he Jocks were amongst them
and had bundled them out of their trenches almost before they knew, though
as usual they fought desperately hard once they were alive to the
situation.

Thus the first part of the enterprise was safely accomplished with
comparatively little loss; the second and more difficult attempt began
before daylight the next morning. The main objective was Sheikh Hassan, a
ridge sloping gently down to the Mediterranean north-west of Gaza. This was
nearly two miles from the nearest British trenches, and the ground to be
covered by the attacking infantry was of the rough and difficult nature
characteristic of this part of the coast. The artillery, including the
heavy guns of the battleships off the coast, kept up an intense barrage
while the troops were in the open, and, in addition to knocking the
trenches on Sheikh Hassan out of shape, completely destroyed some works
nearer Gaza. With these as a foothold the infantry stormed the main
position with the bayonet, though the Turkish machine-gun fire was deadly
and their resistance stubborn in the extreme. But this was the opportunity
of "getting a little of their own back" for which our men, especially the
52nd and 54th Divisions, had been waiting for six months, and it was more
than the Turks could do to keep them out.

Besides, Sheikh Hassan was no more than the _hors d'oeuvre_ to the feast,
so to speak, and it was swallowed with gusto. In this action, for the first
time, I believe, the French and Italians assisted the British on land as
well as from the sea. It was also the last occasion on which the Baby Tanks
were used, for in the subsequent fighting amongst the Judaean hills the
country was too rough even for the larger specimens successfully to have
negotiated.

Of the important defences in the immediate neighbourhood of Gaza, only grim
old Ali Muntar now remained unconquered, and still reared a defiant head
above his humbler satellites. As was fitting, and indeed very necessary,
its capture was left till the last. Meanwhile, the preliminaries being
completed more or less successfully, the main blow at the centre had to be
struck. During the night of November 5th the great move toward Sheria was
begun, and by the morning all the troops were in the positions assigned to
them. The principal Turkish position was on Kauwukah Ridge, as usual very
difficult to approach and positively crawling with machine-guns and wire.
As was a customary feature with the