The War Diary.pdf - philiphunt.com

This is a true and epic story about men and horses and water. It climaxes with the last
great cavalry charge in history, when 600 Ausualian Lighthorsemen obey the seemingly
impossible order to gallop their horses across three miles of open desert against Turkish
troops who are formidably suppofted by machine 9utrs, artillery, and aircraft.
The story begins early in L9l7 when the British campaign in Palestine is stalemated.
We focus on a four-man section of an Australian Light Horse Regiment: Frank the macho
leader; the garrulous yarn-spinning Tas; his devoted and not-too-bright mate Chiller; and
the quiet, apparently easy-going, but thoroughly formidable Scotty, so-called because he's
Irish.
Bored, too eager for action, Frank rides into a Bedouin ambustr. He's wounded and
evacuated to hospital. To the disapproval of the other three Gallipoli-hardened veterans, a
raw, l9 year old recruit called Dave joins the section.
The kid is an excellent shot and fine horseman. But the usually easy-going Tas rides him
hard. He's no substitute for Frank.
During the massive strike to blow up a key Turkish railway Dave fails to shoot a fleeing
Tuik. Tas is immediately down on him. And when word comes that Frank has died in
hospital, it's as though Dave is in some way to blame.
Young Dave eventually proves himself spectacularly when he saves the section's four
horses from a German air attack. He's accepted at last, and while in hospital being treated
for a wound, he meets a young Ausualian nurse. They fall in love and Dave confides his
fears in her. Can he kill?
Feeling as though he's failed his mates, Dave agrees to leave the section and join the Light
Horse Field Ambulance as a mounted stretcher bearer.
Throughout the story, Beersheba, an ancient water-rich stronghold of the Turkish desert
flank, has cast a long shadow towards our characters. Unwittingly, Dave has involved Anne
in the remarkable plan of a mysterious British intelligence officer called Meinertzhagen, to
decoy the Turks and Germans from a planned attack on Beersheba, an all-or-nothing move
which will be the linch pin for the British strike at Jerusalem.
The horses are given one long, last drink before a merciless and waterless trek to take
Beersheba in the flank. But the seige drags on through an exhausting day and the huge
attacking force faces disaster.
When the incredible decision is taken to hurl Australian Light Horse in a sunset charge
against the formidable Turkish defences, Tas, Chiller, and Scotty are in the front line, as
Dave rides with the ambulance wagons.
Everything depends on the 800 young Australian horsemen.
In a heartstopping and unforgettable finale we ride with the charge through trot, canter
and gallop, into a hell of shellfire and machine gun crossfire, bombed and strafed from the
air. Uritil the Lighthorsemen at last smash their way through the Turkish defences to win
the preeious wells of Beersheba and change the history of the middle East.