I recently completed the creation of a board to refight the charge of the Australian Light Horse at Beersheba on 31st October 1917. I was able to take the game to the Fiasco show at the Royal Armouries in Leeds where I ran it as a participation game. Obviously I forgot to take any photos.
The scenario is fairly straightforward. Two regiments of Australian Light Horse (ALH) must move rapidly across the open desert, overcome entrenched Turkish defenders and reach Beersheba to secure the wells before the Turks can blow them up. Fail and there’s no water for 15,000 horses.
If you haven’t seen the movie The Lighthorsemen from 1987 check it out on YouTube. It does a pretty decent job of explaining the battle and recreating the charge. Here’s an excerpt showing part of the charge,
To understand why the battle was fought we have to go back to late 1916. General Archibald Murray and the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) clear the Sinai and construct a railway and water pipeline. In 1917 they advance into Palestine and fight the Ottomans at Gaza. Gaza a town on the Mediterranean coast sits astride key roads leading up to Jerusalem and Damascus and is the cornerstone of the Ottoman defensive line. The EEF are on the cusp of victory as night falls and confused reports cause the order to retire to be issued. Murray tries again a month later but this time the Turks have reinforced the defences with multiple lines of trenches, fortifications and barbed wire. The Second Battle of Gaza results in a British defeat. Murray is replaced by Edmund Allenby.
Allenby shakes up the EEF. He moves the GHQ forward from Cairo, is able to request additional resources, including tanks, armoured cars and artillery. He extends the railway and water pipelines before launching his main attack in late October. A pinning force launches a feint attack at Gaza whilst the bulk of the EEF marched across 30 miles of desert to Beersheba. Beersheba anchored the eastern end of the Ottoman defenses that ran east-west to Gaza. It controlled access to a key road through the hills leading to Jerusalem. Taking Beersheba would outflank the Turkish position in Palestine and open up multiple lines of advance.
Allenby’s forces comprised of an infantry corps and an entire cavalry corps. Altogether there were approximately 15,000 horses involved in the battle. It was a huge gamble. If the attack did not succeed there would not be sufficient water to supply all the troops and horses. The Turks had rigged the key wells in Beersheba to explosives in case the town fell.
The attack on Beersheba saw the cavalry swing around to the east of the town and then north before turning west to cut communication and escape routes. The infantry attacked Ottoman defensive lines to the south and west of the town.
A combined ANZAC force took the key hill and defensive position at Tel-Es-Sabe. This position dominated the eastern approach to Beersheba. General Chauvel spotted an opportunity. The Turkish defences on this flank were not protected by barbed wire. He had one brigade of Australian Light Horse, troops that usually moved as cavalry but fought as infantry, in position to be able to attack. He ordered them to take Beersheba.
They charged across 3 miles of open desert, down a gentle slope, under a Turkish artillery barrage. They reached the first Turkish trenches and began a tough hand to hand assault. Overcoming the Turkish defenders elements of the ALH rode across the Wadi into Beersheba where the Ottoman forces were attempting to retreat in some disarray. Several wells were destroyed but others were captured intact as were around a 1000 prisoners.
The capture of Beersheba opened up the whole of Palestine. The Turks were forced back from Gaza and by December Allenby entered Jerusalem. 1918 saw tough campaigning before the Turks were decisively defeated at the Battle of Megiddo. Damascus fell in early October of 1918 and the Ottoman Empire signed an armistice on the 30th October 1918.
The game I run seeks to recreate the charge of the Australian Light Horse. Players have to brave a Turkish barrage, assault Turkish infantry in trenches and then race to Beersheba to stop Turkish engineers destroying the wells.
I’ll be running the game at Recon in Pudsey on December 5th if you fancy giving it a go.
Keep your dice rolling!
Charles
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