bloggie

Yesterday was a magical day in Beer Sheva. Ghosts of the city's distant past returned to walk the dusty streets... and across the desert landscape outside of town.

No, this isn't a Halloween post. I'm talking about yesterday's observance of the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Beer Sheva and the famous charge of the Australian Light Horse which was key in turning the tide... and ultimately defeating the Turks.

The day began with the Australian Light Horse Association, a group of dedicated volunteers (many of whom are descendants of the original Beer Sheva chargers) parading to the old Commonwealth War Cemetery in authentic WWI uniforms. My journalist friend and fellow blogger, Sarah, came down from Jerusalem to cover the story for an Australian wire service and I picked her up and brought her to the cemetery. Once there I also had the privilege of making the acquaintance of a lovely, long-time repents reader, Naomi, who had come to see the goings on.

Once there, the light horsemen entered the cemetery and took up places among the gathered crowd of diplomats, dignitaries, senior military representatives and guests.

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There were speeches by the Ambassadors of Australia and New Zealand, as well as a few other dignitaries. Sadly the Kiwi Ambassador took the opportunity to point out that in addition to the way the battle of Beer Sheva had changed the face of the middle east, "there was still an embryonic [Palestinian] state yet to be born". [~sigh~] Completely out of place and in the poorest of taste, IMHO.

After the ceremony many of the Light Horse Association members wandered over to the block of graves where the chargers were buried to locate their fallen relatives and those whose stories they knew from old veterans.

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Next came a memorial ceremony at the nearby Turkish War Monument that stands by the old Turkish Railway Station.

I was invited to a small reception at a nearby museum which afforded me the opportunity to chat with many of the diplomats, dignitaries and soldiers (both real and reenacters) in a very relaxed setting. I was even introduced to a charming woman who turned out to be the granddaughter of General Chauvel (who had been in charge of the ANZAC forces during the battle).

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With one or two exceptions, none of the riders had ever been to Israel before... and yet, had faithfully spent decades keeping alive the proud memory of this distant battlefield. To be able to actually ride even a short way in the hoof prints of the brave soldiers who had been her 90 years ago must have been the culmination of a lifetime of dreams.

There are some fantastic photos in this article. Go and have a look at them.

Here's one picture. The caption is:

This gentleman was telling us that while his great uncle had survived, he had scribbled a note on the back of one of his old war photographs saying, this is _____ who fell in the charge. He was visibly moved to have been able to visit the final resting place of this young man who had stared so casually from that yellowed photograph... blissfully unaware of what lay in store for him.

There's a nice report of yesterday's activities in todays Jerusalem Post too.

There were speeches by the Ambassadors of Australia and New Zealand, as well as a few other dignitaries. Sadly the Kiwi Ambassador took the opportunity to point out that in addition to the way the battle of Beer Sheva had changed the face of the middle east, "there was still an embryonic [Palestinian] state yet to be born". [~sigh~] Completely out of place and in the poorest of taste, IMHO.