page_title: Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment
section_title: Amman raid
hierarchical_section_title: Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment / Jordan valley / Amman raid
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo of Amman March 1918.
context_page_description: The Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment was a mounted infantry regiment from New Zealand raised, in August 1914, for service during the First World War. It was assigned to the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, part of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.
  The regiment was established with twenty-six officers, 523 other ranks and 600 horses. It was formed from three squadrons belonging to pre war Territorial Force regiments: the 3rd Mounted Rifles, the 4th Mounted Rifles and the 11th Mounted Rifles. It included a small headquarters and, until 1916, a Maxim machine-gun section. During the war, the Maxim guns were withdrawn but the regiment's fire-power increased until each squadron had four Hotchkiss machine-guns, one per troop, by the end of the war.
  As mounted infantry, the regiment rode into battle on their horses but were expected to dismount and fight on foot. The regiment fought predominantly against the forces of the Ottoman Turkish Empire. Their first engagement was in the Gallipoli Campaign between May and December 1915, during which they participated in the largest battle of that theatre at Chunuk Bair and the fighting for Hill 60.
context_section_description: The regiment was next involved in a raid on the village of Amman to the east of the River Jordan. The force assembled for the operation comprised the ANZAC Mounted Division, the 60th (London) Division and the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade. Reconnaissance patrols had discovered that the river was not fordable and they would have to construct bridges to get across. Three viable sites had been selected at Makhadet (which means ford), Hajlah three miles (4.8 km) north of the Dead Sea, and Ghoraniyeh. Two crossings were to be constructed. At Hajlaha, pontoon bridge made from steel would be assembled for the mounted troops. The second crossing point, at Ghoraniyeh where there was already a damaged pontoon bridge, would have three bridges for the 60th Division: a normal pontoon bridge, a barrel bridge, and an infantry bridge.
  At midnight on 21 March, the infantry tried to cross at Ghoraniyeh, however the river was flowing too fast for their swimmers to get across. At Hajlah they had more success and a raft was constructed to ferry men and materials across. By dawn the Turkish had discovered them crossing and were engaging the crossing infantry with machine-gun fire. Engineers had finished the pontoon bridge by 08:10 and more troops were crossing, but their exploitation was restricted to around five hundred yards (460 m) from the river line as they were confronted by strong Turkish defences.
  At 05:00 on 23 March the regiment, the first mounted force, began to cross the river. They were passing beyond the infantry forward troops by 07:30. Two troops from the 11th Squadron were dispatched to the east and another north-east. One troop, twenty men, encountered a force of sixty Turkish cavalry and charged them, armed only with rifles and bayonets. The troop killed twenty cavalrymen and captured seven, in exchange for the death of one man, the troop leader who had ordered the charge. The troop sent north had forced a machine-gun post covering the river to withdraw, but the gun and its crew were later captured by men from the 4th Squadron. While this move had been progressing, the troop of the 11th Squadron had been sent north from the crossing. At the same time the 3rd and 4th Squadrons galloped north to take the Turkish defenders at Ghoraniyeh from the rear. At 09:00 the leading troops, without loss, captured the first Turkish outpost with seventeen prisoners. One troop of the 3rd Squadron dismounted and captured two machine-gun posts overlooking the crossing, which allowed the rest of the squadron to drive off the remaining defenders. While the 3rd Squadron concentrated on the crossing the 4th Squadron was ordered to gallop and capture the village of Shunet Nimrin, but were unable to approach the village when confronted by heavy artillery fire. The day's battle cost the regiment one dead and two wounded. By that night the bridge at Ghoraniyeh was completed and the remainder of the ANZAC Mounted Division were crossing at Hajlah.
  The next morning, when the NZMRB had crossed the river, McCarroll was given command of the vanguard, comprising the regiment, a squadron from the Canterbury Mounted Rifles and the Hong Kong and Singapore Mountain Artillery Battery. Progress was slow along the steep tracks and they had to camp in the hills that night at an altitude between 2,000 to 3,000 feet (610 to 910 m). During the night it started to rain, making travelling along the small tracks even harder at daylight. Because the rest of the division was having even worse problems than the brigade, they stopped at the village of Ain es Sir. During the day, they captured seven Germans and eighty-eight Turkish troops. Another problem for the regiment was the lack of supplies; their rations were stuck somewhere behind them on the track. The remainder of the division arrived during the day and the raid on Amman was planned for the next day, 27 March.
  At 08:00 the NZMRB set out heading south-east, the plan called for them to assault Amman from the south. The vanguard was provided by the regiment with the 4th Squadron leading. When they got within three miles
caption: Amman with Hill 3039 in the background
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