made to
bomb Kantara by the super-Zeppelin which in November 1917 left its
Balkan base and got as far south as the region of Khartoum on its way
to East Africa, before being recalled by wireless. This same Zeppelin
was seen about forty miles from Port Said and a visit by it was
anticipated. Aeroplanes with experienced pilots and armed with the
latest anti-Zeppelin devices were stationed at Port Said and Aboukir
ready to ascend on any moonlight night when the hum of aerial motor
machinery could be heard. The super-Zeppelin never came and Kantara's
progress was unchecked.

The doubled railway track was laid as far as El Arish by the time
operations commenced, and this was a great aid to the railway staff.
Every engine and truck was used to its fullest capacity, and an
enormous amount of time was saved by the abolition of passing stations
for some ninety miles of the line's length. Railhead was at Deir el
Belah, about eight miles short of Gaza, and here troops and an army
of Egyptian labourers were working night and day, week in week out,
off-loading trucks with a speed that enabled the maximum amount of
service to be got out of rolling stock. There were large depots down
the line too. At Rafa there was a big store of ammunition, and at
Shellal large quantities not only of supplies but of railway material
were piled up in readiness for pushing out railhead immediately the
advance began. A Decauville, or light, line ran out towards Gamli from
Shellal to make the supply system easier, and I remember seeing
some Indian pioneers lay about three miles of light railway with
astonishing rapidity the day after we took Beersheba. Every mile the
line advanced meant time saved in getting up supplies, and the radius
of action of lorries, horse, and camel transport was considerably
increased.

To supply the Gaza front we called in aid a small system of light
railways. From the railhead at Deir el Belah to the mouth of the wadi
Ghuzze, and from that point along the line of the wadi to various
places behind the line held by us, we had a total length of 21
kilometres of light railway. Before this railway got into full
operation horses had begun to lose condition, and during the summer
ammunition-column officers became very anxious about their horses. The
light railway was almost everywhere within range of the enemy's guns,
and in some places it was unavoidably exposed, particularly where it
ran on the banks of the wadi due south of Ga