Light brigade charge at last brought to life

Beersheba

HOR: Paul Daley PUBLISHER: Melbourne University Press RRP: $32.99

REVIEWER: Mary Ann Elliott

THE Charge of the Light Brigade at Beersheba is a neglected piece of Australian history that deserves to be betterknown.

Thus far it has been something of a footnote to the Gallipoli-centric Anzac story.

Documentaries, books and even films have been made of this largely forgotten battle; however it has largely gone under the radar.

Paul Daley in his brilliant study redresses the balance, bringing the conflict to vivid life.

Unlike the defeat and retreat at Gallipoli and the disastrous losses on the Western Front and elsewhere, Beersheba was not only a win but regarded as the last great successful charge in history, eclipsed only by Alexander the Great.

It marked the beginning of the end of the Ottoman Empire and the later emergence of Israel in 1948.

Now a thriving metropolis but then little more than a dusty camel station, the boys of the 4th Australian Light Horse Brigade rode into Beersheba on October 31st, 1917 and into history when they defeated the Turks in their dugouts.

Daley paints a colourful and emotive picture of the ensuing chaos.

The horsemen’s daring tactics resulted in a resounding victory; actions that were virtually unacknowledged, partly because there was no war-correspondent coverage, and because British troops and those in charge claimed credit in official dispatches.

Beersheba, thanks to lobbying by the soldiers’ direct descendants, finally had its rightful moment of national observance in 2017.

Paul Daley’s magnificently researched account is gripping in its detail.

PAUL DALEY’S MAGNIFICENTLY RESEARCHED ACCOUNT IS GRIPPING IN ITS DETAIL.