Evening star., 1928-10-07
Allenby Of Jerusalem

raise the morale of the troops to a
phenomenal pitch, and they all well
coined Bull" Allenby as long-lost
brother
He also gave each man short leave
of absence in Cairo. And 1t was not
| long before you could see a great
change come over the entire army. with
the result that from then on the Turks
never stopped in their retreat until
they were driven all the way north
through Palestine; then all the way
through Syria; and If they hadn't
crumpled up and thrown down their
arms verify believe that Allenby and
| mis- cavalrymen would have chased
them all the way north through Turkey
right into the Golden Horn.
Allenby seemed to be willing to put
up with a lot from the men in the
ficers who were mainly ornamental. He
broke incompetent majors. colonies and
generals right and left. OF course, that
won him enemies-but not among the
privateS! The TommieS and Arzacs
loved him for 1t.
In size he was big man in an army
where big men were common. Some of
the Australian cavalrymen in his desert
mounted corps were huge fellows AL
lenby also stood the internal heat better
than most, and was not flnicky about
exposing himself to the flaming sun of
the desert. The Dead Sea Valley is one
of the most blistering hot places on
| this planet. Over thousand feet be-
low sea level and a parched desert, few
animals are able to live there, and as
for human beings-wel, they just
barely gasp.
Alienby's Rolls-Royce sank up to its
| hubs in quickSand one day when he was
crossing this earthly Hades The tenn
perature in the shade was somewhere
around 100 or 1870 degrees. In the sun
1t was of course, far worse. Somebody
had to dig the car out. And Allenby
did 1t. with his huge bare hands. He
crawled through the oozy alkali sand
and Scooped room to lie under the car.
Then he squirmed under, and those
| powerful hands made the mud fly until
/ the wheels of the car were free, and
the staff captains fiivver was able to
pull the Rolls-Royce out. When the
conqueror of the Holy Land crawled
from under he was so covered with
white slime that he was unrecognizable.
Fighter All His Life.
= Allenby has been fighter all his life.
Like nearly all great cavalrymen he Is
somewhat rough and ready. That is
he is at times. But there is different
side to him and one that may astonish
any one who does not know the British
Allenby is classic example of type
that is enthusiastically English. Not
only Is he formidable fighter and
great military leader, but he is at the
. a n1a
who first won fame as a cavalry leader
and capped 1t as brilliant strategist
and conqueror in the Near East, Is a
finished classicist. He reads both Greek
and Latin we'll enough to be unfamiliar
with their literature in translation.
To that extent he has something in
common with Lawrence of Arabia, to
whom I daresay line of the Iliad in
English would be an exotic novelty. Both
Allenby and Lawrence were thoroughly
versed in the rich history and the mag
nificent historical drama enacted in ages
gone by IN the lands over which they
were waging their campaigns. But above
everything else, Allenby is thorough
student Of the Bible. Two books were
at his side throughout the war in the
East. One was the Bible, of course and
the other was Sir George Adam Smiths
marvellous Geography of the Holy
Land"
Likes Flowers and Birds.
But Allenby had another hobby. Wher
not fighting battles and making history
he devoted many hours to the study ii
flowers and birds. When the planning
OF the coming fight with the Turks was
done end the distribution of troops and
orders of battle were all arranged. you
might sec the commanders in -chief Out
alone examining some strange plant
among the rocks OF Judea.
He happened to discover a Yorkshire
sergeant among his men who was a de-
votee OF ornithology. So Allenby gave
this burly Yorkshireman q special as
signment. He stationed him. like some
sentinel Of natural history, at a water.
ing hole not far from general head
quarters 1t was a pond where n1icra.
tory birds frequently stopped on thei,
way from one cline to another. The
moment he spied any new species oi
bird that came to drink the sergeant
would instantly report the discovery tc
Ailenny. Then this modern successor tt
Richard Occur de Lion would leave his
maps and military cares and 90 down
and try to make the acquaintance of the
bird. BY the time the campaign in Pal.
estine was over and a new page added
10 the DOCK OF history. Allenby probably
knew as much about the birds and wild
animals and wild flowers of the Holy
Land as any living man.
England seems to breed them like
that. Nor is her empire likely tc
crumble SO long es she does.
In welcoming Allonby We are welcom-
ing man whose deeds make us feel
that We are living in an age when
giants still walk the earth.
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