f the Hun!) with effigies of the Kaiser and his consort
painted in the roof of the chapel not far from a picture of the
Saviour. Britain is rebuilding what the Turks destroyed, and there
will soon arise on Nebi Samwil a new mosque to show Mahomedans that
tolerance and freedom abide under our flag.

When the 75th Division were making the attack on Nebi Samwil the 52nd
Division put all the men they could spare on to the task of making
roads. To be out of the firing line did not mean rest. In fact, as
far as physical exertion went, it was easier to be fighting than in
reserve. From sunrise till dark and often later the roadmakers were at
work with pick, shovel, and crowbar, and the tools were not too many
for the job. The gunners joined in the work and managed to take their
batteries over the roads long before they were considered suitable
for other wheels. The battery commanders sometimes selected firing
positions which appeared quite inaccessible to any one save a mountain
climber, but the guns got there and earned much credit for their
teams.

On the 22nd Nebi Samwil was thrice attacked. British and Indian troops
were holding the hill, but the Turks were on the northern slopes. They
were, in fact, on strong positions on three sides, and from El Burj,
a prominent hill 1200 yards to the south-east, and from the wooded
valley of the wadi Hannina, they could advance with plenty of cover.
There was much dead ground, stone walls enclosed small patches of
cultivation, and when troops halted under the terraces on the slopes
no gun or rifle fire could reach them. The enemy could thus get quite
close to our positions before we could deal with them, and their
attacks were also favoured by an intense volume of artillery fire from
5.9's placed about the Jerusalem-Nablus road and, as some people in
Jerusalem afterwards told me, from the Mount of Olives. The attackers
possessed the advantage that our guns could not concentrate on them
while the attack was preparing, and could only put in a torrent of
fire when the enemy infantry were getting near their goal. These three
attacks were delivered with the utmost ferocity, and were pressed home
each time with determination. But the 75th Division held on with a
stubbornness which was beyond praise, and the harder the Turk tried
to reach the summit the tighter became the defence. Each attack was
repulsed with very heavy losses, and after his third failure the enemy
did not put in his infan