File 756/1917 Pt 2-3 ‘ARAB BULLETIN Nos 66-114’ [‎92v] (193/834)

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men he could collect, to a reserve position, which was the southern
end o£ the little plain between the Hasa valley and the Tafila
valley. This plain is triangular, about two miles each way.
The opening lay to the north, and was a low pass, through which
the Kerak road ran, and up which the Turks were coming. The
sides of the triangle were low ridges, and Abdullah’s charge had
taken all the western ridge.
After Abdullah had gone I went up to the front, and found
things rather difficult. It was being held by thirty Jbn Jazi
Howeitat, mounted, and about thirty villagers. The Turks were
working through the pass, and along the eastern boundary ridge of
the plain, and concentrating the fire of about fifteen machine guns
on the face and Hank of the rather obvious little mound we were
holding. They were meanwhile correcting the fusing of their
shrapnel, which had been grazing the hill-top and bursting over
the plain, and were beginning to sprinkle the sides and top of
the hill quite freely. Our people were short of ammunition, and
the loss of the position was obviously only a matter of minutes.
A Turkish aeroplane came up and did not improve our chances.
"Hie Motalga horsemen were given all the cartridges we
could collect, and the footmen ran back over the plain. I was
among them, since 1 had come straight up the cliffs from Tafila,
and my animals had not caught me up. The mounted men held
out for fifteen minutes more, and then galloped back to us unhurt.
We collected in the reserve position, a ridge about sixty feet high,
commanding an excellent view of the plain. It was now noon,
we had lost about fifteen men and had about eighty left, but a
few minutes later about 120 Ageyl came up, and my men with a
Hotchkiss automatic, and Lutfi el-Aseli with two. We then
held our own easily till H p.m. when Sherifs Zeid and Mastur
came up with Kasim and Abdullah, one Egyptian army 2-95
mountain gun, two \ ickers, two large Hotchkiss, and five fusils
mitrailleurs, with twenty mule M.I., thirty Motalga horse, and
about 200 \ illagers. 1 he I urks were trying to shell and machine-
gun our ridge, but found difficulty ' in' ranging. They had
occupied our old front line, and we had its range (d ,100 yards)
exactly, as I had paced it on my way back (this mountain
country is very difficult to judge by eye). We mounted all our
matenals on our ridge, and Rasim took all the mounted men
(now about eighty) to the right, to work up beyond the eastern
loundaiy ridge. He was able to get forward unseen, till he had
turned the Turkish Hank at 2,000 yards. He there made a
dismounted attack of ten men and faxe fusils mitrailleurs. keeping
his horse in reserve. Meanwhile the Turks had just five Maxims
and tour automatics on the western ridge of the pass, and opened
on our centre. We replied with Vickers and Hotchkiss, and put'
twenty-two rounds of shrapnel over the face of the mound A
reinforcement of 100 men from Aima now reached us (they had
refused Shenfian service the day before over a question of wages,
but sunk old scores m the crisis), and we sent them, with