e every
effort to maintain his position on the Gaza-Beersheba line.

The British force was extended on a front of 22 miles from the sea
opposite Gaza to Gamli. About 6 miles inland, the Wadi Ghuzzeh is joined
by a short tributary wadi, on the right bank, known as the Wadi
Nukhabir. The point at which this wadi commenced was about a mile or so
nearer to the enemy than the line of our positions opposite Gaza. Its
head-waters (to use an expression scarcely appropriate to a dry
watercourse) were within the apex of a =V=-shaped escarpment, the point of
the =V= protruding towards the enemy. The feature might be compared to a
heel-mark in soft ground. On the convex side were slight ridges with
gentle forward slopes; on the concave were steep escarpments. The ridges
of the =V= were known as Mansura and Sheikh Abbas Ridges respectively; the
point was merely known as "The Apex." Our trench system here ran along
the forward slopes of these ridges, a hundred yards or so below the
crest, whence the country fell towards the enemy in a gentle glacis
slope devoid of cover. Our reserves and our day positions were behind
the escarpment, where was excellent cover from hostile shelling. The
portion of the enemy's works in front of this sector was the Sihan
group, a strongly prepared position distant about a mile. The apex
itself formed a salient, necessary to hold since its Ridges would
otherwise have dominated our positions; but, though a salient, the
position was undoubtedly strong. The situation and the conformation of
the Apex, therefore, both invited attack and assisted defence. From the
sea to the Apex we had a continuous line of trenches. Beyond Sheikh
Abbas our defences consisted of a series of redoubts, our right flank
being to some extent in the air. Here, however, was a waterless desert,
so difficult to cross that this flank could be sufficiently protected by
cavalry patrols.

Considering that there was a war on, campaigning life on this front was
by no means uncomfortable. Those who had seen service in France bemoaned
the lack of comforts and amusements behind the line, and the absence of
home leave, those who had come from Salonica were congratulating
themselves on the exchange; while those of us who had been in
Mesopotamia during the bad times of 1916, considered ourselves in the
lap of luxury. Rations were good and plentiful and canteen well stocked.
The Turkish rations, on the other hand, were scanty and poor, with the
re