Part 7 (1/2)

Anything and everything was demanded from the battalion, and every call, no matter how distasteful, was responded to with readiness, if not with cheerfulness. All the time we were holding this bit of the Nablus front, from the Wadi Jib to the Wadi Gharib, the men were constantly running about on arduous jobs and as busy as bees.

About this time there was a rumour that we were soon to take the offensive, and I was especially pleased when I got a confidential communication from our Brigade Commander ordering me to prepare a careful reconnaissance of the country to our left front, where the surprise attack on the Turks was to be made. A good track up to the enemy wire, concealed as much as possible from his view, had to be found, the general idea being that once there we would make a sweep to the right along the Turkish front opposed to our lines. I detailed Captain T. B. Brown for this important task, which he carried out admirably. A suitable route by which to return with the expected prisoners and loot had also to be discovered and sketched, and Lieutenant Simon Abrahams was in his element when I selected him for this adventure.

The hope of coming to grips with the Turks buoyed us up considerably, and the prospect of a battle in which we felt sure we would do well helped us through the trying and weary round of daily routine.

Our Brigadier was a soldier whom we all liked, but he had a mania for putting up barbed-wire fences, and at last we erected so much on our front that we caused a serious shortage of this material in the E.E.F., and further wiring was prohibited.

On the 10th July our Transport was sh.e.l.led. Luckily only one mule was killed and one wounded.

We were heavily bombarded by guns of various calibres at 2.30 in the morning on July 14th, but it was an absolute waste on the part of the Turks, for not a single casualty of any kind was sustained.

On this day the Turks and Germans attacked in the Jordan Valley and got severely mauled by the Anzac Mounted Division. We, too, expected an attack, but soon after dawn the sh.e.l.ling ceased and the situation became normal.

While the Battalion was holding the forward trenches I always made a round of the posts every night to see that every one was on the alert and that they knew what to do in case of attack.

I made the men place white stones along the wire so that they could take aim on them in case of a Turkish a.s.sault in the dark, and arranged bombing parties at various points; in fact, we were all ready to give the enemy a very warm reception if he ever came our way.

Once, on going my rounds, I heard a noise a little way down the hill, so I ordered a young soldier to throw a bomb; he failed to get the pin quite out and slipped the ”dud” into his great-coat pocket; fortunately, a sergeant standing near saw what had happened and, on examining the ”dud,” found the pin practically released! The slightest movements would have set the bomb off and we should all have been blown sky high.

No matter at what hour I returned from my tour of inspection along the battle line, I always found my faithful orderly, Corporal Hutchinson, awaiting me with a ”nightcap” such as could only be mixed by the dexterous hand of an old campaigner. Hutchinson served with me when I commanded a battalion of the Irish Fusiliers, and followed my fortunes when I went to command the Dublin Fusiliers. On asking him if he would go with me to the Jewish Battalion, he replied, ”Oh, be the hokey!--but shure, Sir, that's where you'll be wanting me the most.”

Hutchinson remained with me until we set out for the Jordan Valley, when he was taken ill and invalided home. I missed him sadly, for he used to remain by my tent door and ward off any undesirable intruder like a well-trained watch dog. A more faithful, loyal and trust-worthy soldier never shouldered a rifle.

CHAPTER X.

THE NABLUS FRONT.

On the 17th July we were transferred to the 60th Division and attached to one of its Brigades.

We were very sorry to leave the 10th Division, for we had made many good friends all round, and our Divisional and Brigade Commanders had always treated us fairly and justly.

On the evil day of our transfer a fatal accident befell Lieutenant B.

Wolffe. He was in charge of the transport wagons and was engaged in loading up supplies at the Ordnance Depot. The drivers were, of course, dismounted and standing by their teams while the work of loading was going ahead. A sudden noise frightened one of the teams, and off the four horses careered at a mad gallop. They were heading straight for some troops standing near, and Lieutenant Wolffe, seeing this, made a gallant attempt to stop them by springing at the heads of the leaders as they dashed past. Unfortunately they were going too fast for him, and he was dragged under their feet, the wagon pa.s.sing over his body.

I visited him in hospital, as did also our Chaplain and others, and we cheered him up as much as possible, but he died on the 20th, and his death cast a gloom over the whole battalion, for he was a most conscientious officer, a good Jew, and well liked by all ranks. He was buried with full Jewish rites, a ”Minyan” from the battalion attending.

The Commander-in-Chief in General Orders eulogised the gallant attempt which he made when he sacrificed his own life in his plucky effort to save others.

On the 24th July I was requested by Dr. Weizmann to bring a representative party of officers and men of the battalion to a most interesting ceremony at Jerusalem--the laying of the foundation stones of the Hebrew University On Mount Scopus.

In the days of her past greatness the law was expounded at Jerusalem. It is quite possible that again, even in our own days, we shall hear a message of peace and goodwill issue forth from the Temple of Learning overlooking the Holy City.

The site chosen for the building is a magnificent one. It looks down on the domes and minarets of Jerusalem on the one side, and, on the other, overlooks the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea, with the green hills of Moab looming in the distance.

The ceremony itself was a most interesting one. The Commander-in-Chief was present; also all the civil and religious heads of the Jewish, Christian, and Moslem communities, while a vast mult.i.tude of people of all creeds thronged along the slopes of Scopus from Jerusalem--a seemingly good omen for future peace and concord. It was a truly inspiring and historic occasion, and augured well for the future greatness of the University. Stones were laid by the Christian Bishop in Jerusalem and by the Mufti (the Chief Mohammedan dignitary). One was also laid by Dr. Weizmann in the name of the Jewish Regiment, while what perhaps appealed to me most of all was the part taken by Jewish children in laying a stone representing the Hope of Israel.

On my return to the Battalion I found the Headquarters encamped in a pretty grove of olives on the Inniskilling Road, some two miles behind the firing line. While we were here our Chaplain, the Rev. L. A. Falk, one day discovered a red granite column embedded in the side of a hill.

This we unearthed and, on measuring it, found that it was about 12 feet high and about 2 feet in diameter. We erected it in our camp in a grove of olive trees. I much perturbed our good Rabbi by chaffingly suggesting to him that we had been erecting an altar to Baal, in a grove, in one of the high places! Our find got noised abroad, and the Governor of Jerusalem, Colonel Storrs, with his a.s.sistant, Lord William Percy, motored out from Jerusalem to see it. They had lunch with us, and I was delighted to note that Lord William Percy took a keen interest in preserving the fauna of Palestine, and had induced General Allenby to impose strict limitations on the shooting of birds and beasts.