With the British Army in The Holy Land | Page 5

line for the protection
of the Nile; yet this line was inadequate for the protection of the Canal
itself or for securing the immunity of the passing shipping.

And so, thirdly, we realized that some other line must be found for the
protection of the Canal. While we were sitting on the west bank, small
parties of Turks approached the eastern bank. On more than one
occasion, in the summer of 1915, they succeeded in placing mines in
the fairway of the Canal. It would, therefore, have been quite possible
for them to have seriously interfered with the working of the Canal and
the passage of shipping. Granted that a new line must be found, the
question arises where such new line should be drawn. A line across the
actual desert may be all very well in war time, though none too easy to
hold, for the reasons that we have already discussed. But to keep a
garrison on such a line for ever would be well-nigh intolerable. Thus,
by a process of elimination, we find that the most suitable line for the
permanent defence of the Suez Canal is the fertile country beyond the
eastern desert--in other words, Palestine.
Fourthly, it had been brought home to us that the worst form of defence
is a passive defence. As, therefore, the Turk would not leave well alone,
but insisted on attacking us in Egypt, so it became necessary for us to
meet him on his own ground, to push a vigorous offensive, and
eventually to carry the war into Palestine.
CHAPTER II
THE DESERT OF SINAI
In accordance with the policy of defending the Suez Canal upon a line
further east, the construction of a new defensive line was put in hand
during the early months of 1916. No longer were the Turks to be
allowed to annoy us by actually reaching the Canal. A line of trenches,
protected by barbed wire entanglements, was constructed out in the
desert, a few miles to the east of the Canal. As may be imagined, this
was no easy task. A large amount of excavation was necessary for a
small amount of trench; walls had to be built up with sandbags; and
other steps had to be taken to prevent the sides from foundering, and to
construct a work that would withstand shell fire.
Meanwhile, other preparations were put in hand for carrying the

defensive line further to the east. The construction was commenced of a
broad gauge of railway from Kantara eastwards across the desert. This
railway eventually became the trunk line between Egypt and Palestine.
In the days of trench warfare before Gaza, it transported freight trains
heavily laden with rations and ammunitions, troop trains conveying
officers and men in open trucks, hospital trains evacuating sick and
wounded, and an all-sleeping-car express running nightly in each
direction. In 1918, a swing-bridge was improvised across the Suez
Canal, and Jerusalem and Cairo were then connected by rail without
change of carriage being necessary. The future prospects of this railway
seem unbounded. It will undoubtedly be continued through to
Damascus and Aleppo, where it will connect with railways to
Constantinople and to Baghdad and the Persian Gulf. Thus it will form
part of a grand trunk railway system along the old caravan routes
connecting the three continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa. In its
conception, it was just a military railway, laid, with but little
preparation, across the sands of the desert. To this railway, however,
was largely due the success of the campaign that we are about to
consider.
We have already seen that the Sinaitic Desert is almost waterless.
Although it has often been crossed by invading armies in both
directions, the provision of water has always presented the greatest
difficulty. The carriage of water in tanks upon the backs of camels, a
method used by us for locally supplying troops between water dumps
and the headquarters of units, proved successful here thousands of
years ago. The plan adopted by the Turks of dragging water-holding
pontoons across the desert was not to be despised. Further progress was
made when supplies of water were transported in tank-trucks along the
railway. But a bolder adaptation of modern science to desert fighting
was reached, when it was decided to lay on a piped supply of water
from the Nile.
We have seen that the western bank of the Suez Canal was already
provided with a plentiful supply of fresh water by the Sweet Water
Canal. Plant was now installed for making this water available for the
troops. Purity had to be considered as well as adequacy of supply. A

peculiar danger had to be guarded against. There is a disease prevalent
in Egypt, of a particularly unpleasant character and persistent type,
called by the medical profession Bilhaziosis,