Arizona republican., 1918-07-15
SOLDIER WRITES OF ' FIGHTING OV LAND
 IF BIBLICAL LORE

Following are extracts from letter written in Palestine by q New Zealand trooper who left that country about the middle of last year as one of those who made up the twenty sixth rein forcement of the New Zealand Moun,- ed Rifles. On June 25 this letter was received by this troopers father, who was then visitor to Los Angeles, California:
 April 1S-The Turks this morning have been endeavoring to retake the Jordan at this crossing, but have suf- fered a severe reverse. As I write, the high explosive is bursting over the river and its vicinity.
 T presume I get as much excite ment out of the war as 1 am likely to want. When you have about Is Taubes overhead dropping their eggs and us- ing their machine guns, which occurred here the other evening, when 200 men and 200 camels fell victims, that is ex- citing enough. In this particular in- stance we were camped on the eastern side Of the Jordan, preparing for raid on the Turkish railway, and had just | enjoyed some tea and biscuits, when a | fleet of hostile planes put in an ap- pearance, and, needless to say, we re- uired no order to take cover. dropped into a small depression in the ground, awaiting events, and soon began to realize that my position might be i'm proved on. as l was between two camel corps. By this time the enemy had espied the camels. which were in a very congested state, covering about an acre or so This was the time, and only time, l wished I had a steam roller on top of me. l had not long to think, when a little agitation of the air, and plonk, plonk, came the first of the bombs and they were soon fol- lowed by others.
 l Many Dead Camels.
 l l stood up to look for better protec- tion; as l did so one came to earth close at hand, so I dropped down again and lay as close l had ever been to the ground. The bombers finally took their departure and I realized and 1 was still there and quite whole. As to the camels, they were there in all fantastic shapes, wit, a sprinkling of men intermingled in their warm blood. l We often have rehearsals of this nature, especially on moonlight nights. the enemy appearing. and, flying very low, using his machine ~uns
 Our raid aero the Jordan did not accomplish much, but we had the satis- faction of releasing some thousands of | Christians from the Turkish yoke. These people had been driven from their homes by the willy Turk in his iretirement. l shall not forget our re- turn with all those refugees-men, women and children-carrying most of their earthly chattels and streaming Idown the mountain paths to a place of Isafety some 30 miles distant.
 My first experience of active service was back in November. when we made Jour big offensive. taking Beersheba land Gaza. and putting the Turks on lthe run On that particular day I was detailed off as guide and escort to a caravan of canels. going up with ra- ltions to our flank. You can imagine
 my feelings when I was ordered tc
 leave at ' o'clock to travel all night
 with no maps, practically no road. and through the country of half-Wild Bed
 ouins. At my destination I came ir
 contact with the Sherif of Mecca's
 men. On the return the camels were
 loaded with sick and wounded men.
 Scorpions, Too.
 T guess we get quite enough hert to keep us awake without the Turks
 The flies are very thick; in fact,
 have not seen them so bad anywhere
 else. There are also scorpions; I hat
 one about four inches long crawl uI
 inside my pants, but I embraced hin : so severely that he expired before h,
 could do any harm.
 q have had the privilege of visitinl
 old Jerusalem twice under a guide I have camped in the city, and on thre'
 sides of it. including the Mount o , Olives and Bethlehem.
 'Later-Since writing the foregons we were called out on a stunt of ?
 hours, across the Jordan. to hold tn Turks while the Sheriff of Mecca tool a certain town on the Damascus raif
 way An amusing incident occurret r on our return journey. One of ou , troopers and his mule turned turtle
 off the pontoon bridge into the Jor f dan. We read in the Good Book 0 , John the Bantist having baptized peo . pie in the Jordan, but it was rathe humiliatiNr to a gallant New Zea ilander to have come many thousand lof miles to be so ignominously i'm Imersed in Jordan's historic water
 with a mule.
 I "We have had oranges galore. Ther I are some very fine orange groves nea f the coast. but vineyards predominat, , Postal arrangements are good. for p lhave received three cards from Ne7 n Zealand and also got my mail regular , lly In my travels here, I have see
 some first class land, quite equal to an p I have seen elsewhere.
 p From our present position we over look Jericho. To our right is the Dea
 Sea; to our left the Mount of Tempta ton. where the Devil is supposed t
 have tempted Christ; and, of cours
 in front of us the Jordan Jericho e ia very insignificant place. but som e hot" as it lies about 1.200 feet belo' = sea level"
 = vised that there is no chance of con