stance they could
render the infantry was very slight. Nor are the transport or camel
leaders likely to forget that trek, and it was greatly to Mr
Drysdale's credit that he managed to get them all safely to Kubeibeh
early on the morning of the 8th December. The heavy rains made the
Roman road almost impossible, and troops "resting" (so-called) were
turned on to road-making. The difficulty of command may be illustrated
by the fact that in marching to Beit Iksa the whole Battalion was
strung out in single file along a sheep track.

It was very largely owing to this threat on his line of retirement
that caused the evacuation of Jerusalem which was entered by our
troops on 9th December. On the 8th 1 officer and 50 other ranks had
gone to Enab to furnish guards for Jerusalem, and to this Battalion
fell the honour of supplying the first Christian guards over the holy
places in Jerusalem after a Moslem occupation of seven centuries.

Beitania, which brought the operations to a close, was quite a
brilliant piece of work. Our casualties were 1 officer and 8 other
ranks killed, and 4 officers and 40 other ranks wounded, of whom 2
subsequently died of wounds; but, as we found afterwards that Zeitun
and Beitania had both been held by picked fresh troops, whose morale
had not been tried by the continuous fighting of the November retreat,
that number could not be called excessive.

To single out individuals when everyone did so well is an invidious
task, but one cannot close an account of these operations without
mentioning the really splendid work of Lieut.-Colonel Younger, Captain
H.S. Sharp, and Captain W.D. Brown, also of Lieutenant R.A. Andrew,
whose energy and determination in bringing up rations and ammunition
over the most Godforsaken country, cannot be too highly praised.

The news of the previous night proved to be correct, and the Battalion
moved off from Beitania about 9 A.M. on New Year's Day down the Wadi
Sunt. The Wadi Sunt was by far the most attractive wadi we had yet
struck, being steep sided, and on the south side especially clothed
not only with the usual olive tree, but also with many sorts of
creepers and wild flowers which we had not seen before. The whole side
rose in terraces, and from almost every terrace, overhanging on to the
one below, was a very pretty dark leaved creeper, which was at the
time in full bloom with clusters of creamy coloured flowers which
looked as if they were made of wax, and the le