The 1st Australian Light Horse Brigade riding through Bethlehem. January/February, 1918. By: James Francis Hurley. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C841
ExcessDeathsAU has been banned from social media: I rely on you to share articles
I. On War
II. Australian war photography in Ottoman Palestine (1916-1918)
IIa. Jerusalem
IIb. Going up to Jerusalem
IIc. Jericho
IId. Mount of Temptation
IIe. King Solomon’s Pools
IIf. The Judean Hills
IIg. Galilee
IIh. The River Jordan
IIi. Gaza
IIj. Beersheba
III. Portraits
Epilogue - Allenby’s entry into Jerusalem
I. On War
Dear Readers,
Thank you for joining me to commemorate Anzac Day 2024.
Last year I wrote a poem about Anzac Day1 which was extremely popular with readers, including the veterans who emailed me. The poem was controversial, so its popularity surprised me.
In my opinion, the most encouraging thing to have emerged from ‘covid times’ is the understanding that it is our own governments that are the sources of tyranny. While blaming illusory ‘overseas threats,’ our own governments collude with foreign global powers to destabilise, terrify, oppress, poison, and kill us for the purposes of personal financial enrichment, domestic terrorism, depopulation, and control.
Right now, people are waking up to war, particularly the young men who would be co-opted into the lie of foreign wars. For new readers, or people who are ‘just here for the photos,’ I do not think it is possible to really understand this article without watching the following two videos.
Please see this excellent monologue (14m) by the UK’s Alistair Williams, who exemplifies a young man of the Commonwealth saying to those in his own government who would send him to die in a trench: ‘Go to hell, we’re not showing up to World War Three.’
And please see this analysis (‘War and Democide’) by
(18m). I believe it to be one of the bravest, finest pieces from the modern era on how war is made:
And I absolutely can confirm:
People get angry at you for saying these things.
***Update April 27, 2024: And of course, YouTube decides to age-restrict ‘War and Democide’ because I have linked it to my Substack, like they delete and restrict most things I link. In the meantime, please see the direct link to Visceral Adventure’s Substack where you can watch the video and where there are also links to other platforms. I really really want people to watch this video. It is the most important aspect of this article.
Anzac Day is about veterans. From speaking with some of you who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, I know you feel that your service was futile for a variety of reasons.
I am telling you this because they want you to think that you are alone.
Your knowledge and skills are essential to the people in the community who are ‘aware.’ Everyone has a role to play and yours is extremely important. ‘They’ are afraid of you, which is why they are doing everything they can to break and demoralise you though overt and covert humiliation tactics - we see what is happening.
Never forget how important you are. Do not give up.
So, during this incredible time in human history when people are waking up to who really benefits from war, we can go back in time with this knowledge.
We can sit with our fathers, and grandfathers and great-grandfathers, and the Empires and men before them and see not just the Great Wars but the Holy Land through their eyes using the long lens of history. We can think about what is the same and what has changed. We can look at what is happening now, why it is happening and what may happen.
In this article I chose to focus on Ottoman Palestine (as officially recorded in the Australian War Memorial as a named location in time and space) because it is an important Australian theatre of war and historically interesting. For those who wish to learn more about the Anzacs in Ottoman Palestine, the Australian War Memorial has an incredible list of references, books, documents, maps, testimonies, records and photographs, although much of it is not digital.
While this is an article about Australian war photography, the ultimate purpose of this article is for you, the independent reader, to consider the time in question (1916-1918) as occurring in a land with an immensely long and complex history.
This broad region of the Middle East has been conquered and re-conquered and divided by many formidable Empires, tribes and family groups over thousands of years and is one of the most culturally and politically complicated regions on earth. Even Australia’s role as part of the British Empire during the First World War was culturally and militarily complex.
I present the information through the lens of history using photographs, which in this case, say more than my words ever can. However, what struck me about the Australian Imperial Forces in Ottoman Palestine was the use of horses and camels as a method of war, as had always been done in this region. The First World War was the last large-scale conflict in which live mounts were widely used for war by the Commonwealth, and these photographs provide a clear window to past millennia - old methods of war with ‘new’ methods of photography.
While this is not an article about politics, readers should note that the entry of General Allenby (Commander-in-Chief of British forces) into Jerusalem though the Jaffa Gate on foot, rather than on horseback, is important.
Briefly, during World War 1 (1914-1918), the Australian Imperial Forces (as part of the British Empire) fought the Ottoman Empire (1299-1922) on the ‘Middle Eastern Front.’ This ‘desert campaign’ began in 1916 when Australian troops participated in allied action in the Sinai Desert and the Suez Canal. In the following year Australian troops participated in a British push into Ottoman Palestine that captured Gaza and Jerusalem. By 1918, Australians occupied Lebanon, Syria and Damascus. Mounted troops of the Australian Light Horse and the Imperial Camel Corps endured extreme heat, harsh terrain, and water shortages, and 1,394 Australians were killed or wounded in three years of fighting in this region.
For Australia, the First World War remains the costliest official armed conflict in terms of deaths and casualties. From an Australian population of fewer than five million, 416,809 men enlisted, of whom more than 60,000 were killed and 156,000 wounded, gassed, or taken prisoner.
In my opinion, the trajectory of our nation was forever altered because of the First World War, and we lost our best and strongest generation of young Australian men to death, shell shock, injury, and despair.
While researching this article, I viewed and researched thousands of photographs from the First World War. The vast majority were of low-quality (blurry, burned, or water damaged) and/or had repetitive subject matter (e.g., parade grounds, marching in formation for visiting dignitaries, materiale).
The photographs I ended up publishing were either crisply presented, told an interesting story, had Biblical context, or were beautifully composed. I searched databases held by the official war archives of the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and the USA, but only published photos from the Australian War Memorial due to copyright issues and content.
Apart from broad search terms, few of the photographs were organised in any meaningful way in the Archives and labels may be misspelled, so this article took an immense amount of time for me to curate. Another difficulty with this region is how rapidly the names of locations and map borders change due to conquest, politics, and administration. In the end, I mainly went with the labelling of the Australian War Memorial which was relatively accurate for the time and place.
This was not easy.
To the great credit of the Australian War Memorial, they have displayed horrific imagery of Australians at war that include mass graves of Australians, men digging graves for their recently deceased comrades, and stark stories of Australians who were left behind during hasty retreats. These images and stories would not have been made available to the public at the time for the purposes of morale on the home front.
I have not published any of these graphic photographs in this article, but for those interested, they are available on the Australian War Memorial website and in private online collections.
This is war.
Always has been.
Mr. Ibrahim Jaradah Snr. (CBE) has been caring for the Gaza War Cemetery for more than half a century, just like his father before him. The Commonwealth burial ground in Gaza still holds the remains of 263 Australians from two World Wars. The Gaza War Cemetery is the resting place of 3691 soldiers – 3082 of them British, 23 New Zealanders, 23 Canadians, 184 Turkish (Ottomans), 50 Indians and 36 Poles, plus many South African, Greek, Egyptian, German, French and Yugoslavian war dead.
“This,” said Mr. Jaradah, sweeping his arm in arc across the silent graves, “is where war always ends.”
War and democide also affects the people who would document it, such as famous Australian photographer James Francis Hurley, who took many of the beautiful, well-composed photographs highlighted in this article, which display his prior experience as an exploration photographer.
In August (1917) Hurley joined the Australian Imperial Force as official photographer with the rank of honorary captain. Shocked by the carnage in France and Belgium, he showed his 'burning resentment' in such photographs as 'Morning at Passchendaele'
***For readers who do not know, ‘Morning at Passchendaele’ is one of the most iconic First World War photographs. It is slightly graphic, but extremely beautiful, so I will link it only here.
Eventually, Ottoman Palestine ended with the transfer of power between Empires via the stroke of a pen. This region has been shaped by layer, upon layer, of history, culture, narrative, language and tradition clashing and reorientating under the auspices of generations of war for thousands of years. Yet, as everything changes, and so much of what we have been told is a lie, we are ever grasping for what is real, eternal, and beautiful.
Unfortunately, what has been a constant, is war.
What is different now is that we, the readers and subscribers of this Substack in one of 78 countries and beyond, can all read these words via the internet at the same time. We can then agree together, no matter who we are or what our cultural pressures may be or what has happened in the past, that when ‘they’ declare World War Three, we will not be going, because we do not hate each other, and we are not afraid.
Remember the Gaza cemetery, where our fathers went to the grave together. We can choose not to do this again.
And to my fellow Australians, this Anzac Day, when you see the politicians and the brass seated comfortably in their cordoned-off areas away from we the unwashed public, I want you to listen carefully to their words. I want you to really hear them when they speak with forked tongues about ‘fighting for freedom and democracy’ while they terrorise us at home and send us to die for bankers and their own personal enrichment, reaping on behalf of Satan in the service of evil.
I have a message for these selfish, myopic lunatics.
We, the Australian people, decline the invitation to World War Three.
We are not laundering your money.
We are not killing other people’s children.
We do not care what you say.
We do not care what you do.
We see through your lies.
We are not doing this again.
Lest We Forget.
Yours Faithfully,
ExcessDeathsAU
10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
II. Australian war photography in Ottoman Palestine
(Any and all errors unintentional - please see ‘Section I. On War’ for curation methods).
IIa. Jerusalem
Jerusalem fell to the British Empire just before Christmas 1917, and the 10th Australian Light Horse was the first Australian Regiment to enter the city. Some units slept in houses for the first time in three years while others were bivouacked in the regions surrounding Jerusalem.3
General Allenby, staff and attaches, entering Jerusalem through the Jaffa Gate on foot. 11 December, 1917 Date (?).By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C251
Jerusalem: Turkish Army prisoners of war captured by the Anzac Mounted Division being escorted along one of the city streets in Jerusalem, 1917. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C320056
Jerusalem: Inhabitants of Jerusalem going to celebration services on fall of the city, ‘First World War.’ By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1056050
The first Australian airmen to fly over Jerusalem. They flew from Rafa Aerodrome on the border of Egypt and Palestine (L to R: Captain Murray Jones, Lieutenant Ross Macpherson Smith, Lieutenant Eric Roberts, and Captain Les Ellis), Date Unk. ‘First World War.’ By: Harry Victor Leckie. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C41620
Jerusalem railway station: Wounded soldiers on stretchers waiting for a hospital train,1918.By: James Francis Hurley.https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C972359
Passing through Jerusalem: Australians of the Anzac Mounted Division, with Major Donald Gordon Cross on the left and Lieutenant Ronald Nicholas L Hopkins on the right of the picture, 22 January 1918. By: James Francis Hurley.
At the foot of Mount Zion: Australians of the Anzac Mounted Division watering their horses, 22 January 1918. By: James Francis Hurley. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C838
Jerusalem: An Australian Light Horseman stands in a Turkish trench, March 1918. By: James Francis Hurley.https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C967806
Jerusalem: Group portrait of the Commanding Officer, officers and men of the 2nd Australian Light Horse Regiment, November, 1918. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C952508
Jerusalem: Two officers holding their hands over the water pipe to feel the air being pushed through ahead of the water at the Jerusalem water supply, ‘First World War.’ By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C44646
Within a matter of days of occupying the city, the bazaars, stalls and shops were open for business and Australians were seen casually spending their money.
Jerusalem: A blind man and a beggar, in the old city of Jerusalem, 22 January 1918. By: James Francis Hurley. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C967777
Jerusalem: Lieutenent Colonel Walter Percy Farr, AA and QMG, Desert Mounted Corps, revealing the mystery of a Kodak camera to three Muslim women, February 1918. By: James Francis Hurley. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C969224
Garden of Gethsemane, Jerusalem: A local priest in front of the old olive trees, 23 January 1918. By: James Francis Hurley. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C971267
Jerusalem, likely near Mount Zion: A Jewish funeral procession. One of a series of photographs showing local people and the activities of German and Turkish soldiers. The photographs are believed to have been purchased by Australian soldiers whilst serving in Egypt and Palestine during the First World War, ‘First World War.’ By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C386614
The historic and religious significance of Jerusalem was not lost on the Australians, with many writing in letters and diaries of their excitement in glimpsing the Holy City for the first time.
Some recorded in their diaries the historic places they had visited and photographed. Thomas Hunt4 wrote: “We were shown where Christ was tried by Herod and we entered the church which contains a portion of the oldest wall and three arches of the house where Christ was condemned and where he started to carry his cross.”
Wailing Wall, Jerusalem: Australian soldiers visit the western wailing wall while on leave, 1917- 1918. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1211524
Mount of Olives, Jerusalem: Unidentified soldiers sitting under the trees on the Mount of Olives, 23 January 1918. By: James Francis Hurley. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C971263
David’s Tower, Jerusalem: A party of Australians of the Anzac Mounted Division, 22 January 1918. By: James Francis Hurley. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C839
Mosque of Omar, Jerusalem: A group of Australian Light Horsemen on the steps, 1918. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C988371
Mount of Olives, Jerusalem: Two officers of the Australian Light Horse taking in the view of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. The Mosque of Omar can be seen centered in the picture, 23 January 1918. By: James Francis Hurley. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C972274
Jerusalem: Captain Edward John Howells and an unidentified Australian soldier, both of D Field Troop Engineers, Royal Australian Naval Bridging Train, in a narrow street in Jerusalem, local people passing them by, 4 April 1918. By: Unk.
The Jerusalem War Cemetery was created after the occupation of the city in 1917 with 270 initial burials. It was later enlarged to take graves from the battlefields and smaller cemeteries in the region. Within the cemetery stands the Jerusalem Memorial, unveiled on 7 May 1927 by Lord Allenby5 , British Commander-in-Chief in the Middle East.
The memorial commemorates 3,300 Commonwealth servicemen who died during the First World War in operations in Egypt or Palestine and who have no known grave.6
A view from the entrance of the Jerusalem War Cemetery with the Cross of Remembrance in the centre and the Chapel behind it. The Australian and New Zealand Pylons are on the right and left respectively. The Pylons are carved with the names of Australian and New Zealand soldiers missing with no known graves after fighting in Egypt, Palestine and Syria, c 1927. By: Unk.
IIb. Going up to Jerusalem
Jaffa-Jerusalem Road: Local men and women travelling on the plains of Philistia near Ramleh, 29 November 1917. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1004529
Jaffa-Jerusalem: A supply column headed by a caterpillar tractor carrying supplies forward to rapidly advancing Allied troops after they had broken through the Gaza - Beersheba line and were moving towards Jaffa and Jerusalem. At this time many of the units had been without supplies for several days, ‘1916.’ By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C364517
Bethlehem-Jerusalem: The 1st Australian Light Horse Brigade on the march down from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, across John the Baptist Wilderness, before their successful attack upon Jericho, February 1918. By: James Francis Hurley.https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C967792
Jericho-Jerusalem (Es Salt): All transport for the maintenance of many thousands of men and horses was confined to this single mountain track. Australian transport limbers passing an abandoned wagon on the Amman Road, ‘1918.’ By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C43083
Good Samaritan's Inn: The advance guard of the 60th Infantry Division, 21 March 1918. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C987031
Good Samaritan’s Inn: A dust storm passing over the Australian Light Horse camp, ‘1917.’ By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C43106
Jericho-Jerusalem: Bivouacs of officers of Headquarters Anzac Mounted Division, ‘1918.’ By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C298990
IIc. Jericho
The Imperial Camel Corps on the road to Jericho, ‘1918.’ By: James Francis Hurley.https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C53718
An Australian Light Horse team raises the dust in the Jordan Valley on a road near Jericho, ‘1918.’ By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C53682
A column of Australian supply trucks climbing an old Roman road near Jericho, ‘1917.’ By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C247198
The 1st Australian Light Horse Brigade moving down from Judea to the capture of Jericho, February 1918. By: James Francis Hurley. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C967799
Men of the 6th Light Horse Regiment during a ten-minute spell on the old Roman road to Jericho, ‘First World War.’ By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C4190
Bedouin family shown outside a cave used by them as accommodation near Jericho, July 1917. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2280
Jordan Valley near Jericho: 9th Australian Light Horse Regiment camp. This valley was believed by some authorities to be untenable in summer by white troops, but was nevertheless successfully held, the Light Horse forming in general the main portion of the garrison, 17 August 1918. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C43087
Jericho: Australian Light Horse temporary shelter, ‘First World War.’ By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1056056
Jordan Valley, with Jericho in the middle distance, seen through a shell hole in an old tomb. A soldier is looking through binoculars into the distance, 1 March 1918. By: James Francis Hurley.https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C389089
Es Salt to Jericho: Prisoners captured by the Australian Light Horse being escorted to Jericho, 2 May 1918. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C450349
Jericho: Local people watching the mounting of the first Guard of New Zealand Mounted Troops, ‘1918.’ By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1004622?image=1
Near Jericho: The field post office of the Imperial camel corps, which was composed of Australians, New Zealanders, and British, 30 April, 1918. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2875
Ruins of ancient Jericho: A soldier is standing in the middle ground and in the distance is the Dead Sea and the Mountains of Moab, ‘1917.’ By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1002428
Wadi Qelt, near Jericho: Aqueduct ruins from the time of Herod, with steel pipe, on the Jericho main road, April 1918. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C450284
Elisha's Well, Ein es-Sultan, near Jericho: Members of Australian Army Light Horse watering their horses, ‘1917.’ By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C320507
Jericho: Graves at the Australian Light Horse Cemetery near the Australian Mounted Divisional Train camp, ‘1918.’ By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1002432
IId. Mount of Temptation
Mount of Temptation, near Jericho: Australian Light Horse camps are in the valley, April 1918. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C450288
Peak of Mount of Temptation: Major Leslie Strath Alexander, of the 11th Australian Light Horse Regiment, using binoculars to observe the country ahead, ‘1917.’ By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C295148
IIe. King Solomon’s Pools
Solomon's Pools: A soldier taking in the view, 1918. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C982263
Solomon’s Pools: Horses of the Australian Light Horse being watered from canvas water troughs, 1918. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C982264
Solomon’s Arch at The Pools: A soldier standing at the arch, ‘First World War.’ By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1023298
IIf. The Judean Hills
Judaea: The Judaean Hills between the coastal plain and Jerusalem. The camp site in the photograph has not been identified, 1917. By: James Pinkerton Campbell.https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C299027
IIg. Galilee
Galilee: Informal portrait of Dov Margalit, a Jewish cavalier in the British police force in Jerusalem, stands leaning on his rifle in a temporary Australian or British graveyard, north of Palestine in the Galilee, 1918. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1139184
IIh. The River Jordan
The River Jordan at Jericho: Camel corps crossing the river via pontoon bridge built by Australian engineers, April 1918. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C206878
The River Jordan at Jericho, Ghoraniyeh Ford: Refugees from Es Salt crossing pedestrian bridge, April 1918. By: Francis Henry Smith. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C3214
The River Jordan, Al-Auja: Australian Imperial Forces engineers and Sikh road makers on a barrel pier bridge built by the Australians, 1918. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C248344
The River Jordan, Al-Auja: Column of Australian Light Horse crossing the Middle Pontoon Bridge, at Auja Ford, in the Jordan Valley. In the distance can be seen horsemen descending the steep winding track, leading to the bridge, May 1918. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C43071
IIi. Gaza
The coastal region of Gaza was the heart of the main Turkish defensive position in southern Ottoman Palestine. Three major battles were launched in 1917 by British and dominion forces to capture Gaza. However, only the third attempt to capture Gaza succeeded (7 November 1917), which was due to the prior British success at Beersheba on 31 October 1917 (below section).7
Gaza: An unidentified officer standing in the ruins of a street in Gaza with minaret in the background, 1918. By: James Francis Hurley. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C969226
Gaza: Two unidentified soldiers of the Australian Light Horse Brigade standing amongst the ruins of the Great Mosque at Gaza, 1918. By: James Francis Hurley.https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C969270
Gaza, Deir al-Balah: Camels of the 1st Battalion, Imperial Camel Corps, entrained after the second Battle of Gaza, ‘First World War.’ By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C4045
Gaza, Abasan al-Kabera: Australian soldiers releasing phosgene gas from cylinders, 1917. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C295139
Gaza: Aeroplane set on fire on retirement of the 9th Australian Light Horse from the First Battle of Gaza, 25 March 1917. By: Unk.
Gaza, Um Jerar: The mosaic floor of a sixth century Greek Christian Church, unearthed during military operations, 1917. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1002426
Drake, Lieut. F. M. (1918). A Sixth Century Greek Mosaic at Um Jerar. Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 50(3), 122–124. https://doi.org/10.1179/peq.1918.50.3.122
The plan shows that the original building was undoubtedly a Greek Christian church dating back to the early sixth century A.D.
Buried for many centuries beneath four feet of soil, with no indication whatever of its existence apparent, the floor was come upon by chance during the recent military operations before Gaza.
The marbles are of various tints and colourings, and representative of the finest marbles of Greece and other parts of Europe. These marbles were all imported. The border patterns are of the best period of Greek design, and well worth noting. The beautiful life-like outlines of the birds represented are so true to nature, and show such a deep knowledge of anatomy, that one is filled with admiration for the patience and love which the workman exhibited…
Lieutenant F. M. Drake (1918)
Gaza, El Arish: One of the men of the 6th Australian Light Horse Brigade, possibly Sergeant W O McEwan, preparing the Shellal Mosaic for removal and packaging to Australia. The mosaic is now on display in the Australian War Memorial, 1917. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1008824
Gaza: The Australian Army section of the military cemetery, 1918. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C298985
IIj. Beersheba
During Ottoman rule, Beersheba was a heavily fortified town 43 km from the Turkish bastion of Gaza (as above), and the purported scene of iconic Anzac photograph ‘Thunder of a light horse charge’ (first photo, below).8 This photograph has been the subject of controversy for over 100 years, with two competing narratives:
Narrative 1: The photograph was taken when the 4th Light Horse Brigade was staged near Belah, in or about February 1918, and was actually a reinactment of the historic charge for a cinematographer.
Narrative 2: The photograph indeed does capture the ‘real’ charge at Beersheba as recorded by ‘a Turk whose camera was captured later in the day’.9
Regardless of where the photo was taken, the taking of Beersheba culminated in the combat deaths of over 1,000 young men (both sides)10 and the historic city being set on fire (see photo).
‘Beersheba/Belah’: 'Thunder of a light horse charge'. The controversial real/staged iconic photo, 31 October 1917/February 1918. By: ‘a Turk whose camera was captured later in the day’/a cinematographer. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C986543
Beersheba, Bir 'Asluj: Group portrait of men of the 7th Australian Light Horse Regiment, resting in the sand before the charge at Beersheba, October 1917. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1133736
Beersheba, Bir 'Asluj: Members of the 2nd Light Horse Brigade digging for water as seen from the roof of a nearby building. ‘1917.’ By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1237271
Between Shellal and Beersheba: Trooper W West firing at dismounted Turkish cavalrymen, May 1917. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1292168
Beersheba: Dead horses lie on the ground near a line of soldiers and other horses after the Battle of Beersheba. They were probably killed during the charge of the 4th Light Horse Brigade, November 1917. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C315938
Beersheba: Abdul, an Arab pony captured from the Turks by the Australian Light Horse. A favourite of Frank Hurley's, he wrote about riding Abdul in his diary on 12 January 1918, "Abdul has become a great friend and is a capture from the Turks at Beersheba. He is one of the most beautiful little creatures I have ever set eyes on: a perfect model of Arab breed and blood,” 11 January 1918. By: James Francis Hurley. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C969223
Beersheba: The main street shortly after its capture by General Sir Edmund Allenby’s forces. The buildings on either side of the street were in flames when Allenby’s forces entered the town on 03 November 1917, November 1917. By: D. Macaulay. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C254307
Beersheba: A Bedouin, wearing old rags and tatters, wandered into an Australian Army camp south of Beersheba, ‘1917.’ By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2224
Beersheba: Mounted troopers from the 4th Light Horse Brigade walk along a dry sandy watercourse strewn with stones outside Beersheba. Standing undamaged in the background is Beersheba’s famous railway bridge which was built by the Ottoman regime and which the Turks had not had time to destroy before the light horsemen captured the town, November 1917. By: George S Stewart. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C304012
Beersheba, Abraham’s Well: The pumping plant at Abraham's Well constructed by Australian Engineers, October 1917. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C385795
Beersheba: The burial place for 31 Australians who fell during the taking of Beersheba, amongst Eucalyptus trees, which were specifically planted, 31 October 1917. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1037109
III. Portraits
They went with songs to the battle, they were young, Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow, They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted, They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.
As the stars shall be bright when we are dust, Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain, As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness, To the end, to the end, they remain.
Group portrait of NCOs of the 2nd Australian Light Horse Regiment. No identification details were recorded for the men in this group, November 1918. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C952517
Pilots Lieutenant C le B Brown MC and Captain R A Austin MC, whose machines came down when returning from Jerusalem. “The men walked 15 miles through hostile country, eating green watermelons to keep them going," June 1917. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2077990
Studio portrait of 1260 Private Ernest Henry Netherby, 4th Light Horse Regiment from Mount Cole, via Ararat, Victoria. A 24 year old labourer prior to enlisting in the AIF on 19 July 1915, he embarked for overseas with the 9th Reinforcements from Melbourne on 27 September 1915 aboard HMAT Hororata. While serving in the Middle East, he was killed in action on 2 May 1918 in Palestine and is commemorated on the Jerusalem Memorial in the Jerusalem War Cemetery, 25 August 1915. Australia: Victoria, Seymour. By: Darge Photographic Company. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1064022
Studio portrait of 593 Private (Pte) James Walters, 11th Australian Light Horse Regiment, of Albert Park, SA. Pte Walters enlisted on 10 December 1914 and embarked from Brisbane aboard HMAT Medic on 2 June 1915. On 30 April 1918 he was killed in action near Jerusalem in Palestine, 7 May 1915. Australia: Victoria, Melbourne, Broadmeadows. By: Darge Photographic Company. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C973477
Informal portrait of 82 Trooper (Tpr) Harry Bunyan, 12th Light Horse Regiment, of Bodangora, via Wellington, NSW. Tpr Bunyan, a labourer before enlisting on 23 January 1915 at the age of 17 years and three months, embarked from Sydney on HMAT Suevic with A Squadron on 13 June 1915. He was absorbed into the 1st Light Horse Regiment on Gallipoli on 29 August 1915, rejoining the 12th Light Horse Regiment on 22 December 1915 after the evacuation. He was killed in action at Beersheba on 31 October 1917, being shot while taking prisoners who had surrendered. He was recommended for the Military Medal for his 'gallantry and devotion to duty' during the taking of Beersheba, ‘1915.’ Australia: New South Wales. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1238964
Portrait of 3109 Trooper (Tpr) Christie Archibald Benham, station hand, of Dandaloo via Trangie, New South Wales, native of Portsmouth, England. Tpr Benham enlisted in the 7th Light Horse Regiment on 21 November 1916 and embarked on HMAT Boorara from Melbourne on 10 May 1917 for Suez. Tpr Benham was killed in action on 14 November 1917, aged 22 years. He has no known grave and his name is recorded on the Jerusalem Memorial, 1916. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C332020
Studio portrait of ‘Gaskett A,’ believed to be 1481 Private (Pte) Albert James Gaskett, 9th Light Horse Regiment (LHR) from Nar Nar Goon, Victoria. A 19 year old farmer prior to enlisting on 9 November 1915, he embarked for overseas with the 12th Reinforcements from Melbourne on 23 November 1915 aboard HMAT Ceramic (A40). After arriving in Egypt, he joined the 9LHR and served with them defending the Suez Canal before they continued on through Palestine, Jerusalem, Jordan and Damascus. Pte Gaskett arrived back in Australia on 30 August 1919, 1 September 1915. Australia: Victoria, Seymour. By: Darge Photographic Company. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1064239
Studio portrait of 13 Lance Corporal (L Cpl) Michael John Mahoney, 3rd Battalion, Imperial Camel Corps from Coleraine, Victoria. A 39 year old labourer prior to enlisting on 24 September 1914, he embarked for overseas with the 3rd Light Horse Brigade Headquarters from Melbourne on 25 February 1915 aboard HMAT Star of Victoria. After serving with the Brigade Headquarters at Gallipoli, followed by brief periods of illness, he transferred to the 8th Light Horse Regiment and then to the Imperial Camel Corps in September 1916. Whilst serving with the latter unit, he was killed in action at the Second Battle of Gaza on 19 April 1917. L Cpl Mahoney is commemorated on the Jerusalem Memorial with others who have no known grave. ‘First World War.’ By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C73566
Studio portrait of 390 Private (Pte) Richard Hobley, 8th Australian Light Horse Regiment (LHR). A farmer from Leongatha, Victoria prior to enlistment, Pte Hobley embarked with C Squadron from Melbourne on HMAT Star of Victoria on 25 February 1915. Whilst serving at Gallipoli he was wounded in action and later returned to duty. Following his promotion to Sergeant he was killed in action on the Sinai Peninsular on 9 August 1916, aged 23, and is commemorated on the Jerusalem Memorial. His brother 2027 Sergeant Joseph Hobley DCM served with 4th LHR and 3rd Field Artillery Brigade, ‘1914-1915.’ Australia: Victoria, Melbourne. By: Darge Photographic Company. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2073811
Studio portrait of 863 Trooper (Tpr) Richard (Dick) Graham, 1st Light Horse Regiment, of Wagga Wagga, NSW. A labourer prior to enlistment, he embarked with the 4th Reinforcements from Sydney aboard HMAT Shropshire on 17 March 1915. Arriving at Gallipoli on 29 September 1915, Tpr Graham was evacuated sick to a hospital at Malta the following month. Rejoining his unit in March 1916 in Egypt, he was later transferred to the 1st Battalion, Imperial Camel Corps. Tpr Graham was killed in action in Palestine on 19 April 1917, aged 23. He has no known grave, and his name is commemorated on the Jerusalem Memorial, 1915. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1237121
Studio portrait of 1643 Private (Pte) Henry Patrick Wright. A miner from Staffordshire Reef, Victoria prior to enlistment, Pte Wright embarked with the 11th Reinforcements, 8th Light Horse Regiment from Melbourne on HMAT Clan Maccorquodale on 13 November 1915. While serving in the Middle East he was wounded in the abdomen and admitted to the 3rd Light Horse Field Ambulance where, on 12 August 1916, he succumbed to his wounds aged 19. He is commemorated on the Jerusalem Memorial, 11 November 1915. Australia: Victoria, Melbourne, Broadmeadows. By: Darge Photographic Company. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1053417
Studio portrait of 3290 Trooper Victor 'Vic' Turnbull, was the son of Joseph Pearson Turnbull and Edith Turnbull of Thornton Street, Wellington, NSW, and was a native of the Gallymont area of the District. He attended State Public School and later worked in the grocery trade before enlisting at Wellington on 28 February 1917. Turnbull later became a member of B Squadron, 7th Light Horse Regiment, which participated in operations in Palestine. In May 1918, Turnbull's Regiment was operating in the Es Salt area of Palestine when Turnbull was killed in unusual circumstances as later related by Trooper Hilton Hubbard of C Squadron of the Regiment. Hubbard said that, "the Regiment was in bivvy (bivouac) when a bomb descended, dropping in the midst of B Squadron tents, Vic and six others were killed". Trooper Turnbull was officially listed as killed in action on 7 May 1918 although there was some suggestion that the actual date of Turnbull's death could have been 7 April 1918. At the time of his death Trooper Victor Turnbull was 19 years of age and is buried in the Jerusalem War Cemetery, 1917. Australia. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1019744
Studio portrait of 493 Trooper (Tpr) Jack Ellis. The back of the photograph is inscribed 'Jack Ellis 19.4.17'. A stockman from Richmond, Queensland, Tpr Ellis enlisted on 30 October 1914 and embarked with the 5th Light Horse Regiment, C Squadron, aboard HMAT Persic (A34) on 21 December 1914. Tpr Ellis served with the unit at Gallipoli and later as part of the Anzac Mounted Division in Sinai and Palestine. Tpr Ellis was severely wounded during the raid on Es Salt (30 April-4 May 1918). According to his service record he died before reaching the Field Ambulance and owing to the unit's evacuation his body was never recovered and buried. His name is recorded on the Jerusalem Memorial, 19 April 1917. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2123646
Studio portrait of Second Lieutenant Frederick Henry Naylor, Imperial Camel Corps from Malvern Victoria. A 36 year old plantation manager prior to being appointed an officer in the AIF on 16 April 1915, he had previously served with the 4th Victorian Contingent to South Africa from March 1900 to September 1901. He embarked for overseas with the 21st Battalion Headquarters staff from Melbourne on 10 May 1915 aboard HMAT Ulysses. After being promoted to Lieutenant on 26 August 1915, he transferred to the Camel Corps on 1 February 1916 and was promoted to Captain on 1 March 1916. While serving in the Middle East, he was Mentioned in Despatches for gallantry and was later killed in action near Gaza on 19 April 1917. Captain Naylor has no known grave and is commemorated on the Jerusalem War Cemetery Memorial, ‘First World War.’ By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C73799
Studio portrait of 3013 Private (Pte) William Lockhart Bronner Hope, 6th Battalion. A compositor from St Kilda, Victoria prior to enlistment, Pte Hope embarked with the 10th Reinforcements from Melbourne on RMS Osterley on 29 September 1915. Later transferring to the 1st Australian Camel Battalion, he was promoted to Corporal and reported as missing in action. A subsequent court of enquiry determined that he had been killed in action at Gaza, Syria, aged 25. Having no known grave he is commemorated on the Jerusalem Memorial, 17 August 1915. Australia: Victoria, Seymour. By: Darge Photographic Company. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1063839
Outdoor portrait of 1203 Private (Pte) William Stevens, 9th Reinforcements, 9th Light Horse Regiment, seated on a horse. Pte Stevens enlisted on 22 April 1915 and embarked from Adelaide aboard HMAT Star of England on 21 September 1915. He died of disease on 17 October 1918 and is memorialised at Jerusalem Memorial, September 1915. Australia: South Australia. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1013890
Informal portrait of 341 Trooper (Tpr) Norman McLeod Bethune, 8th Light Horse Regiment. Tpr Bethune, an irrigation farmer from Sale, Victoria, enlisted in September 1914, serving at Gallipoli and in Palestine. He died of wounds at Gaza on 19 April 1917, aged 31, 1916-1917. Egypt. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1139565
Grave markers of 484 Sergeant (Sgt) Louis Shannon Brook MM, of Pimpino, Victoria, and 3371 Trooper (Tpr) Clarence William Radburn, of Neville, NSW, both of the 1st Australian Light Horse Regiment. Both men were killed when they were ambushed by Turkish soldiers on 28 September 1918, although these original grave crosses are marked 29.9.1918. Their saddled horses are standing behind the soldiers' graves. Despite detailed notes and maps on the location of the graves on Tpr Radburn's service record, they were never found by grave registration units in 1922. Sgt Brook is now commemorated on Panel 58 at the Jerusalem Memorial and Tpr Radburn on Panel 59 at the Jerusalem Memorial, September 1918. Transjordan, Amman. By: Unk. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2100805
🙏 Angry but also so proud of all those past and presently in the armed forces. Beautiful article
Stunn8ng....and Heartbreaking