Omaha daily bee., 1916-11-12
BRITISH GENERALS
NERVE WINS ROMANI
Sand Dune Trap Leads Thou
sands of Turks and Camels
to Death.
GERMAN LEADERS BLUNDER

according to military men, in the re-
cent battle of RomaU, in which the
British defeated the Turks, the invad-
ers losing some 5000 in dead, wounds
ed and prisoners out of their total OF
approximately $4,000 men, as has been
told in cable adWces. The crossing
of the Sinai desert with big guns and
other war equipment during the heat
of summer was an unprecedented
achievement A representative of The
Associated Press, who was permitted
to travel over the entire battle ground
after the conflict, had been told pre-
viously by high military authorities
that the feat could not be accom-
plishcd and that any force sitting
along the Suez canal would be safe
from attack throughout the summer.
One of the few descendants, however,
was Lieutenant General Sir Archibald
Murray, commander-in-ch OF the
British forces in Egypt. Immediately
uopn his assumption of command here
last January he began to prepare for
just such an attack. and the victory at
Romani was due to his foresight.
The Turkish expedition undoubt-
edly was engineered by German Off
GERS, who laid elaborate plans for the
advance from the direction of Ell
Arish, Turkish post on the northern
coast, ninety miles from the canal.
About half this distance is through a
waterless desert and at this time of
year the heat is intolerable. 1t would
be impossible for men to march, for
in these sands one sinks to the ankles
at every step, and horses are not fit
ted for work of this kind. The only
means of transporting troops and sup
plies was on camels and this was the
method employed. About $4,000 OF
these beasts were used.
Unique Roads.
Unable to drag the heavy gun car
rages through the loose, deep sands,
the Turks constructed roads by dig
ging small parallel trenches which
would fit the carriage wheels, and
filling these tracks with the scrabby
plants which represented the only
vegetable life outside>the GASES. These
wiry plants formed cushion over
which sand was thrown, making a
very practicable road for the guns. In
some places where the sand was too
loose and deep for this track, planks
were laid lengthwise under the
wheels.
Progress was necessarily slow and
long before the Turks reached the
watered positions which they took
up some miles in front of Romani
the British were ready and waiting
for them. The defenders did not at
tack, for it was the plan to draw the
invaders on to an assault if possible.
General Murray decided that he
would wait a certain length of time
and then force the issue if the Turks
had not advanced, 1t seemed almost
like forlorn hope that the Turks,
with their astute German leadership,
would be led to. an attack on the
Romani position, for adj the country
in this section is covered with great
steep dunes, some of which cannot
be climbed il places because of the
sliding sands. All these dunes were
well protected by the British. How
ever, as had been hoped, at midnight
on August 3 the Turks began an at
tack which ended in complete disaster
for them on August 5.
Military Mystery.
Just what persuaded the Turks to
try to take this apparently impregna-
Bile position is a matter of consider
able speculation Some express the
opinion that they were misinformed
as to the nature of the battle-ground.
Others think they misjudged the Brit
ish strength and hoped, despite the
difficulties presented, to take the posi-
ton and establish a base from which
they could work against the canal.
However that may be, they were
cleverly drawn into the sand dune
trap.
They fought bravely and their ar
tillery shooting was very accurate
and effective in places, but no body
Of attacking troops could hope to
fight their way through these dunes
when opposed by artillery, machine
guns, cavalry and entrenched infantry.
= Terrible Onslaught.
The Turks suffered from lack of
water, since they had to advance from
their base laden as lightly as possible.
Both sides undoubtedly underwent al
most the limit of human endurance
from the great heat. The climax of
the battle was the charge of the An
FAC light horse, who arrayed them
selves on a ridge some two miles and
half in length and hurled them
selves down upon the Turks, who
were struggling forward in the sandy
trap. and were defenseless against the
terrible onslaught.
The general opinion is that the
Turks must have, proved to their own
satisfaction that while they might
bring troops across the desert. vet
they could hope for no success dur
ing the hot season unless they had
communication railways established
back of them. For this reason. it is
believed that they will not venture to
attack again in force during the sum-
mer.
An Explanation.
A Turkish prisoner OF war, a major,
who was captured at Romani, gave
the correspondent an explanation of
the Turkish expedition. The major
declared that it was merely a recon
noitering force sent out to pave the
way for real advance which would
take place shortly. The $4,000 men
were to size up the British strength
and make preparations along the way
for the bigger army which was to fol-
low, But his somewhat startling as
sertion lost some of its force when
"a fellow OFFICER sitting beside him
made an Intellectual attempt to hide
a smile.