THE FIRST ROUND
October the 31st was the date fixed for the capture of Beersheba, which was to be the first phase of the operations. The plan of attack was as follows:—
The 60th and 74th Divisions were to attack the outer defences on the west and south-west, immediately after dawn, and, having captured them, were to hold the high ground west of the town. The 53rd Division and the Camel Corps Brigade were directed to protect the left flank of these operations.
Meanwhile the Anzac and the Australian Mounted Divisions, starting respectively from Asluj and Khalasa, were to march during the night, south of Beersheba, right round the enemy flank, and attack the town from the east, where the defences were known to be less formidable. These two divisions thus had night marches of twenty-five and thirty-five miles respectively before reaching their first objectives. The 7th Mounted Brigade, marching direct from Esani, had the task of masking the strongly entrenched hill of Ras Ghannam, which formed the southern end of the enemy's outer defences, and of linking up the Australian Mounted Division and the 20th Corps. To the cavalry thus fell the task of seizing the town of Beersheba itself.
It will be seen that, during the attack on Beersheba, there would be a gap of some seventeen miles between the 20th Corps on the right and the 21st Corps in the coastal sector. Our railway ran right up into this gap, the railhead at Karm being actually in front of our line, and within eight miles of the main enemy positions about Hareira.
Diagram illustrating the position of troops on the 31st of Oct. 1917.
To cover this gap, and to deal with any attempted counter-attack against our railhead, the Yeomanry Division was to concentrate at, and east of, Karm, with the 10th Division in support about Shellal. The action of the Commander-in-Chief in thus trusting the guarding of this wide gap to so small a force is of particular interest as indicating his readiness to accept a considerable risk in order to achieve victory. It also demonstrates his complete confidence in the success of his efforts to deceive the enemy as to our real intentions.