Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-12-14
THE CONQUEROR
OF JERUSALEM
Sir Edmund Allenby, Cavalry
man and "Good Officer" Has
Had Notable Career

VNH1S is. the psychological moment for some
L genealogical sharp to produce an au-
thentcated family tree Of Lieutenant Cen
eral Sir Edmund Henry Hyman Allenby. X.
c. d., latest conqueror of Jerusalem. TO ut
the romance OF the occasion Il should date
badt at least as far as the crusades and
should show that ono OF General Alenby's
ancestors stood beside Richard Coeur de
Lion on one or both OF the two occasions
| when that doughty but unlucky warrior
monarch viewed from afar tho walls OF tho
| coveted city which he was destined never to
enter.
Allenby is a name with Norman ring TO
| II, and it Is possible that one OF Sir Ed
| mund's forebears did actually squire the
| impetuous Richard Yea-and-Nay; but tho
modern conuueror is too recent a figure in
the war linelight for any biographer TO
| have yet dug UP such interesting facts. For
| the present General Allenby will have to be
| content with the honors that he has won for
| hmself-and these seem ample OF his ar
| cestry the world knows only that he Is not
the descendant OF a hundred belted earls.
but merely comes from what the English
| are given TO calling good family" All
that he has achieved in the profession OF
| arms has been through his own ability and
| by his own efforts.
As military ages go in these modern war
| times. General Allerby is not a young officer.
Born April 49, 1861. he had passed the age
| when military geniuses OF history gained their
| greatest laurels long before his name was
known outside British army circles As n
matter OF fact. probably would be
more astonished thar. Sir Edmund himself II,
| because of his success in Palestine. the world
| should now acclaim him a military genius.
| All he has ever pretended to be is Just what
| he was called at the Horse Guards when tho
war began and n very responsible duty was
| thrust upon hIm--a good officer, ono who
executes task, whether easy or difficult,
| with ms little fuss ard in as short time as
| possible.
"Allenby Is Dependable"
lie was a good officer when. upon leaving
| Haileybury College, an excellent but unrc-
| rCwned English secondary school. he entered
| the 1nriskillinR Dragons az "a subatern. He
| was a good officer. his superiors said. when
| he served in the Bechuanaland expedition in
| lS84-S5. He was "A good enough officer to be
made adjutant of his famous regiment In
| 1889, and SO good ar officer in the Boer War
| that he was twice mentioned in dispatches
and rewarded for his services by being made
| n Companion Of the Bath. Later. as COM
mander of the Fifth Cavalry Brigade in 1910,
| he continued 10 merit the trust ard confidence
| of his superiors. "Allenby is dependable"
| they said at the Horse Guards "a good
officer" every one agreed.
| 1t IS little wonder. therefore. that in the
dark hours Of 1914 the British War Office,
| seeking "A good officer TO take command of
| the cavalry eXpeditionary force. that forlorn
| hope that was to graphic with Won Kluck's
| Uhlans, turned to Brgader General Alenby.
| No small part Of the credit that is now
| freely given BritanS "coutemptible little
| army" for the part it played at Mons be-
| 'orred to Alenby and his troopers. 1t was.
| however, at best n losing fight though
| glorious in its gallant stubborness. and tho
| world is always inclined to withhold from
| losers the garands 1t lavshes upon these who
| actually achieve victories.
We know now that General Ailenby. as
| commander of the Third British Army con-
| tinued TO prove himself n good officer on
the west front during 1916. particularly in
| the battle of Arras. that began on Easter
| Sunday OF that year That the British gains
| H. that action were not commensurate with
| the losses suffered nrohahlv not HE fault
| That was British strategy then But until
| he was transferred TO the command Of the
| British forces in Egypt in Tune last Allenby's
! name was as wholly unfamiliar as that OF
| Byng itself
Cavalryman's Successes
| That Sir Edmund Is n cavalry officer by
preference and by training should occasion
| no surprise. So far as the British army Is
| cor cerned, this is a war in which the cavalry
has had little TO do. but in which cavalry
| leaders nevertheless have won distinction.
| Haig himself is a cavalrynlan, and so was
| his predecessor. the less aggressive Niscount
| French Byrg. the man who set thirSs pop
| pirg at Cambria as they had nor popped
| since the German Crown Prince sought tho
| glory due future Emperor at Nerdun, had
| always been in the cavalry arm of the service
| before the big war and for some time after
| II began. Since cavalry officers have made
| good in the trench fFhtirg in France and
| Flanders, small wonder was It that one
| should have heen chosen for the command
| In Egypt, where bodies of horses could be
used TO advantage.
Things had rot gone well for the British
| in Egypt in the early davs of the war It
1IAI l,nVr
| Turkish army got within striking distance of
| the SueZ Canal The AnZacs had their hands
full in defending the great waterway but by
| December. 1915, the tide had turned and the
| Turks had been driven back as far as FL
| Arish. eighty-five miles east OF the canal.
| Then followed a lull Of six months: then an
other Turkish advance, which met with a
| decisive defeat. The British had driver the
| Ottomans across the border into Palestine
| before Allenhv's arrival at the front, SO that
| he found affairs in better shape. thoueh far
from running smoothly, when he took COM
| mand Ar advance upon Jerusalem had
reached a point only about fifteen miles
| south of that city, while along the coast an.
| there the campaign Jagged until new life was
| infused into 1t by the good officer from the
| western front Since November. when he
| struck north. he has taken Beersheba. then
| GAIA, afterward Jaffa and now Jerusalem
pretty good evidence of efficiency ard enter
| prise
Aid for Arabian Rebels
Now that General Allenby has once more
proyed himself a good officer by winning
Jerusalem for the British and for Chris
tianity, the question arises. How much rea
Importance should be attached to his sue
cess? From a purely sentimental point OF
| view the fall of the shrine of Christendom
| looms big. Doubtless 1t has much political
value also even the German press admitted
this when the capture of the city was fore
cast some weeks ago. From a purely mill.
4 tary standpoint however. the capture seem:
to possess no great significance Very likely
the conqueror will follow up his success by
striking eastward and cutting the railway
line that unites the Moslem holy cities OF
Mecca and Medina with the main part Of the
Turkish Empire. BY doing this he will hav,
accomplished his main tasks which were tc