98TH ANNIVERSARY OF BATTLE OF BEERSHEBA & AQABA, JORDAN

98TH ANNIVERSARY OF BATTLE OF BEERSHEBA

As 31st October fell on Shabbat, the laying of the wreaths to commemorate the 98th Anniversary of the Battle of Beersheba had taken place the day before.  

On Saturday, 31st October we travelled to Aqaba in Jordan, via Beersheba in the Negev Desert, Israel.  In preparation for our trip to Beersheba and Jordan, we had the children watch "The Lighthorsemen."  The blurb on the movie reads: "In 1917 when the British forces are bogged down in front of the Turkish and German lines in Palestine they rely on the Australian Light Horse regiment to break the deadlock."  The kids were not impressed and complained about having to watch it.  By the end of the movie, they were all fired up and proud to be Australian.  It made the trip to Beersheba a very memorable occasion for them, understanding the history behind what happened there.

We couldn't believe that the day we were to travel through Beersheba was the 98th anniversary of this victorious battle for Australian forces in the Middle East in 1917.  After a large number of the British Corps (I've got the number of 40 to 60,000 in my head?) failed to take the town of Beersheba, the Australian 4th Light Horse Brigade, consisting of some 800 men and commanded by Lieutenant General Harry Chauvel,  charged the town.  Employing their bayonets as "swords" the momentum of the surprise attack carried them through the Turkish defences.  The fall of Beersheba was critical to the success of the British Empire forces in the taking of Gaza and Jerusalem.  General Allenby, the newly arrived British commander of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, insisted that Beersheba be taken on the first day of operations, due to the shortage of water.   Many of the horses had been without water for several days.  When you travel the desert of Israel, you can't imagine what it must have been like for those men and the constant concern for water.  I commented to Alex and the kids as to how bizarre it must have been for those men to be out there in the middle of nowhere, with no screens (shock horror - can you imagine kids!!! :) or anything to entertain them other than their fellow mates.  As Alex quoted, "War is utter boredom interspersed by moments of sheer terror."

It is not surprising that the need for water was at the core of this conquest.  Thousands of years before this, the Book of Genesis tells us that Beersheba was the home of Abraham and that he and his son, Isaac, each made pacts with other men over the water in this town.  The name Beersheba translates as "Well of the Oath."  Beersheba features regularly throughout the Old Testament, with Jacob having his dream about a stairway to heaven after leaving Beersheba and it being the territory of the tribe of Simeon and Judah.  The prophet Elijah took refuge in Beersheba when Jezebel ordered him killed. Beersheba was the the southernmost city of the territories settled by the Israelites.

It was an emotional morning walking through the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Beersheba, which contains 1,241 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, 67 of which are unidentified.

Commonwealth War Graves - Beersheba

I was overwhelmed by emotion when I saw that this young man was only 16 when he died. 

RAMON CRATER

After our visit to Beersheba, we made our way down to the Israeli/Jordanian border near Eilat (the Yitzhak Rabin Border Crossing).  We travelled through the Ramon crater, which is the largest one of Israel's three Negev desert craters.  The crater is 40kms long, 2 to 10 kms wide and 500m deep.  It is a very impressive site and quite a challenge to drive when you're descending and ascending it's sides.

Unfortunately photos do not capture the beauty and magnitude of the Ramon Crater.  The varying colours and forms of the rock are breathtaking.

We were pleasantly surprised by our experience at the Israeli/Jordanian border crossing.  We had heard nightmares from others who said that it could take hours.  Fortunately, we were the only ones going through.  It was actually a very humourous experience on the Jordanian side as we were moved from window to window trying to find someone to stamp our passports.  The fellow responsible had gone for a drink break but had failed to tell his colleagues.  Living in a country where there are no borders it's a strange experience walking over a border.  Alex told me that you're not supposed to take photos at a border crossing, which I'm sure is true, but I'm still here to tell the story, so .....

Alex & Brigid at the Israeli Passport Control

Walking between Israel & Jordan

I noted that many of the Jordanian flags had tears in them.  This is something that you would never see in Israel, despite there being Israeli flags everywhere.

AQABA, JORDAN

As a treat to the kids, I booked a nice resort for our first night stay in Jordan - quite a contrast to the Bedouin camp we would be staying in the next night!  So we indulged ourselves for one night at the Movenpick Resort, Tala Bay Aqaba, which sits on the Red Sea.  The kids loved the many pools, spas and waterslides but loved the buffet most of all.

Marcus, Conor & Brigid at the Movenpick, Tala Bay, Aqaba.  

Alex and the kids jumping off the pontoon into the Red Sea

The beach on the Red Sea at Tala Bay Aqaba.

Dario with the Red Sea and Taba, Egypt in the background.

Alex and the kids swimming in the Red Sea - very impressive of God to have parted this sea.  I still have a child-like idea of the Red Sea being parted and I can tell you that my vision of the Red Sea was much smaller than it actually is.  From where we were on the shore in Jordan we could see Eilat in Israel and Taba in Egypt.  The border with Saudi Arabia was only 6 kms from where we were.

Alex and the kids playing water polo with a Saudi fellow, whose wife sat watching on the side of the pool in her burqa, and a French American woman.

Heading down to the breakfast buffet - the Red Sea and Egypt in the background. 

Marcus - remember the events of the night before!!! :)