Aerial reconnaissance
Allenby was at Chetwode's XX Corps headquarters at el Buqqar when he sent a telegram to Chauvel, ordering the capture of Beersheba "before nightfall". However, before the telegram reached Chauvel the 4th Light Horse Brigade was preparing for their mounted attack. Aerial reconnaissance had established the feasibility of such an attack, since the trenches stretching across the direction of the charge were not reinforced by barbed wire or horse pits. The commander of the 12th Light Horse Regiment said: