At dusk on 31 October 1917, the Australian Light Horse Brigade stormed through Turkish defences to seize the strategic town of Beersheba - a victory that helped to bring the Ottoman Empire to its knees.
This famous mounted charge is revered as one of the greatest battles in Australia’s military history, and one of the last successful cavalry charges ever.
The Turkish Gaza-Beersheba line extended for 40 kilometres between the Turkish bastion of Gaza and the heavily fortified town of Beersheba, and stopped any Allied advance into Palestine proper. Breaching it was crucial to gaining military control of the Middle East. After two failed attempts to attack Gaza, Allied forces, led by Australian Lieutenant General Harry Chauvel, resolved to outflank it by turning the Turkish line at Beersheba.
The urgency of a diminished water supply and failing light prompted orders for a hazardous cavalry charge, and the Australian troopers of then4th and 12th Regiments were ordered by Brigadier William Grant to charge at the Turkish trenches using their bayonets as ‘swords’ Despite heavy enemy fire the momentum of the surprise attack carried the Australians through the Turkish defences, and within an hour all resistance collapsed.
The fall of Beersheba opened the way for an Allied advance into the Middle East, and within months enabled the capture of Jerusalem. Drawing from first-hand accounts, David Cameron pieces together how this heroic, epic battle unfolded.
