Evening star., 1918-09-23
BRIT'l|SHGIVE:TURKS
COSTLY. SURPRISE
Advance in Palestine Sector
Accomplished by Night
Marches.

LONDON. September % British
wireless service Pa1estine).-Furthe
| information received concerning the
dramatic advance Of the British army
| in Palestine, begun during the night
Of September 10, serves to confirm
| the completeness Of the surprise and
I the magnitude Of the success. A spe-
cial correspondent at Gen. A1lenby's
headquarters writes:
| "The victory is much more impor-
tant than the number Of prisoners at
| present reported indicates, for the
| Turk has had smashing blow and is
| retiring into the hills as fast as his
weary legs will permit. The British
are pressing him with splendid energy,
delivering .overpowering blows in
every attempt to resist.
| The situation is most promising
It is certain that Gen. Anenby Will
| deliver a large portion OF Palestine
| from the dominion of the Turks. as
.well as inf1ict on the enemy a severe
| defeat.
Troops Moved by Night.
preparations for the battle entail
| ed a good deal of marching. The
| troops were always moved by night
and remained hidden in the orange
| and olive groves in the daytime. The
British mastery of the air prevented
enemy observers from seeing any
change in the dispositions and the
movements of large columns. Troops
~ oil al Oh
fully in a country where the marching
of men arises huge columns Of dust,
and the Turk, too, possessed positions
that commanded a wide range. But
he remained mystif1ed, which is the
finest tribute that could be given to
the work of the British staff.
THE infantry opened a way for the
cavalry to pass through, and then
there was wonderful spectacle of
long columns of British yeomanry
and Australian light horse and pic
turesque Indian cavalry moving over
the coastal sector Of the plain of
Sharon to get to the enemy'S rear"
Turks Taken by Surprise.
BRITISH FORCES IN PALESTINE,
Friday, September 20 (Reuter).-
! While the Turkish army was occu-
pied in strengthening it's defensive
positions Gen. Allenby's plans for the
present British offensive were care
fully maturing. The troops were in
| tensively trained and the ground was
closely studied. British airplanes
prevented enemy craft from crossing
the British lines to observe the prep
arations for the attack, which took
| the Turks completely by surprise.
The Ottoman right flank, though
in formidable positions, was over
! whelmed. British troops went
through the enemy's wires and cap
tured his first trenches before he had
time to lay down a barrage On the
remaining works some were most
powerfully organized, but they were
speedily overcome by the dash and
gallantry Of the British and Indian
troops.
Whole Regiment Easily Taken.
In one sector an entire Turkish regi-
ment, with its commanding officer. was
captured with insignificant loss.
Within a few minutes after the Of
fensive was launched the Turkish
troops, were streaming eastward in
the direction of Tul Keran.
The British air supremacy was SO
complete that not one German ma
chine was able to show itself Brit
| ish aviators harassed the enemy by
a series of bombing raids, while
camps. troops and transports were
| effectively machine-gunned by low
flying airplanes.
The German airdromes at the same
/ time were dominated by British ma
| chimes, which dropped bombs on any
enemy plane that attempted to rise.
The airmen also assisted the infantry
| to advance by means of smoke
! screens, and night f1iers bombed the
| Turkish army headquarters effect
| lively. 49,
Staff Officers Taken.
! One incident showed the nature of
| the surprise attack made by the Brit
ish. A staff car, with Turkish officers
! in turning a corner in one town, met
| a British armored car. and all the
| Turks we're captured.
| The roads converging at Nabulus
and beyond are jammed with retreat
ing transport and fugitive troops. af-
fording easy targets for our airmen,
| who are raiding them with bombs
| with terrible effect and are also ma
| chine-gunning the roads and doing
great execution. At one spot, where
| the road has a sheer descent, great
! piles of transport are heaped up:
| In the southern sector east of the
Nabulus road Welsh and Indian
| troops encountered strong opposition
! Wednesday, but accomplished a re-
| markable performance, capturing all
their objectives. The uSlits making
/ the attack moved in ecf1elon, passing
| through one another as they reached
| ten miles of most difficult country.
| The unit of Cape colored troops en-
| gagged in the operations displayed
great gallantry and push.