by Ken Curnow OAM
How I became involved with the venture
In May 2006 Matthew Lynch, a member of the Wirlinga Pony Club that I had been connected with for many years as the Senior Instructor, heard about the proposed tour and reenactment of the charge of Beersheba on Ian McNamara’s Sunday Morning program on the ABC known as ‘Sunday with Macca’
The tour was being organized by The Australian Light Horse Association of Queensland under the auspices of Barry Rogers of Emu Gully near Toowoomba; The Australian Light Horse Association is a major activity in the horse world of Queensland and Northern NSW.
Matthew contacted me and several other members of the club suggesting we should be involved. Matthew has an interest as a war historian, and had an ancestor who was in the Light Horse during 1914 – 18 periods. The pony club movement is based on Light Horse drills and protocol where the Light Horse mounted drill work is part of Pony Club activities.
I had indicated to Mathew during our Pony Club activities that my father was a member of Chauvel’s Anzac Mounted Division in Palestine. I indicated I had an association with Tom and Elyne Mitchell of Towong Hill, Elyne being the daughter of Sir Harry Chauvel. We registered our interest with Barry Rogers.
Eventually, some 70 people mainly connected to Light Horse units from Queensland, Northern NSW, WA and Victoria, and nearly all with some association with ancestors who were part of the desert campaign formed the party. 50 rode in the five-day approach and enactment.
From our Albury area only Matthew Lynch, I and my daughter Kathleen, joined the group. There were a number of father-daughter and father-son combinations in the party that travelled to Turkey and Israel.
Other people and places involved in the 90th anniversary ride
There were only five of the group who were direct descendants of members of the original mounted corps. I was one of the five and the oldest one who took part in the ride. A couple of the others rode for half a day just to be part of the ride.
The organization of the tour was an incredible operation and one that would be difficult to repeat. Barry Rogers had spent twelve months, much of it in Turkey and Israel planning the tour. The Israeli Ministry of Tourism became very involved with the tour naming it the ‘Peace Ride’ and assisted greatly with the organization. The Australian Ambassador to Israel, David Larson, Ezra Pimantel from the “Society for the Heritage of WW1 in Israel, the Mayor of Beersheba, Yaakov Terner and Ilan Peleg the provider of the horses, all went to enormous efforts to ensure the venture took place.
We do not realise the regard the Israelis hold for the Australians. If it was not for the ANZAC mounted divisions of the First World War, and the 6th and 9th divisions of the Second World War, the circumstances that led to the creation of the modern state of Israel may have been quite different.
Every 31st of October, Beersheba Day, there is a commemorative ceremony held at the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Beersheba. In 2007 it was enhanced by our presence with a mounted parade through the main centre of Beersheba and attendance at the ceremony. It culminated with the re-enactment of the Charge at 4.30 pm, the exact time of the original charge in 1917.
The horses we used for the ride were provided by Ilan Peleg, an Israeli who has an enormous equestrian complex, restaurant and entertainment centre at Havayat outside Tel Aviv. Horses are a rare commodity in Israel so he has established this operation to cater for equestrian activities for much of Israel, as well as for European and international events and tourists.
We had to bring all our own tack authentic to that used by the mounted divisions of World War I. Matt, Kath and I had military saddles but we had to get much of the other equipment made. We were limited to 30kg by weight which included our saddle and saddle blanket, bridle and lead rope, sleeping blanket, ground sheet, horseshoe holder, bayonet holder, mess tin, water canteen, grooming kit and toggle rope all packed into one bag for transport, which all took a much organizing.
Visiting Turkey (Gallipoli) as part of the trip
The tour in the lead up to the commemoration of the Charge of Beersheba was designed to give us insights into the Light Horse activities of the First World War in Turkey as well as Palestine. We first visited Gallipoli where the Light Horse brigades played an important part and where the 8th Light Horse was nearly wiped out at the Nek. We visited all the cemeteries and battle sights of the Peninsula including some of the Turkish gun placements and remains of the battle against the British Navy in early 1915.
We even played another cricket match at Shell Green, the place where they played cricket as a diversion to the Turks prior to the evacuation of Gallipoli in December 1915. The entire crew, including the Turkish guides and bus drivers were part of the cricket match.
We even played another cricket match at Shell Green, the place where they played cricket as a diversion to the Turks prior to the evacuation of Gallipoli in December 1915. The entire crew, including the Turkish guides and bus drivers were part of the cricket match.
While in the region we went to the Ancient site of Troy and Taurus. We also went to the bay below Taurus were Saul, later referred to as the apostle Paul, commenced his Christian missionary journeys to Greece, Rome and other areas of the Mediterranean.
Modern Turkey is very impressive to visitors both because of the ancient history of the region and because of where it stands in relation to world commerce and infrastructure. The population is principally secular Muslim with a scattering of all other religious denominations. The Ottoman regime ruled Turkey for 700 years. This came to an end with the uprisings of the young Turks led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the commander of the Turkish forces at Gallipoli. In 1923 he established the republic of Turkey that exists to this day.
The soils in Turkey are superb being brown limestone enriched loams that are capable of growing every cereal and vegetable crop. While there we saw many orchards and vast olive groves. Turkey is the food bowl of the region and could supply all foodstuffs to the whole of Europe if required. There are goat, sheep and cattle herds in the hillier areas tendered by shepherds as in ancient times. One of the treats to me was the magnificent yoghurts and cheeses from all three types of animals as well as the superb array of olive, dates, fruits, salads and vegetables, coffees and teas that were freely available where ever you went.
Our Turkish guides in Sirgar and John were Muslim, extremely professional, great characters, very knowledgeable and specially selected by the operations manager of Fez Tours, Dean Hunter, an Australian living in Istanbul. They were great to have with us on the tour through Turkey.
Visiting some of the places the Light Horse travelled in Israel
We flew from Turkey to Tel Aviv in Israel to continue the tour to visit the route taken by the Light Horse to push the Ottoman Turks and Germans out of the Palestinian region.
The reason for the British presence in the region related to the Turkish regime becoming allied to Germany in 1914. It was the strategic plan and aim of the German and Turkish Governments to take control of the Suez Canal which was the vital route for supplies going to England from Australia and the Pacific area.
On entry by England into the war against Germany in 1914, Australia automatically became involved enlisting a military force to help the mother country. Soon after outbreak of war, Colonel Harry Chauvel was given command of the First Light Horse Brigade.
The Australian forces were designated for the European conflict in France. Chauvel was sent to England to arrange for the training of the Australian force. However, he discovered that the area he had been given to train on was so inhospitable for the Australians, used to the heat and the dry of Australia, that he recommended they be disembarked at Alexandria for training in Egypt. So it became inevitable that the Australian forces were on hand and available for use in the Dardanelle’s operation at Gallipoli, as well as in the Sinai campaign to protect the Suez Canal and the operations in the deserts of Palestine.
The Israeli part of the tour was led by Shoresh Study Tours, an organisation based in Jerusalem. The head of the company was Kelvin Crombie an Australian living in Jerusalem who had made a detailed study of the Light Horse involvement in Israel as well as the history of Israel from 1798 to 1948.
Kelvin was an author of several books relevant to the Australian involvement and the land of Israel. He and two of the other guides, Zelman Lederman and Aaron Eime, were Australians living in Israel. The fourth guide was Tony Mubarak a Christian Arab.
When we arrived at Tel Aviv Ilan Peleg came to collect all our gear. He took one look at me and a few other ancient looking overweight people and started to worry. He was concerned about our ability to ride and was concerned about his business insurance. Although he had been assured that everyone was a good horseman he demanded that we all go to his centre to ride to prove ourselves – he was amazed that such a rough looking group could actually ride as well as we did. He did not realize some of these fellows were off station properties in outback Queensland and ridden horses for much of their lives. He had a policy that 80 kg is the limit for riders on his horses.
It seems that there are no overweight people in Israel. Their food is superb with none of the fatty things that we have with no obvious junk food outlets and very little alcohol consumed. All young people undertake military training from the age of 18 – three years for the boys and two years for the girls. As a result, everyone looks trim and fit. When Ilan saw some of these Australians with their beer guts that took them to well over the 80 kg limit he had to be persuaded to let some of them ride.
Areas we visited North of Beersheba
Following the steps of the Light Horse to the north from the coastal plain we visited Megiddo (the place of the Armageddon Battle), which has been excavated in detail, and one of the Old Testament cities which lies in the Carmel range.
The site sits high overlooking the plain of Esdraelon and the Jezreel valley and from where the whole of the land can be surveyed leading to Nazareth nestling in the opposite hills across the valley with Mt Tabor and Mt Moriah and the Judean Hills in the background. It was in Nazareth that the German General Limon von Sanders, who commanded the defence of Gallipoli, and was commanding the Turkish forces in the northern part of Palestine, had to evacuate in his pyjamas as British and Indian troops entered the town.
In many areas of this dry land, there is evidence of small fires breaking out. When I queried what was causing the small fires we were told it was rockets from Lebanon, Syria or Gaza that had landed. These rockets are fired indescribably not being aimed at anything so they do not hit much other than start these small fires in the terribly dry herbage
It was from here to the Sea of Galilee that the Light Horse experienced tough resistance, eventually arriving at the Sea of Galilee in a two-pronged attack: One at Semakh, at the southern end of the Sea of Galilee where it enters the Jordan River, and one at Tiberius and Capernaum, bordering the western side of the Sea of Galilee.
There are a number of paintings and photographs of the light horse regiments watering their horses at Tiberius, Taghaba and Capernaum on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. The Taghaba area is in a fertile valley totally different to the remainder of Israel. It has rich red-brown soils derived from the basalt hills of the region with well-watered streams and is the land of the often mentioned milk and honey with magnificent olive groves, vegetable, dates a variety of agricultural products. It is not a large area but stands out in relation to the surrounding country.
From here we headed up to the Mount of Beatitudes, a rocky hard looking area. We then moved past Rosh Pinna and to an area in the north where Sir Rodon Cutler (former Governor General of NSW in the 1970’s who was awarded the Victoria Cross) fought in the Second World War with the AIF 6th division during 1940-41.
We travelled east across the Jordan River to the Golan Heights with all the remnants of the six-day war in 1967. The Australian Light Horse regiments passed through here on the way through to Damascus in 1918. The whole area is steep hard rocky basalt country which would be terrible country for horses to traverse and no doubt difficult for the modern tank and military equipment of today.
We visited Katzrin, the ancient village where Jesus healed the blind man and the site of the Sermon on the Mount where he fed the five thousand with five loaves and three fish. The area is still subject to landmines left from the conflicts here of recent times and warning signs are on all the fences. In some of the more open and plateau locations, there are olive groves and vineyards where the soils are good and the rock can be removed.
We travelled along the Syrian Israeli cease-fire line to a high peak, Ben Tall, the highest of three old volcano sites. Here we studied the whole region and could see Damascus, Syria, in the distance to the north and traced the route taken by the Light Horse on the approach to Damascus in 1918. Ben Tall is full of trenches and bunkers, barb wire and anti-tank defences. These remnants of the 1967 war are still maintained, in case there should be any attack from Syria. From here you can see Mount Hermon in the distance, usually snow-capped, and from where the River Jordon emanates.
The following day we travelled from Tiberius south following the Jordan River valley. After a swim in a National Park where another one of the springs feeding the Jordan River is harnessed into a tourist park and swimming centre we continued down the Jordon valley along the border with Jordon and Israel. The border is made up of give and take boundaries were both countries have certain sections of the river. The Jordon valley is a mass of irrigated crops of all varieties, including vegetables, grains, cotton, orchards and nuts, all on dripper irrigation and grown on the fertile alluvial soils of the valley. The valley itself is in stark contrast to the barren hills and highlands of the Judean wilderness on the Israeli side and the parched country of the Jordon lands towards Amman and Es Salt.
We stopped at the site of an enormous battle between the Australian Light Horse and German forces at Abu Tellul near Jericho where many Australians were killed in 1918. This is a harsh barren area, with many spent bullets and ordinances still lying on the ground.
We continued past Jericho and up the road leading to Jerusalem through the harsh barren wilderness country. Major road works are underway on the road with the construction of a four-lane highway as this is the main route through to Jericho and Jordan. We passed many terrible looking Bedouin camps with a few goats, donkeys and camels, and also went past the site of the story of the Good Samaritan where a Church is erected.
We arrived in Jerusalem on Tuesday the 23rd of October 2007 close to dusk and were taken to the Mount of Olives for a view over the old city of Jerusalem, the garden of Gethsemane and the wider expanse of Jerusalem. It was amazing to see the sun setting through the dust haze of the region hanging over Jerusalem. We were booked into a variety of Hotels in Jerusalem, in our case the Novotel Hotel, outside the walls of the old city.
The following day we were taken on a tour of the Old City of Jerusalem through the Damascus Gate and down the ancient alleyways in the Arab Quarter following the Stations of the Cross to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the location of the death on the cross, the tomb and the great complex of the Church. The place was crowded with people mostly tourists.
Later in the day we were all taken by bus to Nebi Samuel (Samuel’s Mount) that gave a panoramic view over the whole region and we had the battle procedures of the advance in 1917 into Jerusalem explained.
From Samuels Mount we preceded to the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery at Mount Scopus were many Light Horsemen of the First World War and the 6th Division of the Second World War are buried.
The next day we had a tour of the Holocaust Memorial Museum dedicated to the death camps and carnage of the gas chambers in Germany during the Second World War. Lunch was arranged at Christ Church Jerusalem located adjoining the platform and gate into the Tower of David where General Allenby took the surrender of Jerusalem in December 1917. We later went to the Jaffa Gate into the old City where the Australian and New Zealand forces entered the city at the time of the surrender.
The following day, October the 25th Matt Brown, the ABC reporter, came to interview several of us and to say he was going to be present during the ride through the Negev desert as the ABC were to do a major report on the ride and re-enactment for the 7.30 Report.
We were loaded into buses in Jerusalem for a trip back to the Jordan Valley, down the road to Jericho, to head towards to the commencement of the ride. On our way we stopped at the site of Chauvel’s command post where he orchestrated the Jerusalem campaign. We then continued onto the Dead Sea at Erin Gedi, where many of us went for a swim.
The ride commemorating the lead up to the Charge of Beersheba
On the afternoon of October 26th, we arrived at Park Eshkol, a tourist site near Shellal, where we were to commence the ride. The proprietors of the park had arranged tents to be set up for us to camp in but it was so hot that I and many others camped on the ground with our ground sheets etc. as it was more comfortable than in the tents.
The proprietors had also arranged for a great smorgasbord meal for us and an amateur entertainment group that provided a most enjoyable music and dancing concert. During the night truckloads of horses arrived from Ilan Peleg’s equestrian centre for the commencement of the ride. Jackals could be herd howling in the surrounding countryside through the night.
The following morning we all packed our gear and were issued with a horse by Peleg’s staff. The horses were all bred by the Equestrian centre from Stock Horse – Appaloosa cross, also with some Arab. They were all around the 14.2 to 15.2 hand high and ideal for the ride. The horses all had soft mouths, a quiet temperament and were used to being in a group situation.
We practiced a little “F troop” drill and working in different formations to settle down the horses and riders. After this, we proceeded on in single file along the Wadi Bezoar. There was a great entourage of cars, TV cameras and people following on for some time until we moved away from the road formations into the more open country. We came to a copse of spindly looking trees near a roadside where a truck came up with cardboard lunch boxes which contained a bread roll, tomato, cucumber some processed meat and a carton of fruit juice. Some reporters and photographers from the Sydney Morning Herald turned up to photograph the group and interview some of the riders.
Road water tankers arrived with water for the horses. Several large plastic bath-like troughs were placed on the ground, filled with water to which we brought up eight horses at a time to drink. This was the method of watering horses all through the ride.
After lunch, we continued through the undulating dry country to a Bedouin Settlement at Ze’elim near the village of Bir Asluj. This is an area where there are hot springs which have been harnessed into a swimming complex for tourists so we availed ourselves of a swim in the pools which was most refreshing. Here we were made welcome by the Bedouin’s who provided a nice smorgasbord meal and entertainment including belly dancers. We were housed for the night in an enormous tent with a wooden slatted floor. As I and many others were quite exhausted after the day’s ride, I did not last out the whole entertainment and climbed into the swag before it finished.
The next day being Sunday the 28th October 2007 we attended a Church Parade led by Padre Darryl of our group before thanking our hosts and heading off to a march past and salute at a small oasis park where local schools had been assembled to see us pass.
We were formed up in section fours for the parade. As much of the ride from here on was to be in the section four formations we found that the horses I, Kathleen, Matt Lynch and Dee Binnie were riding were all compatible and worked together. We thus formed what we called the Upper Murray Section and kept together for the remainder of the ride. We settled into the being the 6th of 7th section from the lead. One km or so after the school’s parade we were walking along beside a road when the ABC vehicle and Matt Brown arrived to film us. Elan Peleg, the owner of the horses, also took a photo of us and prior to leaving after the re-enactment gave everyone a framed copy of the photo he took on this day.
The temperature was very hot so we took the opportunity of taking off our woollen tunic jackets and putting them in the ABC vehicle as Matt Brown was to be at our campsite that night to hand them back. It made the riding through the hot desert a bit more pleasant.
During the day TV Channel 9’s “60 Minutes” film crew and reporters caught up with us and filmed some of the ride through the desert. We were visited by a couple of Black Hawk helicopters flying overhead probably to check where we were and if there was any danger in the surrounding areas.
Beersheba has a large Israeli airbase and as we were only about 30 km’s from the Gaza Strip with the constant turmoil there was some concern about what was going on in this militarily sensitive area.
We continued through some undulating low sandy hills to Ramat Beka (Wadi Mashash) as the campsite for the night. This was in a sandy valley close to a road where tankers with water were brought in to water the horses and provide us with personal washing facilities. Channel 9 spent quite some time with us that night filming for their “60 Minutes” program which included singing around a fire and settling down in our swags on the ground.
The horses were handled at each stop by the staff supplied by Elan Peleg who tethered the horses in a roped area and handled all feeding and watering through the night. The horses were fed Triticale hay. Patrols were conducted through the night by the equestrian staff as we were in Bedouin territory and a high danger area there were also armed staff that patrolled the campsite through the night.
The next day October the 29th was the usual hot dry dusty day. We started off with the usual breakfast of boiled eggs, yoghurt, cheeses and bread rolls. After breakfast, the horses were groomed and saddled before setting off through the dry dusty hard landscape. We had more Israeli TV channels filming us as we groomed saddled and mounted the horses. At the luncheon stop, the ABC carried out a long interview with Dee Binnie, asking her about her grandfather Sir Harry Chauvel.
The ride continued through some deep wadis and very dry areas eventually coming out past Khashim Zanna (Chauvel’s command post) onto some sealed roads on the plain approaching Beersheba. Considerable traffic started to appear and many stopped to take photos of us as we rode along some of the roads. We eventually came to the camp site for the night at Beit Eschel. This was in the middle of the plain that was the area of the 1917 charge. Adjoining the camp site was a plantation of trees that provided good places to tie the horses for the night and shelter for us.
The usual supply of hay and water tankers turned up for the horses and ourselves, which everyone took advantage of to bathe in after the heat and dust of the ride.
The mayor of Beersheba, Yaakov Terner, together with Elan Peleg and his staff set up a stage and seating area to provide a meal and a concert for the tour group. The superb meal comprised grilled steak with many salads, vegetables a great variety of sauces and cheeses.
A very nice gesture occurred when my daughter Kathleen had organized a huge cake from a bakery in Beersheba which was presented to me for my 75th Birthday that day. Naturally, I had to respond to the assembled gathering. As I started, three Israeli F18 fighter jets flew over the top of us with the incredible noise they make, and everything I said was completely drowned out.
The cake provided sweets for all the people present which they all enjoyed. The Party continued with dancing and comedy acts well into the evening. The non-riders of our party went to the Golden Tulip Hotel in Beersheba while we settled into our swags on the ground close to the horses.
Tuesday, October the 30th was spent cleaning our horse tack and general preparation for the activities the following day. The area running up to the railway viaduct was over a land filled rubbish dump. We all spent several hours emu bobbing over the area that the horses were to travel, to make sure there was no glass of sharp objects to cut or injure the horses.
Troop formations for the re-enactment were practiced for much of the afternoon. Ilan Peleg was concerned about cantering as he felt that many of the riders were too old to be cantering horses. As the afternoon progressed he eventually was satisfied. The plan for the re-enactment was to form into troop lines of 10 horse’s six metres apart, with each row 10 metres apart. The process was to walk for 100 metres, trot for another 200 metres then canter for the remaining 250 to 300 metres up to the finishing area close to the railway viaduct.
Right: Deryn Binnie with Chauvel’s pennant at Khasham Zanna (position in relation to Beersheba can be seen the bottom right corner of map above)
Commemorating the 2017 Charge of Beersheba
Wednesday, October the 31st 2007 the day of all the activities commenced with the usual horse and gear preparation and surrounded by the usual gang of TV cameras and reporters filming every move. The troop formation rode across the plain to the Wadi Sabah that leads under the railway viaduct depicted in many of the 1917 photos, and on to Merkaz Zeirim near Abrahams well.
From there we proceeded with a street parade past the Allenby memorial to the British Commonwealth Cemetery at Beersheba, parading through crowds lining the streets and police blocking off roads as we passed. We tied the horses up to a line of trees in a street beside the cemetery then marched into the commemorative service honouring the charge ninety years ago. The Catafalque party for the service included Australian, New Zealand, English and Turkish military personnel who stood at the four corners of the Cenotaph, as you see at the Anzac ceremonies at Gallipoli. There was a large crowd attending the service. The temperature was around 36 C degrees, resulting in some people becoming dehydrated from the heat and needing first aid!
Following the conclusion of the service, we walked to the Turkish Memorial nearby and participated in that service as well. Lunch was provided in the usual cardboard boxes before returning to the horses and riding back through back streets and the Wadi Sabah to our campsite at Beit Eschel to prepare for the charge re-enactment.
At 3.00 pm we again groomed the horses and mounted up moving into our troop lines.
We moved out from the cover of the trees we had been camping under just on 4.30 pm, the exact time of the charge in 1917, 90 years ago.
We followed the plan practiced the previous day walking the first 100 metres breaking into a trot for the next 200 metres and then cantering for the remaining two to three hundred metres and coming to a walk up to the roped semi-circle around the area where all the dignitaries of the region, Israeli parliamentarians Beersheba Municipal councillors and the Australian Ambassador David Larson were assembled.
Many onlookers lined the sides of the parade area with TV cameras and photographers taking shots. Speeches were made by a number of dignitaries followed by the Mayor of Beersheba and Australian Ambassador David Larson, who later presented the entire riding group with a medallion each to commemorate the event. The crowd were allowed to come forward and pat the horses from the far side of the roped area.
Dusk was starting to settle over the land as we turned and rode back to our campsite. We had a person take a photo of our Upper Murray section before getting too dark.
As it was the end of the ride Elan Peleg had all the trucks lined up for us to hand our horses back for their return to their home base. It was quite sad as we all had become attached to the horse we were issued with at the start of the ride.
Before leaving with the horses Ilan Peleg presented all the riders with a framed photo of the picture he took of us leaving the schools march past at Bir Asluj. The picture I have hanging in a prominent place in my home and I use it in the PowerPoint presentation I prepared for speaking engagements relating to the tour.
After assembling all our gear we were transported by bus to the Golden Tulip Hotel in Beersheba for the night. The following morning, Thursday, November the 1st, we boarded buses for a tour of Beersheba, including a trip to the top of Khashim Zanna (Chauvel’s command post). Here I took a photo of Dee Binnie holding a replica of her grandfather’s banner looking across the plain toward Beersheba.
Friday, November the 2nd we flew from Tel Aviv (Ben Grunion Airport) to Istanbul. We arrived at 12.45 pm just as what seemed like eleven million Muslim people were attending mid-day prayers. Friday is the only day it is compulsory for Muslims to attend prayers when the Imam of each Mosque makes a proclamation. This grid-locked the city with traffic and resulted in us taking 2 hours to travel 4 km on a bus! Later in the day, we flew out of Istanbul heading for Singapore.
All our flights from Australia to Istanbul and Tel Aviv and return to Singapore were with Turkish Airlines. To my mind, they were superb with good food, entertainment and service. At Singapore we were placed on a Qantas flight to Melbourne where seats were tighter, entertainment broke down and service only reasonable, quite a contrast to the experience of Turkish Airlines.
It was a privilege to be part of this great tour and experience in the lands that have played an integral part of the Australian character and history.