Current Information:

Age-34

53, Westbourne Terrace, Bayswater

After the Western Front, the second largest theatre of war between 1914 and 1918 was Egypt and Palestine. Britain had long had a foothold in Egypt guarding the vitally important Suez Canal and when war was declared against Turkey (the Ottoman Empire) who controlled all of what is now known as the Middle East, British troops were sent to guard the canal from attacks from the north. For the first two years of the war the British forces were on the defensive as the Turks, backed by the Germans, made a number of attempts against the canal but an important victory in August 1916 at Rumani relieved the pressure and the British force was then able to move onto the offensive and advance north into Palestine. It took them three attempts to break through the Gaza-Beersheba line which was finally achieved at the end of October 1917 followed shortly after by the capture of Jerusalem. In February 1918, the British Army extended their right towards the Jordan Valley as a result of which Jericho was occupied. The plan now was to launch large scale raids across the River Jordan and strike at the Hedjaz railway, a vital supply line for the enemy.

The first of these raids took place between 22nd - 30th March and was carried out by the 60th (2/2nd London) Division and the Australian and New Zealand Mounted Divisions.

During the night of 21st/22nd March, the battalions of 180 Brigade attempted to cross the river which, due to recent rains was running fast. At Ghoraniye the 2/17th London battalion launched several boats and rafts but the current was too strong. They were swept down stream and just about managed to regain their own bank further down. There was better luck at Hijlah where 2/19th London made their attempt. A party of nine swimmers managed to get across with a rope. A raft was then pulled over and soon the whole battalion had crossed, followed by 2/18th London. They had faced no opposition except for some sporadic rifle fire but when dawn broke and they tried to make their way through the thick scrub beyond the river they were pinned down by Turkish machine-gun and artillery fire and the decision was taken that no further attack would be made during daylight hours. During the night of 22nd/23rd March he rest of 180 Brigade were brought across and before dawn a line had been established astride the Na’ur track. That same night 181 Brigade crossed the river at Ghoraniye and 179 Brigade moved up from reserve and crossed at Hijlah. All of 60th Division were now across with only slight losses most of which came from 180 Brigade.

At 8,30am on 24th March they began their assault on the village of Es Salt, half way to Amman with 181 and 179 Brigades. At first they met little opposition but when they reached Tell el Mistah, six miles beyond the Jordan, more formidable resistance was encountered.  However this did not prevent the capture of Es Salt. On the next day heavy rain and sleet made progress towards Amman difficult but on 27th March the Camel Brigade were in a position to attack Amman from the west. This was not an easy task. The track into Amman from Ain es Sir ran along the crest of a bare open ridge and was exposed to machine-gun fire from both flanks. The attack got to within 600 yards of a hill covering the approaches to the town but could go no further. By the morning of 28th March the British line in front of Amman ran from the railway near Quseir, across the Ain es Sir track, a mile west of Amman, to a mile north-west of the town. The morning passed fairly quietly but at 1pm their attack began when 2/21st and 2/23rd London advanced on the north side of the main road with the New Zealand Brigade on the south side. This operation was not a success. The New Zealand Brigade was counter-attacked before they set off and although 2/21st and 2/23rd London  were able to cover the first 1000 yards without difficulty they then passed over the brow of a crest and were out of sight of the supporting artillery. Here they were exposed to flanking and frontal machine-gun and artillery fire and were eventually held up on a line 700 yards south-east of Amman. Among their casualties on this day was Walter Runcieman. This was just about as close to Amman as they were to get on this operation and after another two days fighting the whole force withdrew back across the River Jordan.