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Age-40

Jerusalem War Cemetery

The Action of Tell ‘Asur  9th March, 1918

This was carried out by XX Corps in which the objective of 53rd Division was the hill of Tell ‘Asur, the highest point of Judea north of Jerusalem which was to be captured by 158 Brigade consisting of the 5th, 6th and 7th Royal Welsh Fusiliers and the 1st Herefordshire battalions. The steep terrain made this a difficult task but with the help of a powerful artillery bombardment, the 5th Royal Welsh Fusiliers captured it by 9.30am on 9th March. But this was an important observation point and the enemy was desperate not to lose it so they launched a number of counter attacks to try to regain it. The first was successful but they were then driven off it by 6th Royal Welsh Fusiliers and despite repeated efforts were unable to regain it.

The 10th Shropshire Light Infantry of 231 Brigade, 74th Division attacked and captured the village of Selwad while 230 Brigade attacked astride the Nablus road. 10th East Kent (Buffs) captured Yebrud while the other three battalions, including 12th Norfolk, advanced east of that village to capture the dominating height of Burj Bardawil

30 and 31 Brigades of 10th Division attacked the villages of Atara and Ajul which commanded the crossings of the Wadi el Jib. On 31 Brigade’s front 5th Royal Irish Fusiliers captured Atara but 30 Brigade came under heavy shell fire south of Ajul. Despite this the 1st Royal Irish battalion had occupied the village shortly after noon. The operation had been a success but there had been casualties for the British including Malcolm Bonsor of 12th Norfolk.