orry, which at that time when supplying the front was
the most urgent task and had priority on the roads. The people had put
on gala raiment. From the outer fringe of Jerusalem the Jaffa road was
blocked not merely with the inhabitants of the City but with people
who had followed in the Army's wake from Bethlehem. It was a
picturesque throng. There were sombre-clad Jews of all nationalities,
Armenians, Greeks, Russians, and all the peoples who make Jerusalem
the most cosmopolitan of cities. To the many styles of European dress
the brighter robes of the East gave vivid colour, and it was obvious
from the remarkably free and spontaneous expression of joy of these
people, who at the end of three years of war had such strong faith in
our fight for freedom, that they recognised freedom was permanently
won to all races and creeds by the victory at Jerusalem. The most
significant of all the signs was the attitude of Moslems. The Turks
had preached the Holy War, but they knew the hollowness of the cry,
and the natives, abandoning their natural reserve, joined in loud
expression of welcome. From flat-topped roofs, balconies, and streets
there were cries of 'Bravo!' and 'Hurrah!' uttered by men and women
who probably never spoke the words before, and quite close to the
Jaffa Gate I saw three old Mahomedans clap their hands while tears of
joy coursed down their cheeks. Their hearts were too full to utter a
word. There could be no doubt of the sincerity of this enthusiasm. The
crowd was more demonstrative than is usual with popular assemblies in
the East, but the note struck was not one of jubilation so much as
of thankfulness at the relief from an insufferable bondage of bad
government. Outside the Jaffa Gate was an Imperial guard of honour
drawn from men who had fought stoutly for the victory. In the British
Guard of fifty of all ranks were English, Scottish, Irish, and Welsh
troops, steel-helmeted and carrying the kit they had an hour or two
earlier brought with them from the front line. Opposite them were
fifty dismounted men of the Australian Light Horse and New Zealand
Mounted Rifles, the Australians, under the command of Captain
Throssel, V.C., being drawn from the 10th Light Horse regiment, which
had been employed in the capture of Jerusalem on the right of the
London Division. These Colonial troops had earned their place, for
they had done the work of the vanguard in the Sinai Desert, and their
victories over the Turks on m