Allenby's Gunners
Alan Smith's Allenby's Gunners tells the story of artillery in the highly successful World War I Sinai and Palestine campaigns. Following Gallipoli and the reconstitution of the AIF, a shortage of Australian gunners saw British Territorial artillery allotted to the Australian Light Horse and New Zealand Mounted Rifle brigades. It was a relationship that would prove highly successful and Allenby's Gunners provides a detailed and colorful description of the artillery war, cavalry and infantry operations from the first battles of Romani and Rafa, through the tough actions of Gaza, the Palestine desert, Jordan Valley and Amman to the capture of Jerusalem. The story concludes with the superb victory of Megiddo and the taking of Damascus until the theater armistice of 1918.

Smith Covers the trials and triumphs of the gunners as they honed their art in one of the most difficult battlefield environments of the war. The desert proved hostile and unrelenting, testing the gunners, their weapons and their animals in the harsh conditions. The gunners' adversary, the wily and skillful Ottoman artillerymen, endured the same horrendous conditions and proved a tough and courageous foe.

The light horsemen and gunners also owed much to the intrepid airmen of the AFC and RFC whose tactical and offensive bombing and counter-battery work from mid-1917 would prove instrumental in securing victory. This is an aspect of the campaign that is seamlessly woven throughout as the action unfolds.

The Sinai and Palestine campaigns generally followed a pattern of heavy losses and setbacks for an initial period before allied forces eventually prevailed. This is a highly descriptive volume that tells and oft-neglected story and fills the gap in the record of a campaign in which Australians played a significant role. It is a welcome addition to the story of the Australians in the Middle Eastern campaigns of World War I.
1127061931
Allenby's Gunners
Alan Smith's Allenby's Gunners tells the story of artillery in the highly successful World War I Sinai and Palestine campaigns. Following Gallipoli and the reconstitution of the AIF, a shortage of Australian gunners saw British Territorial artillery allotted to the Australian Light Horse and New Zealand Mounted Rifle brigades. It was a relationship that would prove highly successful and Allenby's Gunners provides a detailed and colorful description of the artillery war, cavalry and infantry operations from the first battles of Romani and Rafa, through the tough actions of Gaza, the Palestine desert, Jordan Valley and Amman to the capture of Jerusalem. The story concludes with the superb victory of Megiddo and the taking of Damascus until the theater armistice of 1918.

Smith Covers the trials and triumphs of the gunners as they honed their art in one of the most difficult battlefield environments of the war. The desert proved hostile and unrelenting, testing the gunners, their weapons and their animals in the harsh conditions. The gunners' adversary, the wily and skillful Ottoman artillerymen, endured the same horrendous conditions and proved a tough and courageous foe.

The light horsemen and gunners also owed much to the intrepid airmen of the AFC and RFC whose tactical and offensive bombing and counter-battery work from mid-1917 would prove instrumental in securing victory. This is an aspect of the campaign that is seamlessly woven throughout as the action unfolds.

The Sinai and Palestine campaigns generally followed a pattern of heavy losses and setbacks for an initial period before allied forces eventually prevailed. This is a highly descriptive volume that tells and oft-neglected story and fills the gap in the record of a campaign in which Australians played a significant role. It is a welcome addition to the story of the Australians in the Middle Eastern campaigns of World War I.
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Allenby's Gunners

Allenby's Gunners

by Alan H Smith
Allenby's Gunners

Allenby's Gunners

by Alan H Smith

Hardcover

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Overview

Alan Smith's Allenby's Gunners tells the story of artillery in the highly successful World War I Sinai and Palestine campaigns. Following Gallipoli and the reconstitution of the AIF, a shortage of Australian gunners saw British Territorial artillery allotted to the Australian Light Horse and New Zealand Mounted Rifle brigades. It was a relationship that would prove highly successful and Allenby's Gunners provides a detailed and colorful description of the artillery war, cavalry and infantry operations from the first battles of Romani and Rafa, through the tough actions of Gaza, the Palestine desert, Jordan Valley and Amman to the capture of Jerusalem. The story concludes with the superb victory of Megiddo and the taking of Damascus until the theater armistice of 1918.

Smith Covers the trials and triumphs of the gunners as they honed their art in one of the most difficult battlefield environments of the war. The desert proved hostile and unrelenting, testing the gunners, their weapons and their animals in the harsh conditions. The gunners' adversary, the wily and skillful Ottoman artillerymen, endured the same horrendous conditions and proved a tough and courageous foe.

The light horsemen and gunners also owed much to the intrepid airmen of the AFC and RFC whose tactical and offensive bombing and counter-battery work from mid-1917 would prove instrumental in securing victory. This is an aspect of the campaign that is seamlessly woven throughout as the action unfolds.

The Sinai and Palestine campaigns generally followed a pattern of heavy losses and setbacks for an initial period before allied forces eventually prevailed. This is a highly descriptive volume that tells and oft-neglected story and fills the gap in the record of a campaign in which Australians played a significant role. It is a welcome addition to the story of the Australians in the Middle Eastern campaigns of World War I.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781526714657
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Publication date: 03/13/2018
Pages: 384
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Alan Smith was born in Newcastle and educated at The Armidale School and Newcastle Boy’s High School. He gained an Associate Diploma in Industrial Chemistry in 1952 and in 1982 he completed a Masters Degree from the University of Newcastle in commerce and economics.

He joined the C M F in 1951 as a Recruit Gunner in R Battery, 21 Field Regiment, RAA in Newcastle and was commissioned in June 1954. He had regimental service with the Royal Artillery with SP regiments based in Bloomsbury, London and the Royal Canadian Artillery in Toronto, Ontario during 1954-55. He was promoted major with the Regiment but continued his military service with 2nd Battalion, RNSWR as Support Company commander.

After further training his military education led him into logistics staff appointments in HQs of Communication Zone and 8 Task Force. He was awarded the Efficiency Decoration in 1966 and retired in 1968. He was appointed to the Executive Staff of The Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited in 1960 and occupied Personnel/Human Resource positions in Corporate, Steel and Wire Divisions in his 36 years service to 1992.

His third ‘career’ is writing artillery history as Assistant Editor and now Editor of the Journal of the Royal Australian Artillery Historical Company, Cannonball.

Table of Contents

List of photographs 1

List of maps 3

List of tables 5

Foreword 6

Preface 8

Notes on sources 11

Abbreviations 12

Map Legend 14

Narrative 1 Background to April 1916 16

1 Middle East Command: an outline of operations 18

2 Cavalry doctrine and the employment of artillery 26

3 Corps artillery: horse, field, siege and heavy artillery brigades 34

4 The Battle of Romani and the early battles of 1916-17 45

5 The Battle of Magdhaba: 23 December 1916 62

6 The Battle of Rafa: 8/9 January 1916 68

7 The First Battle of Gaza: 26-27 March 1917 77

8 The Second Battle of Gaza: 17-19 April 1917 93

9 Aftermath, artillery reorganisation and interregnum 110

10 The guns of XX and XXI Corps prior to Third Gaza 117

11 The cavalry's guns prior to Beersheba: May October 1917 122

12 The Battle of Beersheba: October 1917 125

13 The Third Battle of Gaza: 25 October-7 November 1917 137

Narrative 2 November 1917 to May 1918 154

14 The Great Northern Drive 155

15 The drive north to Junction Station 164

16 Allenby takes Jerusalem 175

17 The Northern Front and the defence of Jerusalem 191

18 The capture of Jericho: 19-21 February 1918 194

19 The Amman raid and the first Es Salt affair 197

20 The April 1918 battles of XX Corps and XXI Corps 204

21 The second Es Salt raid: 30 April-4 May 1918 211

22 The Northern Front 1. Wadi Auja: 18 March 1918 222

23 Summer in the Jordan Valley: May-July 1918 226

Narrative 3 May 1918 to November 1918 238

24 A summer of contemplation and creativity 239

25 The Battle of Megiddo: the first three days 249

26 Chaytor's thrust to Amman and Deraa 268

27 The pursuit to Damascus 272

28 Damascus to Aleppo 280

29 The artillery campaign: a recapitulation 282

30 Artillery summary and conclusions 290

Postscript 294

Appendices: 295

Appendix 1 296

Appendix 2 298

Appendix 3 299

Appendix 4 301

Appendix 5 304

Appendix 6 306

Appendix 7 320

Appendix 8 328

Endnotes 329

Bibliography 351

Index 358

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