e. It was appropriate that dismounted yeomen should gain
this important tactical point which several weeks previously had been
won and lost by their comrades of the Yeomanry Mounted Division.
Descending from the ridge the brigade gave the Turk little chance to
stand, and with a bayonet charge they reached the day's objective
in the dark. At two o'clock, when the Turks' final effort against
Jerusalem had just failed, the 60th and 74th Divisions both sent
in the good news that the Turkish commander was moving his reserve
division from Bireh westwards to meet the attack from our left. Airmen
confirmed this immediately, and it was now obvious that General
Chetwode's tactics had compelled the enemy to conform to his movements
and that we had regained the initiative. At about ten o'clock the 24th
Royal Welsh Fusiliers of the 231st Brigade captured Kh. ed Dreihemeh
on the old Roman road a mile east of Tireh, and at eleven o'clock
advanced to the assault of hill 2450, a little farther eastward. They
gained the crest, but the enemy had a big force in the neighbourhood
and counter-attacked, forcing the Welshmen to withdraw some distance
down the western slope. They held this ground till 4.30 when our guns
heavily bombarded the summit, under cover of which fire the infantry
made another attack. This was also unsuccessful owing to the intense
volume of fire from machine guns. The hill was won, however, next
morning.

The night of December 27-28 was without incident. The Turk had staked
and lost, and he spent the night in making new dispositions to meet
what he must have realised was being prepared for him on the following
day.

It is doubtful whether there was a more successful day for our Army in
the Palestine campaign than December 27. The portion of our line which
was on the defensive had stood an absolutely unmovable wall, against
which the enemy had battered himself to pieces. Our left, or attacking
sector, had gained all their objectives against strong opposition in
a most difficult country, and had drawn against them the very troops
held in reserve for the main attack on Jerusalem. The physical powers
of some of our attacking troops were tried highly. One position
captured by the 229th Brigade was a particularly bad hill. The
slope up which the infantry had to advance was a series of almost
perpendicular terraces, and the riflemen could only make the ascent by
climbing up each others' backs. When dismounted yeomen secured