The country over which the line ran was composed of stony hills with deep wadis in the valleys, sometimes 500 feet below the summit of the surrounding hills. The monastery at Ibn Obeid which was the southern terminus of the line stood on the top of the cliffs of the Wadi en Naar which descended steeply for some 800 feet to the bed of the Wadi.
The monastery had been the scene of some heavy fighting a few weeks previous to our arrival, in which a battalion of the Middlesex Regiment had fought with distinction, and had driven off repeated attacks of the Turks. When “D” Company, however, came upon the scene everything was peaceful. Only a few monks lived in the monastery, and they were soon packed off to Jerusalem; in case they acted as enemy spies. On the 10th January, the whole Battalion was relieved by the 2/13th Battalion (Kensingtons) on this outpost line, and moved to Bethany.
At Bethany three companies were billeted in the local school and a monastery near by, while “A” Company took up an outpost position at Sniper’s Post, overlooking the Jericho road, about a mile or so ahead of the Battalion. Here we reorganised our specialist sections which had suffered heavy losses in the fighting around Jerusalem during the latter part of December. A new draft had just arrived from England, and they were initiated into the art of warfare in the East by constant training over the local hills. The remainder of the Battalion was employed on “road making,” or perhaps I should say making cart tracks through the wadis near Abu Dis, and occasionally a strong force of about 200 men would reconnoitre the ground in front of the Turkish positions along the Jericho road; especially towards the Arak Ibrahim Caves, some four miles away, where the Turk had a considerable garrison.
On the 20th “D” Company relieved “A” Company at Sniper’s Post, but except for the occasional noise of two captured field guns at Bethany which were used against the Turks at Arak Ibrahim Caves, there was no sound of war. Six days later the Battalion moved back to Jerusalem and billeted in some empty schools in the German part of the city, while many of the officers were placed in private houses. The journey was full of interest, and the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, St. Stephen’s Gate, were passed among other famous sights. On the way we met a Jewish funeral; we thought that the Macedonian method of carrying the coffin lid in front of the procession, with the body exposed to the eyes of the curious, as being a crude method, but this funeral was even more gruesome. The party rushed along the road at a great pace, and the corpse wrapped in a blanket was merely suspended by cord at the head and foot to a long pole, which was carried on the shoulders of two men, while the body limply swung from side to side as they hurried along.
During this stay in the city of Jerusalem, parties under the expert guidance of our Padre (Rev. G. C. Cavalier) were allowed to visit the Holy Places in the town. I need hardly recite the wonders of the Holy City as many guide-books will do so far better. As far as the Battalion was concerned we enjoyed the privilege of seeing these ancient Biblical landmarks. Souvenir hunting in the shops and the purchasing of food stuffs (chiefly fruit and bread, which was of a greenish hue when cut, and of the consistency of gluten) formed the chief amusement during the day. At night time, however, the two Divisional concert parties, the “Barnstormers” and “Roosters,” both of which had made great “hits” in Cairo and Alexandria, were in full swing at their respective temporary theatres, and provided us with splendid recreation.
Major Grissel from the 74th Division took over command of the Battalion on the 28th January, our own Commanding Officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Bisdee, having been granted leave to the United Kingdom.
Danger, however, soon occurred from the epidemics of disease and fever in the city, and the Battalion was moved out of the town to tents and bivouacs on the slopes of the Mount of Olives; Headquarters being in a sheik’s house near by. The camping site was just off the Nablous Road, overlooking the Garden of Gethsemane, and was on dry, dusty terraces of barren land which in a few days became a wretched quagmire. Heavy torrents of rain continually poured down for four days and four nights without a break, and every one was swamped out and miserable. Refuge each night was taken in the Divisional theatres, and large parties would march across the city in the pouring rain simply for the comfortable shelter of the “theatre.” When the weather had cleared a little the Battalion was employed on road-making, and one day an exhibition of “sangar” building was given by a company of Indian troops who were past-masters in hill-fighting.
It was, however, unhealthy to live in the mud of the camp, and the Battalion was moved up to Sir John Grey Hill’s house at the top of the hill. It was a large desolate mansion, overlooking the valley of the Jericho Road, while in the far distance the Moab Mountains could be seen. A short stay of two days here and the Battalion was moved to bivouacs in the wadis of the Abu Hindi Wadi on the 13th of February, where preparations were made for an attack eastwards over the hills towards the Jericho Plain.
The Turkish line east of Jerusalem consisted of a line of entrenched strongholds on the hills some eight miles from the city. The southern extremity of the line rested on Muntar, a high hill just east of Ibn Obeid Monastery, and came north via Jebel Ektief, Talat ed Dumm, across the Jericho Road to the Arak Ibrahim Caves, and thence over Ras el Tawil to the deep ravine of the Wadi Um Farrar.
The British line ran practically parallel to this line, a few miles nearer the city, with Ibn Obeid forming the right or south flank, and ran north via Jubb er Rumm, Abu Dis, Sniper’s Post, on to the Jericho Road, and thence north over Suffra to Mukmas.