The main body of the force reached the Teselah Hills at 5 p.m., when the usual zeriba (2) was formed.
About 1 a.m., on the 3rd, shots were fired into the camp from about 800 to 1,000 yards. The moon was shining brightly, and the men at once stood to their arms, and the Grenadier Guards answered by a volley. This and a shrapnel shell silenced the enemy, not, however, before one of Graham's men had been killed and two wounded.
At 4.30, on the 3rd, the troops were aroused, and the zeriba being left in charge of McNeill with the East Surrey and Shropshire Regiments, the advance was resumed at eight.
Graham's object was to gain possession of a cluster of villages at New Tamaai which had long been Osman Digna's head-quarters, and to secure the water supply, either by attacking the enemy's position, or by drawing them into an engagement on the open ground near the villages. The ground over which the men advanced was rough and broken. It was free from bush, but was intersected with deep gullies, and studded with jutting rocks and boulders.
At 8.45 fire was opened at long range by about 200 Arabs on the Mounted Infantry and Bengal Cavalry in front. This was replied to. It soon became evident that the enemy were unable to oppose any serious resistance to the advance of the column.
The force proceeded through the villages, which were found to have been recently deserted, and at 9.30 the crest of the north side of the Khor Ghoub was gained.
The Mounted Infantry and Bengal Cavalry were all this time engaging the enemy on the right flank, but were unable to draw them from their positions.
The 2nd Brigade, under General Hudson, now moved to the right, advanced across the Khor Ghoub, and ascended the hill on the opposite bank. The Berkshire Regiment, with the Marines on their right, opened fire from the highest point in the centre of the hill, and the Scots Guards threw out a company to fire up the khor. The Guards' Brigade and Australian Regiment moved forward in support of the 2nd Brigade, crowning the ridges on the north side of the khor. G Battery of the Royal Horse Artillery came into action on the left flank of the 1st Brigade, and opened fire on some parties of the enemy.
During those operations the enemy were keeping up a distant fire, which resulted in one man being killed, and one officer and fifteen men wounded. The enemy's numbers and loss it was impossible to estimate with any accuracy, but a steady, well-aimed fire was kept up on such bodies as showed themselves, and the effect of the fire was to overcome any opposition they may have intended to make.
On descending to the bed of the khor it was found that at the spot where the previous year was running water, there were no signs of water beyond a little moisture, and well-holes partly filled in. By digging about four feet down only a small supply of brackish water could be obtained, and at a short distance there was a shallow pool on a bed of black mud.