File 756/1917 Pt 2-3 ‘ARAB BULLETIN Nos 66-114’ [‎272r] (552/834)

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THE DESTRUCTION OF THE FOURTH ARMY.
With the two thousand camels, given us in July by General
Allenby, we calculated that we could afford to send up to Azrak, for
'operations about Deraa, an expedition of four hundred and fifty
camel corps of the Arab regular army, four Arab Vickers, twenty
Arab Hotchkiss, a French battery of four mountain Q.F. '65 guns,
two British aeroplanes, three British armoured cars with necessary
tenders, a demolition company of Egyptian Camel Corps and
a section of camel-Ghurkas. Besides these, Sherif Nasir and
myself had our private body-guards of Arab camel-men. This
made our total force one thousand strong, and its prospects were
so sure that we made no provision (and had no'means) for
getting it back again. The supply problem, especially in petrol
and ammunition, was a very great one, and we lived from hand
to mouth, without, however, ever being in serious need.
The force left Ab el-Lissan in detachments early in Sep
tember, and concentrated, without accident, to time at Azrak on
the twelfth of the month. The distance from Akaba to Azrak
was two hundred and ninety miles, and we used the wells of defer,
Bair and Ammari on the way. At Azrak we had meant to
collect the Rualla and descend in force on the Hauran, with direct
assault on Deraa, which was only held by five hundred rifles—
but this plan was spoiled by the unfortunate outburst of the King
of Hejaz against Jaafar Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. and the senior officers of the
Northern Army, since the crisis he provoked upset the whole local
temper, and delayed me in Ab el-Lissan till September 4. As a
result, the Rualla never came together, and we had to modify our
schemes. In the end, we decided to carry out a flying attack on the
northern, western and southern railways at Deraa, with our regular
troops, the Rualla horse under Khalid and Trad Shaalan, and
such Hauran peasants as should be brave enough to declare for us.
As we sat at Azrak we put in a strong bluff towards
Amman. Money was sent to Mithgal with very secret
instructions to collect barley dumps for us and the British, in
our combined surprise attack against Amman and Salt on the
18th. The Beni Sakhr were to mass at Ziza to help us. The
rumour of this, and the rumour of our simultaneous intention
on Deraa, confirmed by other factors supplied them from
Palestine, kept the Turks’ eyes fixed on the Jordan and east
of it, where their lines were very long, expensive in men, and,
despite their best efforts, inevitably vulnerable to a force of our
mobility and range.
On the 13th we left Azrak and marched over the long Gian
el-Khunna into the basalt screes of Jebel Druse. The Egyptian
and Ghurka units were sent westward to cut the Amman line
by Mafrak, but, owing to a misunderstanding with their guides,
never got so far. However, our Bristol Fighter the same day,
brought down a German two-seater in flames near Umm el-Jimal:
so all was well. We got to Umtaiye, thirteen miles south-east of