Australia's Battle of Beersheba
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- čas přidán 22. 04. 2024
- The Battle of Beersheba was fought on the 31st of October 1917 between the British Empire forces of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) and elements of the Ottoman Empire's Yildirim Army Group.
Following the EEF's advance out of the Sinai and failed attempts to seize Gaza, a plan is devised to capture the important town of Beersheba, thereby outflanking the Ottoman forces. At dawn on 31 October, EEF forces including the Australian Mounted Division and ANZAC Mounted Division, commenced the assault on Beersheba.
By the late afternoon, with initial objectives seized, the Australian and ANZAC Mounted Divisions were ordered to make a final assault and capture the town of Beersheba before night fell. Thus, the stage was set for the 4th Light Horse Brigade to make their daring cavalry charge, seizing victory for the EEF and ensuring their place in Australian military history forevermore.
This is the second video released in The Cove's Australian Army Battle Honours Series. See the first video on Australia's Gallipoli Campaign.
This video has been a collaboration between The Cove, the Australian Army History Unit, Ignition Immersive, Interserv, and Effective Animations.
Original post: cove.army.gov.au/article/aust...
More on Australian Army Battle Honours Series: cove.army.gov.au/article/aust...
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I used to pass every morning by the "Australian army cemetery" and Alenby garden in Be'er-Sheva.
Fascinating to finally hear how it all really happened.
G'day from England 🏴 Australia 🇦🇺, never forget
England did in the 70's
Lest we forget
We will never forget mate👍❤️
Yes, we also wont forget.
Australia for the English!
This makes my heart hurt with pride. I read this and am so proud to be an Aussie. What none of you understand in you’re not an Aussie or a Kiwi, is as they were the ANZACs, I they’d do anything for a “Beer”… Beersheba included.
My great Uncle was one of the Rats of Tobruk. He never talked about it, but on ANZAC day, the medals he wore!! I asked him so many times. He said, “ It was my job… my mates needed me, and I needed them….we got these to remind us of those mates who didn’t come home”… and that was all he ever told me.
We have so much to thank them for.
Lest We Forget
According to his Diary My Grandfather was there. He was in charge of the resupply Horses & Mules. He & a mate had a "grand view of the Charge." He & his mate were lying in a small sand dune, watching the Charge when a stray bullet came over his head & took the heel off his boot.
The Aussie LH charge at Beersheba was not only one of the most effective examples of mounted manoeuvre warfare in WW1 it was one of the most effective examples in history. My grandfather was part of the British contingent and he always spoke very warmly of the Aussies. He always said tough knocks and glad they were with us and not against. Excellent video 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Jesus Mate, hold your fucking horses (pun intended). It was a good use of cavalry in a minor battle in an insignificant theatre at the very end of the war. Its not as if it was Ypres, Verdun, The Somme, Passchendaele & Beaulieu Wood.
My great uncles were among the chargers.
@@csjrogerson2377 nah mate can’t agree with you and reckon you’d be hard pushed to argue the battle was minor and insignificant to families of those that died there and were saved from dying by the actions of the Light Horse.
@@csjrogerson2377insignificant? What's happening today in Palestine. 2024.
An excellent overview of the whole operation to capture Beersheba - not only the magnificent Light Horse charge but the successful New Zealand and British infantry contributions.
We Aussies were told there was cold beer in town then off we went!
Lol… So true, mate.
More of these please! So interesting to see where and how our previous warriors fought.
Those horses hadn't had a drink for two days. It's said they could smell the water in town & nothing short of death was stopping them getting to it.
Fantasy from the movie.
Nice coverage. On my mothers side of the family, in this battle and surrounding clashes, I lost 4 out of 6 great uncles in these charges. Coming from outback Sth Australia, and meeting my grandfather for the first time, I learned all this and he no only brought up 12 kids on a farm through the great depression, those he lost shrunk the family quiet a bit. He would never speak of it, man of few words, but when he did, you learned.. I think it hurt so much, but I understood as my other grandfather had been off in the Pacific too, and he was known rat bag that almost got arrested when he returned off the ships, stripped off his uniform in the street and burned it. He was done with the bloodshed too and totally disgusted of what humans can do to each other.
My great grandfather Thomas Joseph canny was a lighthorseman at Beersheba on famous charge of Beersheba and he served with Australian 9th light horse regiment in the first world war
Got under the guns so fast, the gunners couldn't re-adjust before having to withdraw the guns. And the infantry, expecting the Light Horse to dismount and advance on foot (as mounted infantry typically did), had their sights set for long distance fire. They were shooting over their heads practically the whole time.
Tell us you learnt & believed all that from watching the movie without telling us you have only ever watched the movie.
The New Zeslanders took out the Turkish guns and machine guns on the high ground ,there would have been firing into their flanks.The New Zealanders fought most of the day with rifle and bayonet.This made the charge possible.
@@terryharris1291 don't you have a life? I see you commenting this rubbish on every Beersheba video. The Australians won this battle, no one cares what nz did.
@samogden4428 The Australian part was at the end of an all day battle,you do not know much history .
@@samogden4428 The British and Commonwealth won the battle, the Light Horse captured the wells.
I served with 2nd/14th LH, and remember our pride in our regiment's battle honours.
Same here m8, 2000-03 C SQN
Light horse is not cavalry, They are merely mounted infantry.. that being said, this represents one of history's last cavalry charges. Seriously though, we only did it because
we were told there was beer there..
Mounted Infantry are actually a seperate class of mounted soldier to Light Horse.
@@naclworks5636 Well, they are not Cav & they are not lancers, so if not mounted Infantry then what do you think they are?
@@fluffybunnyslippers2505 Lancer is a class of cavalry.
It is the Mounted Service Manual that states that Light Horse and Mounted Infantry are two seperate classes of mounted soldier with different roles and responsibilities on the battlefield, not my personal opinion.
Why do you think the Light Horse were not cavalry?
@@naclworks5636 Because they were infantry. They fought on foot, using horses only to reposition and manoeuvrer on the battle field. One man in four remained mounted to hold the reins and control the other 3 horses to keep them in a position of easy access. These were known as the "drivers". Beersheba stands out in that they remained mounted, instead of dismounting. My great uncles were 2 of the chargers. Percy was the HQ "Driver". He always said, "Beersheba was an infantry charge, we just took the horses with us.". Who am I to argue?
@@AndrewFishman the Mounted Service Manual disagrees with you.
It differentiates Light Horse and Mounted Infantry as they have different roles on the battlefield.
Even if for some reason you wanted to ignore the literal manual on the Light Horse, there are plenty of other things to indicate that they were not Infantry.
Tragic that Australia does not celebrate this brave victory as it does for gallipoli!
Gallipoli isn't celebrated mate. It's a tragedy that we remember with great sadness.
@@zeropoint546 so did u get the point? Or did u miss it?
Great work! Love from a fan that loves watching the Operation Room.
The what sorry?
Thank you for a concise explanation of how Beersheba was taken by the actions of both Kiwi and Aussie forces. Joint effort in my book.
Aussie Jeff Moore
It appears all 3 forces worked very well together, machine guns were silenced JUST IN TIME as also the Brits Artillery made it possible fir the NZ attack The lack of BARBED WIRE was a VERY lucky situation! enabling the horse advance to put enough manpower to actually arrive in numbers THE turks were in effect overrun they were never a pushover till they were disorganised ...REMEMBER ALSO they were hated by the arabs1 A pretty near thing!
To underestimate the Australians is to lose before you start
Some will argue but most agree, the attack was the last Great mounted charge.
Beersheba was definitely one of them, But I think that honour goes to the Poles with their miracle on the Vistula.
@@superleetmegapunx As far as I can research, there was cavalry action but no significant "Cavalry Charge" during the Miracle of Vistula. You might mean the Battle of Schoenfeld but again although a significant cavalry action, it did not include anything like a charge of 800 riders over 6km with blades waving. The Polish have a great Cavalry history but ... Australia claims this one.
@@superleetmegapunx You might even argue the WW2 Battle of Schoenfeld, a Polish Cavalry action but it lack the "great charge" element.
@@superleetmegapunx From what i hear they did not win after that charge and retreated.. so kind of different as not a victory.
@@nedkelly9688 It stopped the Soviets from invading, I'm pretty certain it was a Polish victory.
I’ve been interested recently in Australian military history, thank you for these videos
Excellent battle description, thanks.
Even explained in dry, military historical terms it makes the hairs stand up on the back of one’s neck.
Having fought into machine gun and artillery fire all day, what a command decision to accept the risk of a charge!
Excellent narration.
My ancestor was one of the Brigade Scouts in this theatre, and won the D.C.M. I was impressed at the co-ordination of the Australian, New Zealand and British forces. Credit to the kiwis. The capture of Tel el Saba was vital.
From the Horses mouth so to speak from a bloke who was there " the horses smelled the water and there was no stopping them". The charge was so fast the Turks couldnt adjust their fire fast enough and the wells were never to be poisoned that is a myth.
Rommel the Desert Fox of WW2 in a letter he wrote to his wife on seeing the Aussie's and Kiwis for the first time in Africa said of the Aussies
"a finer fighting men I have not seen" and he also said to her
"if I had to take Hell I'd use the Australians to take it and the Kiwis to keep it'
There is no written evidence that Rommel ever stated that. But it is a great myth.
Well presented thank you. My great uncle was with the Kiwi's in this battle before succumbing to maleria before wars end. it was good to see the entire battle presented to get a feel for it.
That famous 'haka in the desert' photo 🔥
Good account of the Beersheba campaign and the vital contribution made by the Australian and New Zealand contingents. We salute their gallantry.
My Great uncle Jimmy Rainey ( Scottish Rifles) served at Gallipoli! What information do you have about their contribution?
Good to get a well informed account.
The Light Horsemen returned at wars end, but sadly not their horses
Awesome!!!!
Im glad i grew up in a school where we actually learnt this.
Now they get taught about Furbies and people that claim they are a cat.
Never underestimate the fortitude of Australians! 🇦🇺🇮🇱
The LH had to destroy their horses at the end of the war. I remember an old digger talking about it in the late 80s on the radio and he was still broken-hearted about it.
No they didn't.
The majority of the horses were transfered to the Indian Army.
Only a very small amount of sick horses were put down by veteranarians.
There is a prevailing myth that many soldiers put down their own horses but this is likely well blown out of proportion.
The Australian were mounted infantry and were supposed to fight as a dismounted infantry. Yet they charged on horseback as cavalry (one of the last successful cavalry charges)
Light Horse and Mounted Infantry are different classes of mounted troops.
The difference might seem subtle, but there is a difference.
Bold and successful, good to know this history.
Very interesting indeed! As a Kiwi I have to say that I had no idea of the New Zealand contribution of this battle. I served in the NZ Army and I am now curious if this is a Battle Honour for any unit in the NZ Army.
My great grandfather was 10th light horse. Those were men, god how I wish I could’ve asked him about all he went through.
You bloody beauties, aussies and kiwis.
I've spent a lot of time trying to find info on my Great Grand dad, he was a half cast Aboriginal drover in the 5th light horse regiment, I think that's what 5 L.H.R A.I.F means, it's on the box of the medal I have of his.
It was the last horse mounted charge in military history.
Aren’t you forgetting the Polish cavalry charging the Germans in WW2 ?
@malcolmscrivener8750 Thanks, I stand corrected. There were two Polish cavalry charges at the beginning and towards the end of WWII.
@@graemeharris9779 Yes , I remember reading about that years ago.
Possibly in The Long Walk but not sure .
@@graemeharris97791956 Slavomir Rawicz .
Movie. The Way Back .
Wonderful story of a forgotten part of WW1 ... 👍
MORE
We heard the word Beer and off we went
Why they won a brilliant victory is they spent all their lives on horses as drovers and which were their own from Western Australia. The best analogy would be the Mongols who also spent their whole lives on their own horses. A Mongol warrior was responsible for supplying his own horses and always took four horses along with him.
Who's the narrator?
The famous Aussie horse Bill the bastard was there, great book to read
The role of 1 LHR is not mentioned, nor is that of the Aust Bns of the ICC. 1 LHR was key in protecting the Arty, then supporting the final assault on Tel Be'er Sheva thereafter riding into the town on the right flank of the charge and securing the wells. The ICC Bns (eventually 14 and 15 LHRs) were in support of the Brit infantry attacks. 1/15 RNSWL, carrier of the traditions of the 1st and 15th LHRs is today the ADF's largest reserve unit, a light armoured unit equipped with the PMVL Hawkeye and G-Wagen. czcams.com/video/Wx0J2D7M8-E/video.html on Anzac Day, Sydney 2024.
@Army University Press help these folks out
Strange that they sent the cavalry to capture the hill and the infantry to capture the plain
nice, maybe just a small mention of the poor horses wouldn't go astray here. and their ultimate fate once the army was done with them.
Wow I had no idea that the city center of Gaza in 1917 was the village of Deir al Balah and not the actual city of Gaza, and that there were evaporation ponds in the southern Dead Sea. Mapmaker was up against a deadline, hmm?
If the same calvary charge had been against a modern army, it would have been slaughtered.
Nice. In the movie it was wrongfully shown that the Kiwis failed in their attack. Which is not their way of doing things. Who was the twit that told the Aussies to leave their sabres behind?
they were mounted infantry not cavalry they didn't have sabres.
Bayonets only mate!
Lawrence of Arabia loved the Light Horse, he wanted to make a grand entrance into Jordan...
The LH had been in town for hours!!
Edit: Weren't the Kiwis ordered out of Gaza when theyd already achieved their objective?
The NZ Mounted Rifles took out the xx Machine Gun positions on the flank which allowed the Aussie Light Horse to charge
@@MortonBartlett-yy3cn Cheers mate, l read the Official History War books yrs ago, so l was goin' from memory... I know all the nags had been without water for over a day.
I'll have to look up the Gaza bit again, lm pretty sure the Kiwis had gone through the prickly pears with the Camel Corps.. Second Battle of Gaza (?). I cd have it arse about too!
most Light Horse never had sabres, 'tho some did. I have an Australian issue Light Horse sabre.
... sadly all the Light Horse's mounts were shot before they returned to Australia ... rather than have them shoot their own horse each trooper shot his mate's horse ...
The Light Horse were not Cavalry. They were Mounted Light Infantry, they were expected to dismount and come in on foot. Chavell gave the order for the 4th Light Horse to "Charge" upsetting the Cavalry present because that is what Cavalry do! "Charge!" and fooling the German Advisor present at the time. Cavalry would be armed with sabres.
imagine having fought at gallipoli, and withdraw and then getting sent to the western front, rip
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Raw deal if ever there was one.
The expression "out of the frying pan into the fire" comes to mind.
Unfortunately their mounts never got to return home, bar 1.
The only thing I don’t understand is that Palestine didn’t become a country until 1988 but other than that it shows there’s nothing like Australian soldiers in battle a tradition they keep to this day
The Palestine referred to is the name of the region, much as Europe, Siberia and Asia Minor are regions. Palestine has been called that for 2500 years.
Several of the men later went on to commit a war crime against local bedouin people after a well was poisoned in the town. Heroes they were and then weren't.
I have a hard time believing that 4 million more civilians died than soldiers.
Knowing the Aussies I bet they were annoyed that there was no beer at Beersheba ! 😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣
Beer+Sheep+Yeh_!😁
Brokeback Shreep Straightsion. Meh. Meh heh heh.
#HookahLung
So we won the war over imperial interests, and were on the deserving side. England got to keep her interests around the world, and those who fell can rest in their graves knowing that England still rules the waves, and the soil in India, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Triumphant victory, and put conflict to rest. All fixed? Tally Ho!
Australia fought to defeat foreign occupiers in Gaza. Just saying.
And now Israel, where the Jews have returned to their homeland after 2000 years of forced exile, and the occupation of the land by foreign powers like the Romans, the Persians, the ottoman and the Arabs, is fighting to defend itself against foreign occupiers. There’s some difference,but history does tend to repeat itself
B
Hoke-a-hay from the usa
They ARE MOUNTED INFANTRY NOT CAVLRY !
Light Horse is a class of ligh cavalry, Mounted Infantry is different again.
@@naclworks5636 no the light horse was mounted infantry that’s why the charged with bayonets! Not swords! It wasn’t until later on about the time they took Damascus that they were issued swords and did combined charges with Indian 🇮🇳 lancers.
@@user-yt3yp9rk6v that’s the common misconception.
I think it’s borne out of a misunderstanding of the roles of different classes of cavalry.
The Mounted Service Manual for Australian Light Horse and Mounted Infantry explains how those two types of troops have different roles and responsibilities on the battlefield and are not the same thing.
There’s other more obviously difference like uniform, equipment and organisation as well.
Sadly our troopers had to shoot their own horses rather than return them to Australia.
There are some the were not shot. Like Bill the Bastard and Sandy (Major General Sir William Bridges' horse). Bill stayed in Turkey on a local farm while Sandy was the only horse brought back to Australia.
No they didn't.
The majority of the horses were transfered to the Indian Army.
Only a very small amount of sick horses were put down by veteranarians.
There is a prevailing myth that many soldiers put down their own horses but this is likely well blown out of proportion.
Now I know why it says Palestine at the war memorial in Kings Park.
Palestine, Just Palestine.
After all this, china now owns most Australia anyway...
there was never palestine, our troops led the most devastating charge ever
Check your captions - shw said Austria, the captions wrote Australia.
One colonial power versus another. 🫣
That's the way the world worked back then
@@marcusluciani1620 ...and in some respects not that much has changed. 🤷
Thankfully, the Ottomans didn't have Emus in their army.
The numbers don't lie..... The rumoured British command bastardry of Aussie troops is proven by the numbers.
Over all 9,000,000 of 70,000,000 deaths, that is about 1 in 8.
Aussie 60,000 of 300,000 deaths, that is 1 in 5.
So UK, please explain the difference in casualty rates.
It's why when WW2 rolled around the Australian and New Zealand governments told the British to Fvck Right Off if they thought they were getting unilateral control of their forces ever again.
The British spent the entire war complaining about it and on several occassions even tried to ignore the argeement and order the NZ and Oz forces to Do Stupid Shite, which resulted every time in the NZ and Oz force commanders telling the British to Fvck Right Off Yet Again.
Aussies or ANZACs?You like to forget the Kiwis.
How many of those Aussies were Brit born btw?
The French lost more KIA in The Dardanelles Campaign than ANZACs - you never mention that either
Aussies and Kiwis own Israel. We can do with it what we want. We paid for Israel by sacrificing the lives of our young men. We want the Jewish people to have it. The Palestinians didnt lift a finger to help. They fought on the side of the Ottomans.
You speak for no one
@@diablotry5154 In fact, I dont have to speak for anyone. History speaks for itself.
@@montdelmaldito you're a special one
How many indigenous aboriginal people involved in this , absolutely zero. Stoneage then stoneage now
Do you even have a point!?
I'd rather have an indigenous person backing me up any day than a tosser who's white.
How do you know there weren't any indigenous Aussies there anyway??
You're part of the problem.
wut
How many Stephen Austin142's were there. None I bet. They would have been hiding under the bed.
I'm a 7th generation Australian, therefore indigenous, the government, activists and you should stop trying to divide us.
Disgraceful. Palestine is not as big as you portray. It never was. History is about truth and not lies.
Yes, lies are for the present. History can dispense with the current political niceties and report the truth instead. Because no one alive can gain something from misreporting the past. But they can and do gain from inventing the present.