Battle of Beersheba remembered

THE Torquay and District Historical Society are this month commemorating the 100-year anniversary of the Battle of Beersheba – the last successful great cavalry charge in military history.

The charge by the Australian Light Horse took place on October 31, 1917 during World War I.

It is one of the more celebrated events in Australian military history – the Australian Light Horse and the Battle of Beersheba were commemorated at this year’s Anzac Day service in Torquay – and a fictionalised version of the battle was shown in 1987 film The Lighthorsemen.

According to the Australian War Memorial, Beersheba anchored the right end of a defensive line that stretched all the way from the Turkish bastion of Gaza on the Mediterranean coast.

“After two failed attempts to attack Gaza frontally, it was decided to outflank it by turning the Turkish line around Beersheba. The attack was launched at dawn on October 31 but by late afternoon the British 20 Corps had made little headway toward the town and its vital wells.

Lieutenant General Harry Chauvel, commanding the Desert Mounted Corps, then ordered the 4th Light Horse Brigade forward to attempt to secure the position.

“Brigadier William Grant responded by ordering light horseman of the 4th and 12th Regiments to charge at the unwired Turkish trenches.

“Employing their bayonets as swords, the momentum of the surprise attack carried them through the Turkish defences.

“The water supplies were saved and more than 1,000 Turkish prisoners were taken.

“The fall of Beersheba thus opened the way for a general outflanking of the Gaza-Beersheba Line.

“After severe fighting, Turkish forces abandoned Gaza on November 6 and began their withdrawal into Palestine.”