Sunday 18th
November 1917
We have heard
today of the doings of the 1st/5th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, part of
the expeditionary force in Palestine. Following the victory at Gaza at the
beginning of the month, the army has been following the retreating Turks.
The enemy
abandoned Gaza on night of 7th/8th November. The Bedfords then had a period of
“cleaning and straightening up generally” to quote the adjutant. They moved
from the Sheikh Hasan area to a bivouac on cliffs by the sea on 12th.
On 14th they
proceeded by route march to Herbieh some miles north-east, on the mediterannean
coast. The following day they marched to El-Mejdel just inland from Ashkelon.
The next day, permission having been given to visit the village in the morning
the Battalion began a march at dusk to Esdud(1), along the railway line to the
north east - arriving at 10 pm.
Yesterday the
men marched to Yebna, arriving at 4 pm. Today they are due to march to Ayun
Kara. They will thus have advanced forty miles. As a postscript we heard this
morning that the vital port of Jaffa fell to the army on Friday, though the
harbour is not yet safe for ships to unload vital supplies.
The correspondent's very amateurish attempt at a sketch map of Palestine above may give some idea of the Bedfords' route from Gaza to Jaffa.
The correspondent's very amateurish attempt at a sketch map of Palestine above may give some idea of the Bedfords' route from Gaza to Jaffa.
Source: X550/6/8
