page_title: Desert Mounted Corps
section_title: 1917
hierarchical_section_title: Desert Mounted Corps / Service history / 1917
caption_attribution_description: AWM caption&#160;: Ottoman Empire: Palestine. Near Belah. A Battery, Honourable Artillery Company attached to the 4th Australian Light Horse Brigade. The gun crews are crouched between their 13 pounder quick fire field guns and a cactus hedge.
context_page_description: The Desert Mounted Corps was an army corps of the British Army during the First World War, of three mounted divisions renamed in August 1917 by General Edmund Allenby, from Desert Column. These divisions which served in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign had been formed by Australian light horse, British yeomanry, and New Zealand mounted rifles brigades, supported by horse artillery, infantry and support troops. They were later joined by Indian cavalry and a small French cavalry detachment.
  The Desert Mounted Corps comprised the ANZAC Mounted Division, the Australian Mounted Division and the Yeomanry Mounted Division, with infantry formations attached when required, as had Desert Column. In the first month of its existence, the corps continued training and patrolling no man's land preparing for manoeuvre warfare. Their first operations would be the attack, along with the XX Corps of the Battle of Beersheba. Having captured their objective they were involved in a series of battles, before the old Gaza to Beersheba line was finally broken a week later.
context_section_description: The first operation planned for the Desert Mounted Corps was to break through the Turkish lines, in southern Palestine, which stretched for thirty miles (48 km) from Beersheba in the east to the Mediterranean coast at Gaza in the west. Once Beersheba was secured the mounted troops would be concentrated on the British right to cut off and destroy the retreating Turkish forces. Any mounted attack on Beersheba would require a march of seventy miles (110 km) over dry and unknown country. So prior to the attack a reconnaissance of the Turkish positions was carried out mapping tracks and wadi crossings. Chauvel deployed his corps, with one division forward occupying a lightly held line between Shellal and El Gamli. Which was also responsible for short patrols into no man's land and longer patrols to reconnoitre the Turkish defences. A second division supported the front line based around Abasan el Kebir. While the third division was resting at Tel el Marrakeb. Each month the divisions moved around so no one division spent longer at the front than was necessary.
  To prepare for the coming offensive each man was issued an officers-style saddle wallet, in which they could carry three days' rations and some spare clothing. Attached to the saddle were two nosebags with nineteen pounds (8.6 kg) or two days of grain for the horse. A third day's grain and two days' rations for the men were carried with the divisional train. Every two weeks the forward division would move en masse towards Beersheba; leaving in the afternoon they marched all night to be in a position on the high ground in front of town by dawn the next day. There they remained all day and returned to their base the following night. These long-range patrols got the men and horses used to desert travel, with no water available for the horses from the afternoon they left until they returned. These patrols were not without danger and they were often attacked by Turkish aircraft and artillery which had previously registered approach routes, wadi crossings and the high ground. The patrols accustomed the Turks to the appearance of British troops in front of Beersheba, without them taking any offensive action before withdrawing again. This patrol routine continued until the end of October when the corps moved forward for the coming offensive.
  After dark 30 October the ANZ MTD DIV headed for Beersheba securing their first objectives by 08:00 the next morning. The 2nd Brigade moved on Tel el Sakaty hill, the New Zealand Brigade towards Tel el Saba, while the 1st LH Brigade was the reserve. At 10:00 the Australian Division reached their start point the Khashim Zanna hill overlooking Beersheba, sending patrols forward to reconnoitre a way into the town. At the same time the advancing 7th Brigade was forced to dismount in the face of heavy opposition from well constructed Turkish defences. Now the ANZ MTD DIV was also facing heavy resistance and it was not until 13:00 that the 2nd Brigade captured Tel el Sakaty and at 13:30 cut the road north to Jerusalem. Around the same time that XX Corps secured their objectives in the west.
  By now the New Zealand Brigade was unable to proceed being pinned down by Turkish artillery and machine-gun fire. The 3rd LH Brigade with the divisional artillery were sent to assist the attack from the south. Major-General Edward Chaytor in command of the ANZ MTD DIV, committed his reserve 1st Light Horse Brigade to support the southern attack. The 2nd and 3rd Light Horse Regiments unable to approach their objectives under cover, charged in the open through artillery and machine-gun fire, until they reached a depression in the ground 1,500 yards (1,400 m) short of their target where they were able to dismount and fight forward on foot. At 14:00 the 2nd Light Horse Regiment captured their objective and relieved the pressure in front of the New Zealanders, who carried out a bayonet charge capturing their own objective, 120 prisoners and several machine-guns. The last defences in front of Beersheba had been taken, but there was still a large expanse of open grou
caption: A Battery, Honourable Artillery Companys 13-pounder guns
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