er
of it selected detachments of his infantry advanced almost into the
bursting shell to cut passages through the wire with wire-cutters. The
dismounted yeomanry of the 231st and 230th Infantry Brigades rushed
through, and by half-past one the 74th Division had secured their
objectives. The 179th and 181st Brigades of the 60th Division had won
their trenches almost an hour earlier, and about 5000 yards of works
were in our hands south of the wadi Saba. The enemy had 3000 yards of
trenches north of the wadi, and though these were threatened from the
south and west, it was not until five o'clock that the 230th Brigade
occupied them, the Turks clearing out during the bombardment. During
the day, on the left of the 74th Division, the Imperial Camel Corps
Brigade and two battalions of the 53rd Division held the ground to
the north of the wadi Saba to a point where the remainder of the 53rd
Division watched for the approach of any enemy force from the
north, while the 10th Division about Shellal protected the line of
communications east of the wadi Ghuzze, and the Yeomanry Mounted
Division was on the west side of the wadi Ghuzze in G.H.Q. reserve.
The XXth Corps' losses were 7 officers killed and 42 wounded,
129 other ranks killed, 988 wounded and 5 missing, a light total
considering the nature of the works carried during the day. It was
obvious that the enemy was taken completely by surprise by the
direction of the attack, and the rapidity with which we carried his
strongest points was overwhelming. The Turk did not attempt anything
in the nature of a counter-attack by the Beersheba garrison, nor did
he make any move from Hareira against the 53rd Division. Had he done
so the 10th Division and the Yeomanry Mounted Division would have
seized the opportunity of falling on him from Shellal, and the Turk
chose the safer course of allowing the Beersheba garrison to stand
unaided in its own defences. The XXth Corps' captures included 25
officers, 394 other ranks, 6 guns, and numerous machine guns.

The Desert Mounted Corps met with stubborn opposition in their
operations south-east and east of Beersheba, but they were carried
through no less successfully than those of the XXth Corps. The mounted
men had had a busy time. General Ryrie's 2nd Australian Light Horse
Brigade and the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade had moved southwards
on October 2, and on them and on the 1st and 2nd Field Squadrons
Australian Engineers the bulk of the wor