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| Ottoman Troops defending Gaza- Picture by American Colony restored by Durova |
Over the last fortnight I've been reading memoirs set on either side of the the time frame for the 'Land of Broken Promises' trilogy. On the left hand side of the frame, as I visualize it, are memoirs describing events in Palestine during WW1 (and yes, despite all the arguments one hears to the contrary, the area that became the British Mandate of Palestine, post WW1, was referred to as Palestine in Victorian, Edwardian and WW1 literature.) On the right hand side are books describing events in that area since the 1948 partition. Today I want to talk about a book from the left hand pile. There is another on the right hand pile I want to discuss in a later post.
THE
FIFTH BATTALION HIGHLAND LIGHT INFANTRY IN THE War 1914-1918 by COLONEL F.L.
MORRISON, C.B., D.S.O., V.D. is an invaluable book for anyone who wants to to
take a wider view of WW1 . The good news is that it is free for download
in several formats from Gutenberg.
In this detailed account of daily life with the battalion we travel with it from Scotland to Egypt and on to trench warfare in Gallipoli in 1915 then back to Egypt and tents in 1916. There the battalion becomes part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF)for the invasion of Palestine,
The EEF re-occupies the Sinai desert and marches through the Negev, building a railway behind it and laying down a chicken wire road in front for the convenience of marching infantry.A convoy of thousands of camels carry water and rations to the troops from wherever the railway has reached, The EEF's progress is halted outside Gaza where it digs into hillsides on the fringes of the wilderness and the troops gaze in frustration at the fertile land in front of them. For Gaza at that time is very different from the town that exists today. It is an important depot for cereals with a German steam mill. Barley, wheat, olives, vineyards, orange groves, and wood for fuel are grown as well as many goats grazed. Maize, millet, beans, and water melon, all harvested in early autumn, are cultivated nearby. The produce isn't just for local use and trade isn't all one way. Before WW1. barley was exported to England for brewing into English beer. In 1912 the 40,000 inhabitants of Gaza imported £10,000 of yarn from Manchester.
After
two defeats the EEF captures Gaza and the battalion moves on to help defeat the
Ottoman army throughout Palestine.
From
a conquered Palestine the Battalion sails, in the spring of 1918, on to Southern
France and from there travels by train to take part in the final stages of trench warfare
in the North. This is the point at which
I would usually close the book and take up the next in my ever-increasing list
of book-to-read. However, curiosity overcame my self-inflicted timetable and
I carried on reading.
It
was in the French portion of the story that I received my biggest shock. For some
reason I have always assumed that only
Germans used poison gas as a weapon during WW1
so on reading the following paragraph:
“When at La Lacque we received
our gas training. It took the form of a route march to a place six miles away,
where the whole Division being assembled as at sports, various demonstrations
were made, including the firing of projectors—tabloid gas training.”
I
assumed the training was designed so the battalion could set up defences
against gas attacks.
It
was only when I read the following paragraph later in the chapter that my
illusions were shattered.
About
this time a number of gas beam attacks were made from our line. These were from
the infantry point of view a great advance on the old system, which meant
man-handling innumerable heavy gas cylinders up the trench system to the
firing-line. By the new system a light railway was run forward to the front
line and all the infantry had to do was to push the bogeys forward. When all
were in position the gas expert turned a handle and a poisonous mixture hissed
off towards the enemy. What casualties, if any, were inflicted we never heard;
we certainly had a number as the result of enemy retaliation by shell fire.
I am glad I continued reading that memoir after the battalion had moved from Palestine, even if it does leave me wondering how many more
comforting assumptions I make about
the actions of my own country.
