e
ground; and the guns and ammunition columns were taken by routes which
had been carefully selected and marked. In places the banks of
wadis had been cut into and ramps made to enable the rough stony
watercourses to be practicable for wheels, and, broken as the country
was, and though all previous preparations had to be made without
arousing the suspicions of Turks and wandering Bedouins, there was no
incident to check the progress of infantry or guns. Occasional rifle
fire and some shelling occurred during the early hours, but at a
little after three A.M. the XXth Corps advanced headquarters had the
news that all columns had reached their allotted positions.

The XXth Corps plan was to attack the enemy's works between the
Khalasa road and the wadi Saba with the 60th and 74th Divisions, while
the defences north of the wadi Saba were to be masked by the Imperial
Camel Corps Brigade and two battalions of the 53rd Division, the
remainder of the latter division protecting the left flank of the
Corps from any attack by enemy troops who might move south from the
Sheria area. The first objective was a hill marked on the map as
'1070,' about 6000 yards south-west of Beersheba. It was a prominent
feature, 500 yards or perhaps a little more from a portion of the
enemy's main line, and the Turks held it strongly and were supported
by a section of German machine-gunners. We had to win this height in
order to get good observation of the enemy's main line of works, and
to allow of the advance of field artillery within wire-cutting range
of an elaborate system of works protecting Beersheba from an advance
from the west. At six the guns began to bombard 1070, and the volume
of fire concentrated on that spot must have given the Turks a big
surprise. On a front of 4500 yards we had in action seventy-six
18-pounders, twenty 4.5-inch howitzers, and four 3.7-inch howitzers,
while eight 60-pounders, eight 6-inch howitzers, and four 4.5-inch
howitzers were employed in counter battery work. The absence of wind
placed us at a heavy disadvantage. The high explosive shells bursting
about the crest of 1070 raised enormous clouds of dust which obscured
everything, and after a short while even the flames of exploding
shells were entirely hidden from view. The gunners had to stop firing
for three-quarters of an hour to allow the dust to settle. They then
reopened, and by half-past eight, the wire-cutting being reported
completed, an intense bombard