MacNamara diary, 19 August 1916-29 May 1919 / John Patrick MacNamara - Page 99
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[Page 99]
bombardment a general attack was made on the place by infantry in front & the Des[ert] Mounted Corps in the rear. The infantry were just getting held up on the 2nd line defences when the 4th L H Bde charged at full gallop over the trenches right into the middle of the town.
After this the Turks threw in & the town was ours. We captured about 2,000 men 20 guns & thousands & thousands of rounds of small arms & shell ammunition.
It was absolutely necessary to take the place on the first day as all the troops were depending on it for their water supply. We did excellent work at Beersheeba [Beersheba] & put a couple of batteries out of action.
The enemy must have got a big surprise when our heavy guns opened out as he never dreamt that we could get our heavy guns up during a night. We had about 220 guns of all calibres concentrated on Beersheeba [Beersheba] that day & the heabier did by far the most damage.