Smith gave him a
stranglehold and broke his neck. The enemy managed to get one of the
four guns away. The battery horses were near at hand, but while this
one gun was escaping at the gallop the Westminsters' fire brought
down one horse and two drivers, and I saw their bodies on the road as
evidence of how the Westminsters had developed the art of shooting at
a rapidly moving target. The two incidents I have described in detail
merely as examples of the fighting prowess, not only of one but of all
three divisions alike in the capture of Jerusalem. Perhaps it would
be fairer to say that they were examples of the spirit of General
Allenby's whole force, for English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh,
Australians, New Zealanders, Indians, cavalry, infantry, and
artillery, had all, during the six weeks of the campaign, shown the
same high qualities in irresistible attack and stubborn defence.

The position of the 179th Brigade at this time was about one mile east
of Ain Karim, where it was exposed to heavy enfilade fire from its
right and, as it was obvious that the advance of the 53rd Division had
been delayed owing to the fog and rain, the brigadier decided not to
go further during the early part of the day but to wait till he could
be supported by the mountain batteries, which the appalling state of
the ground had prevented from keeping up with him.

Now as to the advance of the 180th Infantry Brigade. Their principal
objective was the Deir Yesin position, the hill next on the northern
side of Subr, from which it was separated by a deep though narrow
valley. The trenches cut on both sides of this gorge supported Subr
as well as Deir Yesin, and the Subr defences were also arranged to be
helpful to the Deir Yesin garrison by taking attackers in flank. The
180th Brigade's advance was a direct frontal attack on the hill, the
jumping-off place being a narrow width of flat ground thickly planted
with olive trees on the banks of the wadi Surar. The 2/19th Londons,
the right battalion of the 180th Brigade, had not got far when it
became the target of concentrated machine-gun fire and was unable to
move, with the result that a considerable gap existed between it and
the 179th Brigade. The stoppage was only temporary, for, with the
advance of the centre and right, the 19th battalion pushed forward in
series of rushes and, with the other battalions, carried the crest of
Deir Yesin at the point of the bayonet, so that the whole system of
entr