ld up the road where it had been cut in the side
of a hill. It was the most difficult part of the road, and the
Germans had taken as much care of it as they would of a road in the
Fatherland--because it was the way by which they hoped to get to the
Suez Canal. Other portions of the road required renewing, and the
labour which the Welshmen devoted to the work helped the feeding of
the Division not only during the march to Jerusalem but for several
weeks after it had passed through it to the hills on the east and
north-east. The rations and stores for this Division were carried by
the main railway through Shellal to Karm, were thence transported by
limber to a point on the Turks' line to Beersheba, which had been
repaired but was without engines, were next hauled in trucks by mules
on the railway track, and finally placed in lorries at Beersheba
for carriage up the Hebron road. At this time the capacity of the
Latron-Jerusalem road was taxed to the utmost, and every bit of the
Welshmen's spadework was repaid a hundredfold. The 159th Brigade got
into Hebron on the night of the 5th of December, but instead of going
north of it--if they had done so an enemy cavalry patrol would have
seen them--they set to work to repair the road through the old
Biblical town, for the enemy had blown holes in the highway. Next day
the infantry had a ten-miles' march and made the wadi Arab, a brigade
being left in Hebron to watch that area, the natives of which were
reported as not being wholly favourable to us. There were many rifles
in the place, and a number of unarmed Turks were believed to be in the
rough country between the town and the Dead Sea ready to return to
take up arms. Armoured cars also remained in Hebron. The infantry and
field artillery occupied the roads during the day, and the heavy guns
came along at night and joined the infantry as the latter were about
to set off again.

On the night of the 6th the Division got to a strong line unopposed
and saw enemy cavalry on the southern end of Sherifeh, on which the
Turks had constructed a powerful system of defences, the traverses and
breastworks of which were excellently made. In front of the hill the
road took a bend to the west, and the whole of the highway from this
point was exposed to the ground in enemy hands south of Bethlehem, and
it was necessary to make good the hills to the east before we could
control this road. Next morning the 7th Cheshires, supported by the
4th Wel