Item 02: Gordon Macrae diary, 9 January 1916-20 January 1917 - Page 80

[Page 80]

January 1917
The New Year came in wet & cold & windy On the 5th it fined up. A & B Troops went to Reuisat & Zagadan. Zagadan is 12 miles SE of our camp. 6 of us struck south from Zagadan & followed out some Bedouin tracks in a westerly direction as it was too late to follow them East. We came across the place where they had their goods & chattels packed & covered up. We got papers & next day sent out some pack horses for anything useful in their stack.

On the night of the 6th we got some more rain, but it fined up again next day. More mail came in & I got 2 parcels & a few letters. On the 9th the Anzac Mounted Division attacked Rafa on the Egyptian Border & had a stiff fight eventually capturing the place. The ground was bare & without cover & our casualties were over 500. Over 2000 prisoners were taken & the Turks had 600 casualties. Our troops suffered some from British