e attack, was to be completed
to Karm by the day preceding the opening of the fighting at Beersheba,
and that a new Decauville line should be started at Karm when fighting
had begun, and should be carried nearly three miles in the Beersheba
direction early on the following morning. These new lines, though of
short length, were an inestimable boon to the conductors of supply
trains. The new railheads both of the standard gauge and light lines
were well placed, and they not only saved time and shortened the
journeys of camel convoys and lorry transport columns, but prevented
congestion at depots in one central spot.

A big effort was made to escape detection by enemy aircraft. For the
first time since the Egyptian Expeditionary Force took the field we
had obtained mastery in the air. On the 8th and 15th October two enemy
planes were shot down behind our lines, and the keenness of our airmen
for combat made the German aviators extremely careful. They had been
bold and resolute, taking their observations several thousand feet
higher than our pilots, it is true, but neither anti-aircraft fire nor
the presence of our machines in the air had up to this time deterred
them. However, just at the moment when airwork was of extreme
importance to the Turks, the German flying men, recognising that our
pilots had new battle planes and were full of resource and daring,
showed an unusual lack of enterprise, and we profited from their
inactivity. The concentration of the force in the positions from which
it was to attack Beersheba was to have taken seven days, but owing
to the difficulties attending the development of water at Asluj and
Khalasa the time was extended to ten days. During this period the
uppermost thought of commanders was to conceal their movements. All
marching was done at night and no move of any kind was permitted till
nearly six o'clock in the evening, when enemy aircraft were usually at
rest and the light was sufficiently dull to prevent the Fritzes seeing
much if they had made an exceptionally late excursion. All the tents
and temporary shelters which had been occupied for weeks were left
standing. Cookhouses, horse lines, canteens, and so on were untouched,
and one had an eerie feeling in passing at night through these
untenanted camping grounds, deserted and lifeless, and a prey to the
jackal and pariah dog. A vast area of many square miles which had held
tens of thousands of troops and animals almost became a wild