ny city in
the country.

With the capture of Beyrout and Damascus hostilities had not ended,
although the greater part of the Turkish Army had ceased to exist. While
the 7th Division were _en route_ to Tripoli the cavalry were making a
corresponding advance in the centre, despite the ravages caused in their
ranks by malaria. Indeed, with cheerful indifference to the geographical,
to say nothing of the other difficulties in the way, they proposed to ride
as far as Constantinople; that, it was felt, would be the crowning point of
a great ride! However, for the moment they contented themselves with
occupying Homs, a town on the caravan route about a hundred miles north of
Damascus. Then General Allenby ordered a further advance on Aleppo, the
last stronghold of the Turks in the country; and on October 21st the 5th
Cavalry Division with the armoured cars started on what was to be their
last ride. It was a worthy effort: in five days they covered a hundred
miles, entering the city on October 26th, preceded the day before by the
troops of the King of the Hedjaz, who had driven all the Turks away during
the night.

After the capture of Aleppo, Turkey, having no army left, threw up the
sponge, much to the disgust of the Australian Mounted Division, who, having
reached Homs, hoped to be in at the death. Still, since theirs had been the
honour of entering Damascus, it was but fitting that the 5th Cavalry
Division should be the first into Aleppo, for the exploits of the two
forces had been almost parallel throughout the campaign.

Thus in forty days, in the course of which the army had advanced upwards of
five hundred miles, Turkey had been brought to her knees, her armies had
been completely destroyed, and a country that had suffered from centuries
of misrule had been cleared of the oppressor. It is, however, significant
of the bitter hatred the Turks bear towards the Armenians and other races
of Asia Minor, that even after the Armistice one of the chief troubles of
our troops was to prevent the Turkish prisoners, who were awaiting
transportation to the great camps in Egypt, from maltreating Armenians
wherever and whenever they came into contact with them! Drastic measures
with Turkey will have to be adopted by the Allies if these little nations
are to live in comfort and security in the future.

The weeks following the surrender of Turkey were occupied by the army in
feeding the people, in reinstating them on the land, and in