river rose 9 feet. Floods had, therefore, to be contended with. The
current is at all times rapid, and the banks, on account of the floods,
are boggy and difficult for the approach of transport. On the night of
the 21st/22nd March, the main crossings of the river were attempted,
both at Ghoraniyeh, and a few miles further south at Hajlah, where the
Pilgrim Road from Jerusalem reaches the Jordan. At the former point
three attempts to swim the river were made, under fire, by men with
ropes attached to their bodies, but in each case the swimmers were
carried away by the strong current and found it impossible to reach the
opposite bank. Then a punt was launched, but this was no sooner launched
than it was swept away. The attempt was commenced in the bright
moonlight, but was much hampered by enemy fire. It was renewed after the
moon had gone down, but then it was impossible to find the easiest route
or to negotiate the current in the dark. Farther down stream, however,
the efforts met with better fortune. A small party succeeded in swimming
across in the dark and landing on the left bank. These towed a rope
behind them, by which, after landing, they hauled across light rafts.
The crossing by the raft-loads of men had to be carried out in the face
of some hostile fire. Portions of the scrub had been set on fire by the
enemy, and these fires to some extent lit up the rafts as they were
being pulled across. By daylight, 300 men had been got across, and a
small bridge-head established. A barrel bridge was without delay
constructed by the Engineers. Very little progress could be made that
day as the scrub was infested with enemy machine guns. On the following
night, however, a rush was made, and the bridge-head enlarged to a width
of 1,500 yards. That night the Engineers constructed a steel pontoon
bridge, and an entire cavalry regiment was passed over by dawn. The
cavalry soon cleared away the enemy, not only from Hajlah, but also from
in front of Ghoraniyeh. Bridges were built now at Ghoraniyeh and the
passage of the river assured.

Having successfully crossed the Jordan, the force pushed on eastwards
across the low country, meeting with some opposition. Eventually we
reached Shunat Nimrin. The enemy retreating up the Es Salt road were
bombed and machine-gunned by our aircraft. Part of our force, following
on their heels, entered Es Salt on the 25th, while, on the 26th, our
mounted troops occupied Amman. The railway to the sou