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Beersheba secret orders

By JOL Admin | 31 October 2017

The capture of Beersheba on 31 October 1917, as part of the third Battle of Gaza, was a complex operation, involving weeks of careful planning by Light Horse commanders.

Secret operation orders held by State Library as part of the OM78-70 David Gifford Croll Papers 1914-1919; 1944-1948 provide a great insight into the many facets of the operation, and an appreciation of its scope.

Colonel David Gifford Croll and other officers in the Middle East, John Oxley Library, SLQ, Image number: OM78-70-0002-0005 (Croll is third from left)

Colonel David Gifford Croll and other officers in the Middle East, John Oxley Library, SLQ, Image number: OM78-70-0002-0005 (Croll is third from left)

Colonel Croll was a doctor, and the commanding officer of the 2nd Light Horse Field Ambulance (2LHFA). By August 1917 he had been appointed Assistant Director of Medical Services (A.D.M.S.) for Anzac Mounted Division, and was one of the key personnel responsible for ensuring medical services in support of the operation.

Two secret orders were sent to Colonel Croll by Lt. Col. R. M. Downes (D.D.M.S. Desert Mounted Corps), shortly before the battle for Beersheba:

Secret Medical Corps Operational Order no.1, 18 October 1917, p.1. Acc. OM78-70/95

Secret Medical Corps Operational Order no.1, 18 October 1917, p.1. Acc. OM78-70/95

Secret Medical Corps Operational Order no. 2, 25 October 1917. Acc. OM78-70/97

Secret Medical Corps Operational Order no. 2, 25 October 1917. Acc. OM78-70/97

Colonel Croll also issued an order:

Secret Medical Corps Operational Order no. 36, October 1917. Acc. OM78-70/94

Secret Medical Corps Operational Order no. 36, October 1917. Acc. OM78-70/94

The three orders outlined the intended movement of medical units before, during and after the impending operation. Immobile sections were to be concentrated at Rashid Bek under the command of Major J.R.M. Beith, and under direct control of the D.D.M.S. of Desert Mounted Corps. Mobile sections were to follow their Brigades, as were trotting camels. Cacolet camels were to be managed by a 2LHFA officer, and follow in the rear of the Australian Mounted Division.

Wounded light-horseman being loaded onto a Red Cross camel cacolet in the Middle East during the First World War, John Oxley Library, SLQ, Image number: OM77-14-0023-0040

Wounded light-horseman being loaded onto a Red Cross camel cacolet in the Middle East during the First World War, John Oxley Library, SLQ, Image number: OM77-14-0023-0040

The orders outlined what do to with casualties while on the march, and when a Divisional collecting station should be established, and when and how casualties should be evacuated.

They also gave directions regarding the movement of Receiving Stations, Operating Units and Sanitary Sections, indicated when the Rest Camp should be evacuated, and what should happen to all tents and flags.

Light Horse field ambulance wagon in the Middle East during the First World War. John Oxley Library, SLQ, Image: OM78-70-0002-0027
2nd Light Horse Field Ambulance wagon in the Middle East, John Oxley Library, SLQ, Image: OM78-70-0002-0007

2nd Light Horse Field Ambulance wagon in the Middle East, John Oxley Library, SLQ, Image: OM78-70-0002-0007

Motor Ambulance cars were also accounted for, to ensure that all casualties would be successfully evacuated to the hospital train at Shellal.

Soldiers with ambulances and a hospital train in the Middle East 1914-1918, John Oxley Library, SLQ, Image: OM78-70-0002-0024

Soldiers with ambulances and a hospital train in the Middle East 1914-1918, John Oxley Library, SLQ, Image: OM78-70-0002-0024

While the 4th Light Horse Brigade, which participated in the charge on Beersheba, suffered a total of 35 killed and 39 wounded, the strategic capture of the town capitulated Turkish withdrawal away from Gaza and further into Palestine.

References:

Attack on Beersheba. Australian War Memorial.

Colonel David Gifford Croll: 2nd Light Horse Field Ambulance

Desert ambulances

30727 Dr. and Mrs. Croll - a wartime marriage digital story 2016

Robyn Hamilton - Coordinator, QANZAC Content, State Library of Queensland

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