Published by: Ainslee Sutherand and Maxine Carlill / ICEJ Australia
Lest We Forget
Every year there is a day that is sacred to Australia and New Zealand. It is when we remember our beloved ANZAC’s. Although the date chosen to commemorate our soldiers was one that ended in major casualties and retreat, the heroism of the Battle for Gallipoli Campaign became legend and continued throughout the First and Second World Wars and beyond. |
Australian historian Kelvin Crombie notes in ‘Anzacs & Israel – A significant connection’, that some 330,000 Australians and over 100,000 New Zealanders served overseas during World War I. This included approximately 500 Aboriginal men who also enlisted for service, some 118 of these in the Light Horse. |
An Impossible Victory
‘This was so the Allies would not surrender the element of surprise, and also, because water needed to supply the large numbers of men and animals. As the Turks anticipated a frontal assault from the west, they had dug numerous trenches facing this direction. Although they had some trenches on the east of the city, and the strategic Tel el Sheba, (ancient Beersheba) was well fortified, they were not anticipating a serious assault from the east.’ (Anzacs & Israel.)
The horsemen made a weary, dusty 36 miles journey while the British troops were securing the south-eastern side of Beersheba and the NZ troops and ANZAC cavalry were taking position in the east to secure the important hill of Tel el Saba. This engagement was described as, ‘the scene of such brilliant fighting by the Anzac Mounted Division on the right flank of the Beersheba affair.’ (George Lambert WW1 artist). The Ottoman forces lost the Tel El Saba high ground defence to NZ troops, so they were given the order to destroy the wells of Beersheba and withdraw to the North. |
But British commander General Allenby sent an urgent word to Australian General Chauvel who then ordered: ‘Beersheba must be taken before nightfall if the wells are to be secured!’ The bold plan was a cavalry charge across 6000 yards of open field straight at Turkish artillery. By now, the Light Horsemen had battled 50-degree heat, and their steeds, the famous ‘walers’, had not had a drop of water in 60 to 70 hours. However, with only an hour until dawn, this was the only option to secure Beersheba in time. In many respects it was a suicide mission – against all odds. Though the strategic importance of the city was clear to Allenby, the Biblical import was not lost on him. One of his first acts as commander had been to issue a Bible to all his soldiers.
The Unfolding Of Dramas
‘At almost the same time as the charge was about to take place, the members of the British War Cabinet were arriving for their meeting in London. On the agenda was the discussion relating to the future of the land of Israel – pending its ultimate capture. All the esteemed members put forth their opinions for and against the proposal for a Jewish homeland in Palestine. |
Back in Palestine, at about 4.30 in the afternoon between 800 men of the 4th Australian Light Horse Brigade came out from behind the low lying hills to the east of Beersheba and began to move towards their destination – Beersheba’. (Anzacs & Israel. Kelvin Crombie) |
The Charge Begins
General Chauvel sent the 800 mounted soldiers of the 4th Light Brigade charging into the city at breakneck speed. Their bayonets drawn and their rifles slung across their backs, their advance outpaced Turkish artillery, who could not adjust their canons fast enough to zero in on the mounted Australians. The horsemen leapt right over the top of the trenches and defeated them in close hand-to-hand combat making way for the next wave of horsemen to charge straight into town and secure the all-important wells. |
This strategically impossible manoeuvre has been described as a modern day Gideon’s army. It should not have worked. The number of horsemen compared to Turkish artillery should have seen them all wiped out. After countless times in Israel’s history when God would fight for His people, He shows himself strong again in this victory that made way for them to become a nation. |
This great charge “Opened the gateway for the Jewish people to re-enter the stage of history,” said Prime Minister Netanyahu. “Without the Light Horsemen’s involvement, it is doubtful if there would be a modern-day Israel”. |
“It’s a remarkable choice of the Almighty to use a Nation furthest from Israel to spearhead the opening of the land to the Jewish people,” said Stan Goodenough, a Christian South African guide in Israel, at the 100 year re-enactment at Beersheba in 2017. |
‘At almost the same time as the charge, the War Cabinet in London agreed to the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine. The Minute as recorded at that historic meeting said: His Majesty’s Government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use its best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country. Two days later, on November 2nd, the Jewish Zionist organization was officially informed of this decision in a letter from Lord Balfour to Lord Rothschild, and thereafter the decision became known as the Balfour Declaration. |
Two history-changing events thus occurred on 31 October 1917. Indeed, one event was totally dependent upon the other and both laid the foundations for the establishment of the State of Israel some thirty years later. Australians and New Zealanders played a significant role in this foundation being laid’. (Anzacs & Israel. Kelvin Crombie) |
Another October 31/1517
It is interesting that on October 31, 1517, the priest and scholar Martin Luther nailed a piece of paper on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, containing the 95 revolutionary opinions that would begin the Protestant Reformation.
Now for the first time ever, Christians could read the Scriptures in the common language (previously it was only in Latin). Protestants began to read that God Almighty had not revoked His covenant relationship with the people of Israel. Some believed that they might even be restored to the land of Israel. These beliefs were often held in conjunction with the belief that Jesus would return to Jerusalem. These three dynamics played an increasing role in British society and the foundation was laid for Britain, out of all the nations in the world, to find itself as the empire that would restore Israel to its land. And that restoration was very much associated with soldiers from ‘the ends of the earth.’ |
At a later historic date, it is to be noted that one of those ‘end of earth’ nations Australia, was the first nation to vote in the U N in favour of Statehood for the Jewish nation, and Australia’s and Israel’s relationship continued to grow.
“…surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses…” Hebrews 12:1 |
October 31st is a celebration in some parts of the Church, of those Believers gone on before us to heaven. Halloween, a total corruption of this Christian celebration lays claim to a date that we can remember with gratitude. October 31 is a good day to “ …tell your children and grandchildren the mighty things I have done…” Exodus 10:2
In The Anzacs Footsteps
There is an impressive ANZAC Memorial and Museum Centre located in Beersheba’s British military cemetery. |
Australia and New Zealand are also forever memorialised in Israel through the ANZAC memorial in the western Negev which marks the spot where NZ troops took Tel el Saba in the lead up to the victory in Beersheba. There is a trail starting at the ANZAC memorial and ends at the WW1 memorial site in Beersheba which until present hostilities has been a much loved hiking trail. It’s a popular place to visit in the spring as colourful, particularly red, wildflowers cover the fields. The trail goes through part of the Be’eri Forest. The visitor can stop at viewing points along the way and look over the land our troops embarked on the long journey to their short, era shifting and impossible victory.
The Road To Jerusalem
‘Once Beersheba was captured, General Allenby then wanted to quickly release his horsemen up the coastal plain and capture Jerusalem before the winter rains arrived. British Prime Minister Lloyd George wanted Jerusalem to be captured before Christmas in order for it to be a morale booster for the public.’ (Anzacs & Israel. Kelvin Crombie)
The campaign therefore continued and other battles lay ahead for the ANZACs. One that displayed incredible bravery and horsemanship took place in the Galilee. Chauvel, commander of the Desert Mounted Corps, ordered the capture of the towns of Tzamakh and Tiberias to complete the strategic and tactical line held by his cavalry from Acco north on the Mediterranean Sea to Nazareth.
On 24 September the Australian Mounted Division commanded by Major General Henry West Hodgson, was ordered to capture Tzamakh and the railway bridges over the Yarmuk gorge. This cavalry charge was unique during the whole of the First World War, being the only one carried out in the dark and across country which had not been previously reconnoitred. The ground was found to be scattered with clumps of long spiked thistles, and a number of pitfalls causing nine men to be injured from falls during the charge.
The Light Horse had the highest number of Indigenous soldiers in any regiment within the ADF in World War 1.” And on 26 September 2019, a life-size sculpture, ‘The Aborigine and His Horse,’ was dedicated at Tzemach, commemorating Aboriginal members of the ANZAC forces, including those who captured Tzemach. Descendants of those horsemen travelled from Australia to participate in the statue’s inauguration.
Continuing The Legacy
Christian Believers in the God of Israel acknowledge and applaud not only the physical courage of horse and rider in history-turning battles but acknowledge the Hand of God in bringing together His purposes for His Land and People. We view the bravery and the battle as an inspiration for ongoing spiritual battles. We also continue to uphold the legacy of the ANZACs in our bold stand for the nation of Israel.
Own your piece of Australian history captured in this limited-edition artwork. All proceeds from the sale of each print go toward the continued support of the people of Israel which includes, Equine Trauma Therapy Relief and Bomb Shelters
[Information drawn from government sources; ICEJ website; ‘Anzacs and Israel’, Kelvin Crombie; ‘800 Horseman, God’s history makers,’ Col Stringer.]
