Diary of Trooper Ion Llewellyn Idriess-1916-1917- Part 3

able, and away they went
with o a hell of a rush, full
belt for E L Risha, with
Morry and Long Dan Jones
vainly endeavouring to head
them off. We had to let
them go, else we would
have killed their our horses.
Morry and Dan came back
with another Bedouin that
they caught among the bushes.
We decided then to push on
to EL Risha, about a mile
away, and have a look at
the country over on the eastern
side. We had no time to waste,
as the camels had gone full
belt back to where their
camp must have been, and
at any moment we might
find ourselves up against
a hornets nest. About half
a mile from the big hill
Stan suddenly called out, 

"Look behind." And there about
five hundred yards behind us,
was a man running on the
skyline. He dropped behind
some bushes when we turned
around. This made us uneasy,
as it looked as if the Bedouins
were trying to cut us off. We
pushed on a little further,
and then decided it was
best for Morry and Dan to
stay there with the two Bedouins
while Stan and I hurriedly
climbed the hill, had a
look over, and came back.
Morry and Dan were in a
position where they could not
be surprised, and were to keep
well within rifle shot of us.
Stan and I then pressed on
and climbed E L Risha, which
was mostly rock, the first
rock we had seen for a
very long time. From
the top of E L Risha the
 

of snipers rifles. In the
fast growing light we
saw the head of the column,
the New Zealand. Brigade
dismount, ready for action.
Our orders then were for
our regiment to protect
the right flank, against
a possible flanking movement
by the enemys cavalry.
So over the skyline we
went at a gallop, to take
possession of the hills at
our right. Plip plop - plip plop.
An odd bullet would
fall now and then in
the ground close by, but
the rifle fire was very
desultory, only sniping. One of
the New Zealand regiments
was the attacking regiment,
and off they went into the
firing line, to find out
what the strength of the
enemy really was. Our
view was grand. There was
a great drop of hundreds of
feet into the flat country
below. Straight before us
ten miles away, were sheer
rocky ranges. On the flat
country were numerous abrupt
rocky little hills. To the
South were the encircling
great sand hills. Towards
the North east were the
low sand hills which finally
ran into the great ranges,
about a mile and a half
in front of us was a great
flat rock 150 feet high
and 600 feet long by a
hundred wide, and
standing in the middle of
this appeared to be the exact
figure of a man. We watched

this figure for a long
while but it did not move.
Stretching right across the
flat, to the foot of the
 

regiment reached the hills
to the right, the squadrons
dismounted in their different
positions. Looking back to
our left, we saw a low
ridge, with trees and a
native village, in which
was a rather fine mosque
All a It was on this
ridge that the Turkish ridge
lay. All around, for miles
and miles, were small
ridges, without a vestige
of cover, all under a carpet
of short green grass, and the
flats and hollows all under
cultivation, a foot deep
with green barley. What a
sight. Green grass and fields,
after two years of sultry
desert. About the fields
were small groups of Bedouin
some of them running hot
haste towards their village,
others standing looking

towards the stranger white
horsemen on the skyline,
others driving their small
flocks of cattle, camels, and
donkeys towards the village,
or towards the sheltering
trenches of the grim hills
of Shelail, where the Turkishs
in their trenches watched ^us through
their glasses only a few miles
away. Dotted here and there
in the flats were small
groves of date palms. Among
all these groves were men.
Two patrols were sent out
to see what these men were.
Our section, under Mr
Radcliffe was in one patrol.
Away we went, the horses
tugging hard to break into
a gallop with the springy
turf underfoot. soon we
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