an English cavalryman paid this tribute to them:
“They had covered 170 miles since the 29th October and the horses had been watered on an average of once in every 36 hours, the heat had been intense, their ration was 9 1/2 lbs of grain per day without any bulk food. Indeed the hardships endured by these horses were almost incredible. On one occasion they had only had water three times in nine days, at intervals of 68, 72 and 76 hours respectively. They carried on average 12 stone of soldier, another 9 1/2 stone for the saddle, ammunition, sword, rifle and clothes, totalling 21 stone. They carried this all day every day for 17 days, on half rations and only one drink in every 36 hours. It is no doubt these Australian horses make the finest cavalry mounts in the world”.
Ion Idriess was there and witnessed the charge giving this firsthand account in his book the “The Desert Column”:
“All the Turkish guns around Beersheba must have been directed at them. Captured Turkish and German Officers have told us that even they never dreamed that mounted troops would be madmen enough to attempt rushing infantry redoubts protected by machine guns and artillery. At a mile distant their thousand hooves were stuttering thunder, coming at a rate that frightened a man—they were an awe-inspiring sight—horse after horse crashed, but the massed squadrons thundered on—a heart-throbbing sight—the horses leaping the redoubt trenches as the Turks thrust up at their bellies—whirlwind of movements—dense dust as troops poured into the town…….Beersheba had fallen”.
The battle had been won by the ferocity and courage of the Australians. Often termed “insanely courageous”. It had weakened the Turkish defences so they could push onwards to take Gaza. The Australians then rode onto Bethlehem where they watered their horses at Solomon’s Pools. Their reputation now preceded them as a fearless fighting force. They rode through Jerusalem and the Jordon Valley as the Turks retreated, which become to be known as “The Great Ride”.
Barney had a lot of close shaves but luck seemed always on his side. One of the closest was when he was looking through a metal hole out from a trench. He turned away to speak to someone just as a bullet flew through the hole. His number was not up yet. He often wrote on the top of his letters home “The Promised Land” or “Dinkum Desert” and always maintained the sense of humour he was known for.
The Light Horse pushed onto Damascus being the first to enter and capture the city. Apparently, this honour was to be bestowed upon Lawrence of Arabia to triumphantly claim the city but the Arabs held back until it had been firstly secured by the Australian Light Horse. As they rode past the Hall of Government, Major Olden dismounted, entered the hall and received the official surrender of Damascus from the Governor on behalf of the British Army.
They were the “First to Damascus”.
As it turned out the decision to hand Damascus over to the Arabs was an unmitigated disaster with looting and their inability to operate things like the hospital, water and with all other infrastructure failing to function.
They had pushed the Turks right back to near their border when the war ended on 31 October 1918 exactly one year after their Beersheba charge. They had reached Homs and there was now no need to continue onto Aleppo.
They had saved the Suez Canal and had overseen the defeat of the Ottoman Empire. The boundaries were redrawn and the modern state of Israel formed. All such significant events in historical terms.
Part 13 – The Last Ride
Barney and Max tired, battle weary and with exhausted horses were glad to hear the news of the armistice. The war was won and over. Polo and Fred were there at the start and they were there at the end, a remarkable achievement. They had the unique distinction of completing the entire Desert Campaign. The Tester genes had done them proud.
The official Government policy was that their horses could not return with them back to Australia and were to be sold to the local people. The horses had to be handed into the Remount Depot. The soldiers had witnessed firsthand the ill-treatment of horses throughout their long journeys in this harsh foreign land and there was no way they would leave their beloved animals to be subjected to such a life.
They took an unofficial “one last ride” with their horse, returning back to the depot with only their saddle and bridle to hand back in. It was one of the toughest things they had to do. To say goodbye to their horse with tears in their eyes and a pistol in their hand.
The poem “The Horses Stayed Behind” epitomises the men’s feelings:
“ I don’t think I could stand the thought of my old fancy hack,
Just crawling round old Cairo with a Gypo on his back…..
No, I think I’d better shoot him and tell a little lie,
He floundered in a wombat hole and then lay down to die,
Maybe I’ll get court-martialled, but I’m dammed if I’m inclined
To go back to Australia and leave my horse behind.”
Many others had expressed their views and the war was well documented with soldiers keeping diaries, including that of one trooper Ion Idriess. Banjo Patterson at 51 years of age joined the remount unit in charge of training the horses and kept his writing going throughout the campaign.
Max collected a piece of Fred’s tail and put it in his bedroll. When he finally returned home he mounted the switch of hair with leather on a short piece of cane and presented it to his long time friend and neighbour Fred Haydon, in memory of his courageous horse by Tester. Max Wright had a distinguished war. He was Mentioned in Dispatches by General Allenby on 16 January 1918, awarded the Order of the Nile on 28 February 1918 and the Military Cross on 3 June 1919.
Barney now war hardened was very upset to take his last ride on Polo. They thought they would proudly ride their beloved horses down the main streets of their home towns when welcomed home. However, this was not to be and they felt badly betrayed.
After the Turks surrendered he then went with the 12th Light Horse when they were called back to operational duty to quell the Egyptian revolt, which was restored in little over a month. On 19 July 1919 he returned to Australia with his brother in law Cyril Regg.
Together Fred and Polo, these two geldings by Tester and bred at Bloomfield, had survived the entire Middle East campaign. An incredible achievement.
Of the 136,000 horses taken over only one came home. Major General Sir William Bridges was killed at Gallipoli and his horse Sandy, after three months of quarantine in England was shipped back to Australia. He saw out the rest of his days grazing at the Central Remount Depot at Maribyrnong in Victoria.
Left and above: Light horse memorials in Port Said and Albany, Western Australia
The Tamworth Waler Memorial created by Tanya Bartlett