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Auction: 19001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 395

A FINE COLLECTION OF AWARDS FOR THE PALESTINE CAMPAIGN 1917-18

Formed by Martin Glen


INTRODUCTION: THE BATTLES FOR GAZA, 1917

'All ranks and services in the Force under my command have acquitted themselves in a manner beyond praise. Fatigue, thirst, heat and cold have been endured uncomplainingly. The co-operation of all arms has been admirable and has enabled success in battle to be consummated by irresistible and victorious pursuit.'

General Sir Edmund Allenby to the Secretary of State for War: dispatch 16 December 1917, published as the Fourth Supplement to The London Gazette 25 January 1918.

Since 1967, and its capture by Israeli forces during the Six Day War, the city of Gaza and its eponymous 'Strip' of the eastern Mediterranean littoral has rarely been out of the news. Fifty years earlier, in 1917, Gaza was a strategic objective for an Allied force, under overall British command, for which it represented the linch-pin in the infrastructure of Turkish control of Palestine. As John Grainger wrote, in The Battle for Palestine (2006), Gaza in 1917, '… was … the Palestinian guardpost against an attack from Egypt. … though it might not look like a fortress, every Allied soldier … who had attempted to penetrate the modern Turkish trenches south of the city knew full well that it was one.'

This important collection of Decorations and Medals awarded to British troops engaged in the battles for Gaza in 1917 highlights the contrast between the relatively fluid Palestine campaign and the war of attrition being waged in France and Flanders. For a while in 1917, in front of Gaza and its defences and faced with a tenacity in defence on the part of Turkish troops that surprised and impressed Allied commanders, it appeared that the campaign in Palestine would result in the sort of stalemate familiar from the Western Front. This cannot have improved the morale of those British troops who had been evacuated from Gallipoli only to find themselves in Egypt, facing the same implacable enemy: it is in that context that Allenby's praise for their efforts, quoted above, should be appreciated.

As this collection clearly shows, the vast majority of the British troops present at Gaza in 1917 had been, before 1914, at best part-time soldiers; many had not been soldiers at all before the outbreak of war. For the British infantry, this was - by 1917 - no different to the composition of the British Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders. However, it was the Palestine campaign that gave the British yeomanry regiments the opportunity to deploy in their mounted role. For the yeomanry indeed, this was the last campaign in which they would fight with their horses. It is therefore significant that this collection includes so many groups of medals awarded to British yeomen.

By 1917 the war was in its fourth year, with the now-infamous Somme campaign still fresh in the public mind, but with the mud and mind-numbing despair of Passchendaele yet to come. Until now, the objectives of the British forces in the East had been to protect the Suez Canal and the defence of Egypt against Turkish attack, but in December 1916 the War Office began to regard the capture of Jerusalem, with the consequent defeat of Turkey, as a worthwhile aim.

Since early 1916, moves into the Sinai Desert had been undertaken with the remit of preventing a Turkish advance across the waterless peninsula. The Battle of Romani at the end of July had been a resounding victory, similar tactics being employed on December 23 at Magdhaba to the same effect, el Arish having been occupied without opposition on the 22 December.

The First Battle of Gaza: 26th March 1917

The Desert Column was composed of mounted troops of Australia, New Zealand and the Yeomanry Regiments of Britain. Its role was to encircle Gaza from the east and north thereby creating a screen. This would prevent reinforcement of the town from known strong-points to the east, as well as stop wholesale withdrawal from the town.

The main assault on the town was carried out by the Eastern Force, using two divisions, the third being in reserve. In contrast to advances of a few hundred yards on the Western Front, the men of the Territorial Forces attacked across an open plain several thousand yards deep. By sunset, at the end of a long and trying day, and after having been heavily engaged by the entrenched Turks, the battle was all but won, enemy evacuation of Gaza by the remaining troops taking place. However, the order to retire was given and the all-but victorious troops carried out the incomprehensible order with bewilderment. Further action on the 27 March was unsuccessful in restoring the gains of the previous day and a general retirement was ordered.

The Second Battle of Gaza: 19th April 1917

Following the events of 26 -27 March, all troops were withdrawn to allow rest and reorganisation for a fresh assault on Gaza, with the Eastern Force advancing on a three-division front:

The 52nd (Lowland) Division was to attack along the El Sire Ridge, which ran through a series of hills from the south-west to its highest point at Ali el Muntar overlooking Gaza; Outpost Hill and Green Hill would become scenes of bitter and protracted fighting to take and re-take them on the 19 April.

The 54th (East Anglian) Division would both cover the right flank of the 52nd Division and attack two main targets on the Gaza-Beersheba Road; Road Trenches and Tank Redoubt would see enormous casualties being suffered.

Finally, the 53rd (Welsh) Division would advance along the coast, thus protecting the left flank of the 52nd Division, and take the two objectives of Sheikh Ajlin and Samson Ridge.

The Desert Column was to advance with two Divisions. As well as providing a screen to the south-east to protect the right flank of the troops attacking Gaza, there were two objectives at Atawineh Redoubt and Sausage Ridge/Hairpin Redoubt to be assaulted and captured.

However, the surprise which had favoured the March attack was absent, the intervening three weeks having allowed the Turkish defences to be strengthened and, combined with renewed resolve from the defenders, led to a failure of the attack. With the realisation that the town of Gaza could not be taken, the many hard-won positions were to be held until further notice. Relief battalions were sent up for this role and the exhausted, battle-shocked troops were marched back to rest areas, leaving behind hundreds of their dead comrades. Some battalions had suffered so many casualties that they ceased to be effective fighting units and had to be amalgamated with other such battalions; the 1/5th Norfolk Regiment had 12 officers and 211 men killed with a further 384 all ranks wounded.

The Third Battle of Gaza: 31st October-7th November 1917

Gaza was captured on 7 November; carried out by a far larger force than had been available earlier in the year, the extent of the operation in taking Beersheba first and then assaulting Gaza proved to be the master-stroke needed. Despite the enormous amount of detailed work carried out by the General Staff, there were, nevertheless, several crises which were overcome by the sheer determination and raw courage of the men. The defence of Hill 720 was an early example, for its loss would have put the whole flank at risk, while the snap decision to attack Beersheba with the Light Horsemen secured the vital water supplies, without which the desert force would have been stranded. The action at Khuweilfeh Heights, while appearing to have been a stalemate, did in fact engage the Turkish troops who would otherwise have been available to reinforce the garrison in Gaza. On such actions, thus rested the final success.

The Sheria Position proved to be the final major objective before the assault on Gaza, and although many casualties were suffered during its capture, the loss to Turkish morale must have been considerable. With Gaza now isolated, the assault went completely as planned and by the evening of the 7 November the operation was concluded, to the great relief of General Allenby and his staff. That said, there was no let-up for the battle-weary men, and daily advances became normal until the capture of Jaffa, the sea-port of Jerusalem, on 16 November. A complete change in the weather, with falling temperatures and heavy rain, accompanied the men as they fought an extremely tough and costly advance through the Judean Hills, to encircle Jerusalem which led to its surrender on 8 December 1917.

While the focus of the collection has been the three battles, all of which are strongly represented and in some depth, the Palestine campaign is featured at large as many men served throughout and in some cases were later transferred to France to win gallantry awards or be killed in action.



THE ROYAL NAVY

Three: Acting Chief Engine Room Artificer 2nd Class J. O. Mattison, Royal Navy, who was among those lost when the monitor M. 15 was torpedoed and sunk off Gaza in November 1917; an extremely rare naval casualty group for a campaign which was essentially fought in the desert

1914-15 Star (M. 11441 J. O. Mattison, Act. C.E.R.A. 2, R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (M. 11441 J. O. Mattison, Act. C.E.R.A. 2, R.N.), good very fine (3)

John Osborne Mattison was born in Currie, Midlothian on 29 July 1898 and, by profession, a marine engineer. He entered the Royal Navy in January 1915, gaining immediate appointment to the rank of C.E.R.A. 2nd Class, and joined the monitor M. 15 in July of the same year.

In October-November 1917, in support of the forthcoming Third Battle of Gaza, the Royal Navy contributed a force of monitors to bombard and soften up the Turkish lines. The most powerful monitor to lend such support was H.M.S. Raglan, equipped with two 14-inch guns, and she in turn was supported by four smaller monitors, among the M. 15, armed with a 9.2-inch gun. It was here, inshore, off Gaza, that M. 15 was torpedoed and sunk by the UC-38 on the night of 11-12 November, with a loss of 26 officers and ratings, Mattison among them; the destroyer Acorn suffered a similar fate, with a loss of eight men.

Aged 29, he was the son of James and Sarah Mattison of 27 Balfour Street, North Berwick. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.


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