n one occasion,
in the summer of 1915, they succeeded in placing mines in the fairway of
the Canal. It would, therefore, have been quite possible for them to
have seriously interfered with the working of the Canal and the passage
of shipping. Granted that a new line must be found, the question arises
where such new line should be drawn. A line across the actual desert may
be all very well in war time, though none too easy to hold, for the
reasons that we have already discussed. But to keep a garrison on such a
line for ever would be well-nigh intolerable. Thus, by a process of
elimination, we find that the most suitable line for the permanent
defence of the Suez Canal is the fertile country beyond the eastern
desert--in other words, Palestine.

Fourthly, it had been brought home to us that the worst form of defence
is a passive defence. As, therefore, the Turk would not leave well
alone, but insisted on attacking us in Egypt, so it became necessary for
us to meet him on his own ground, to push a vigorous offensive, and
eventually to carry the war into Palestine.

CHAPTER II

THE DESERT OF SINAI

In accordance with the policy of defending the Suez Canal upon a line
further east, the construction of a new defensive line was put in hand
during the early months of 1916. No longer were the Turks to be allowed
to annoy us by actually reaching the Canal. A line of trenches,
protected by barbed wire entanglements, was constructed out in the
desert, a few miles to the east of the Canal. As may be imagined, this
was no easy task. A large amount of excavation was necessary for a small
amount of trench; walls had to be built up with sandbags; and other
steps had to be taken to prevent the sides from foundering, and to
construct a work that would withstand shell fire.

Meanwhile, other preparations were put in hand for carrying the
defensive line further to the east. The construction was commenced of a
broad gauge of railway from Kantara eastwards across the desert. This
railway eventually became the trunk line between Egypt and Palestine. In
the days of trench warfare before Gaza, it transported freight trains
heavily laden with rations and ammunitions, troop trains conveying
officers and men in open trucks, hospital trains evacuating sick and
wounded, and an all-sleeping-car express running nightly in each
direction. In 1918, a swing-bridge was improvised across the Suez Canal,
and Jerusalem and Cairo were then conne