It’s 90 years since Beersheba was captured from the Turks by the Allies. It was an important turning point in the war, and of course the site of the 4th Light Brigade’s famous cavalry style charge. More about he campaign here.
On the night of 30-31 October about 40,000 allied troops moved towards Beersheba, including units of the Desert Mounted Corps, about 15,000 men, under Lieutenant General Sir Harry Chauvel, in a night march of nearly 30 miles. On the morning of 31 October the British 60th Division attacked Turkish positions around Beersheba. The infantry made steady progress but by late afternoon had still not secured the wells in the strongly defended town, which were vital for the welfare of the Mounted Corps’ horses, many of whom had been without water for several days. Chauvel decided to send in the 4th Light Horse Brigade, under Brigadier General William Grant, with the words, “Put Grant straight at it”.
I’ve blogged previously about how my Grandfather Thomas Hugh Sarre was a Light Horse trooper, how he was wounded and how he was awarded the Military medal. I also turned up this photo in a search of the Australia War Memorial database:
Some other info about Trooper T H Sarre:
Thomas Hugh Sarre
Thomas Hugh Sarre was awarded the following honours:
Military Medal
- Service Number
- 1438
- Service
- Army
- Rank
- Trooper
- Unit
- 10th LH
- Conflict
- First World War
- Date of London Gazette
- 3 July 1919, page 8357, position 91
- Date of Commonwealth of Australia Gazette
- 17 October 1919, page 1531, position 35
It Remembrance day this weekend.
