The San Remo Conference commenced on 18 April 1920 at the Villa Devachan in the Italian Riviera town of San Remo. As previously mentioned, the San Remo Conference was an addendum to the 1919 Paris Peace Conference specifically to deal with the carve-up of the defeated...
On December 11, 1917, Gen. Edmund Allenby’s forces officially liberated Jerusalem. Actually, a Jerusalem delegation, led by the mayor, surrendered the city to a pair of British army cooks on December 8. Thus began a comical farce. The Turkish army and its German commanders had fled the city ahead of the British advance, leaving the city officials nervously waiting for the liberators. The first uniformed men to arrive were privates Andrews and Church, two cooks who got lost while searching for cooking water. They wandered near the Jaffa Gate entrance to the Old City and were confronted by a large delegation of city officials. The cooks were so scared they ran back to their unit. At 8 a.m. the following morning, James Sedgewick and Fred Hurcomb, two British sergeants, were scouting around the Old City walls when they were approached by a group of Arab dignitaries holding a white flag. The two soldiers were overwhelmed by the sudden responsibility of accepting the surrender of Jerusalem and apologized after pictures were taken for posterity, saying they were unable to accept the surrender but promised to send a more senior officer. Later the same day, two artillery officers, majors Beck and Barry […]
There have been a large number of books written about Beersheba and the Light Horse in recent years, although mainly from a secular historical perspective. In more recent times Col Stringer enthralled Australian Christians with his graphic account. Kelvin Crombie, in my opinion the foremost historian in Australia on all things Light Horse, has written a number of seminal books such as “ANZACS and Israel, a significant connection.” Here is another book from a Jewish writer and this one has an intriguing title: 1917. Palestine to the land of Israel. “The extraordinary struggles of Christian and Jewish heroes to establish the State of Israel.” This book is of great interest for a number of reasons. Firstly it is not a dramatic account of the ANZACS through the eyes of a proud Aussie. It’s a scholarly well researched account by an Israeli Author and written from a uniquely Jewish perspective—Author Barry Shaw—a long time Israeli resident and academic. Secondly, it is remarkable for the pre-eminence given to Christian Zionists, men like Charles Wesley whose Zionist hymn is written out in full, although I quote only the first verse; “O that the chosen band, Might now their brethren bring, And gathered out […]
In 2007 the Australian Light Horse Assn (ALHA) conducted the highly successful and much publicised “In the steps of the Light Horse” re-enactment tour for the 90th anniversary of the charge of Beersheba. This tour brought to public attention the significance of the Middle Eastern Campaign in WW1, an often forgotten campaign that has been overshadowed by Gallipoli and the Western Front. During this tour we visited the old battle scarred railway station at Semakh. In WW1 Semakh was a quaint little fishing village located on the shores of the picturesque Sea of Galilee. Our guide, the well known Australian author and historian, Kelvin Crombie, pointed out the historical significance of the battle that took place here at this vital railway junction on the 25th of September 1918. The following brief account of the vital nature of this battle and its significance in hastening the end of WW1 is outlined by a Kinneret College historian; “In the autumn of 1918 the British forces under General Allenby started their northern offensive against the Turkish forces under Liman Von Sanders. The Semakh station was an important gateway on the way to the whole of the Galilee and the road to Damascus. Australian […]
Photo of Anzacs from AWM: “Australian light horsemen riding waler horses. The soldiers are of the original contingent of the Australian Imperial Force and the photo was taken prior to their departure from Australia in November 1914. The soldier on the right is Trooper William Harry Rankin Woods, 1st Light Horse Regiment, who died of wounds on 15 May 1915, one of the first light horsemen to die during the Battle of Gallipoli.” I recently re-read an article I wrote in 1992 entitled ‘The Anzacs and Israel’ which had been published in several Christian magazines and circulated around Australia and New Zealand. It portrayed a somewhat patriotic ANZAC perspective – which I now realise was not entirely balanced. At that time I was working as a local guide at Christ Church in the Old City of Jerusalem specialising in British, European and Protestant involvement in the Eastern Mediterranean 1798-1948. This article reflected my attempt to present the significant contribution which ANZAC soldiers had played in helping to lay the foundations for the establishment of Israel – as part of the bigger geo-political picture. This perspective was aided through also conducting In Step with Allenby and the Light Horse tours from Jerusalem, down […]