Hill 3039 Attack on Amman 30 March 1918

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My Grandfather, Lieutenant Cyril Basnett MARTIN 2nd Battalion 21st London Regiment (First Surrey Rifles) was killed during this attack.

The information I have, noted 10 years ago from Battalion War Diaries at Kew, but unfortunately not taken down in detail, was that the action was 1 mile south west of Sweileh and that the enemy were on the east of Wadi Rvak.

I have read with great interest two accounts on The Great War Forum, from the perspective of the Camel Brigade and of the Anzacs. Please does any one have any further information relating to what happened in the days before and during The Attack on Amman, to the 60th London Division or the First Surrey Rifles?

I have posted two further enquiries relating to My Grandfather and his brother (also killed) under soldiers.

Many thanks in advance, Roy

[michaeldr]

Try to get (or borrow from your public library) a copy of the official history - Military Operations Egypt and Palestine (June 1917 - end of the war) Part I, by Captain Cyril Falls [iSBN: 0-89839-239-X] and see Chapter XV page 328> which covers these events.

In particular see page 343> which covers 30th March 1918.

NB:- this is not specific to the Surrey Rifles, but rather a general description of the raid

The two maps below may also be of some help

The first includes the scale in miles

The second, (an enlarged portion of the first) shows the position of the 2/21st London which was on the northern side of Amman, whilst Hill 3039 was to the south of that town

[River97]

Amman, the main objective of the raid is about 30 miles east northeast of jericho.

"The Raid" being the first trans-Jordan Raid.

On the 28th the attack on Amman began with the 2nd/23rd Battalion on the right and the 2nd/21st in the left. The advance was held up soon after commencing with withering rifle fire as they moved over open ground. During the afternoon the 2nd/17th and 2nd/18th were ordered up in support as well as the 2nd/20th, who were sent to help the Australian Light Horse. This advance by the Londoner's and Australians was driven back. They were able to move through the Artillery fire, however, it was the small arms that forced them out.

At 2:00am on the 30th the attack on the city was renewed. The Imperial Camel Corps captured two lines of Turkish Trenches, but the 181st Brigade failed in taking the 'Citadel' in spite of capturing 135 prisoners. The 2nd/18th got within half a mile of the hill and them the 2nd/21st was counter attacked but held the line after brutal hand to hand fighting. The 2nd/18th tried again at 3:00pm and was stopped 400 yards from the top by heavy machine gun fire from the flanks.

The raid had not gone well from the outset and by April 2 the 60th London Division had withdrawn back across the River Jordan. A week later they were heading back.

Your Grandfather was not the only officer of the First Surrey Rifles to fall in combat that day. 2nd Lieutenant Frederick George Lack was killed in action and is now buried in the Damascus Commonwealth War Cemetery in grave C 108. Your Grandfather lies three away in grave C 111.

There were a lot of fatalities that day, including seven other ranks from the Battalion, they are:

John Henry Barnes,

Frederick John Daniel,

George Fairburn,

Percy Sidney Gregory,

Arthur Ernest Heavingham,

Albert Henry Francis Roser, and

Charles Edward Wolferstan.

There are some books published by the Naval and Military Press (there is a web site) about your battalion, which I just happened to buy yesterday and missed the 20% sale on everything by being 12 hours early!

They are:

WAR RECORD OF THE 21ST LONDON REGIMENT (FIRST SURREY RIFLES). The history of the 1st and 2nd battalions of the 21st London Regiment (1/21st and 2/21st). 1/21st fought on the Western front from May 1915 to the armistice, 2/21st was in France from June to November 1916, in Macedonia to June 1917, and then Palestine to June 1918 when it was disbanded.

LONDON MEN IN PALESTINE AND HOW THEY MARCHED TO JERUSALEM. A descriptive account covering five weeks or so November-December 1917 of the advance across the desert from Huj to Jerusalem by 2/21st London Regiment, 60th London Division.

HISTORY OF THE 60TH DIVISION. The 60th was a second line Territorial division (2/2nd London) which served briefly on theWestern Front (June to November 1916) before being transferred to Macedonia. It fought in that theatre till June 1917 when it was moved again - to Palestine where it remained to the end of the war.

There are also some other battalion histories from the Division as well, like the London Scottish, the 2nd/19th and the 2nd/20th.

So, there you go - a little bit of history about a little known Division made up of some special people. How do I know, because my Great Grand-pa was there as well.

Cheers Andy.

[stevenbecker]

Mate,

Sorry but Andy has given you the right area to check as only two companies of the 2/18Bn were with the ICC during the fighting on the 30th March 1918.

The fighting at Hill 3039 was by the NZMB and the 4th Camel Bn, there being no British troops in that area.

I enclose parts of my charpters on this battle, I hope you can follow it OK;

"The morning of the 30 March did not brood well for the Allied cause as rain fell heavily over the battlefield and as preparations continued the Camel brigade had moved into position in the dark. General Smith had ordered the assault to be carried out by a mixed force from the Brigade under command of Major Day, he assembled two sections from each of the 4th, 7th, 9th and 18th companies in the first wave under Captain Newsam while the remainder of the companies under Captain Deas formed the second wave in all about 200 men. The first lines in both waves were Cameleers while the two companies of the 2/18 London Battalion under Captain Crossby formed the second lines in both 1st and 2nd waves they also had about 200 men, the 8th and 10th company under Captain Tredinnick were in support with 120 men and the 2nd company and the Machine Gun Squadron were held in reserve to provide fire support. On the Brigades left flank the 2/18th London Battalion (less the two companies detached to the Camel Brigade) were to attack along the ridge towards Pt 2828 to pin down Turkish fire while the New Zealand Brigade with the 4th Anzac Battalion would attack Hill 3039.

Promptly at 2 am the limited artillery fire fell on Amman and the surrounding area, this time the advance would not start till news came that the attacks on both flanks had been successful and were now clear, as the troops waited in their exposed position the limbs of the men cramped as they waited in the cold till the word came at 3.30 am and the signal was given by Captain Newsam with a blast on his whistle.

The troops rose quickly (shaking out their cramps) into the assault and at once gained the first line of Turkish trenches on hill 400 showering the confused and surprised Turks with bombs, the fighting was short and deadly as the Turks fought hand to hand, some stayed to fight, more raised their hands while others ran taking pot shots as they disappeared into the darkness yet thankfully the fighting lasted only a few minutes before taking between 28 and 60 prisoners including two officers of the 126th Turkish Regiment and killing the remainder. Captain Arthur Newsam was killed shot in the back by a Turkish soldier who it was said had surrendered and a machine gun was captured by a soldier in the 7th company who having lost his rifle was armed only with two tins of bully beef while Private Archie Searle shot down five Turks with five rapid shots.

The men having secured the first trench now pushed on to capture the second line acquiring it as the Turks broke and ran back into the city, Lieutenant Fred Matthews of the 4th company rushed after them with a collection of men and entered the city. There in the dark and rain they hid in the outer buildings however the hail of fire from the Citadel stopped any further advance and Privates Carl Pearce in the 4th and Bill Thornton from the 18th company was killed during the fighting.

On the left flank the attack by the 2/18th London along the 2828 ridge had at first succeeded yet had broken down under heavy fire and the lack of pressure from this battalion allowed a number of Turkish guns to be turned on the exposed Camel Brigade these inflicting many causalities with their enfilade fire which soon forced the abandonment of the city by Lieutenant Matthews whose men could not be reinforced because of this fire, he ordered the men back to the positions won during the night where the remainder of the troops had consolidated in the enemies trenches and waited until the dawn. While taking a message back to HQ Private Gus Jennison was shot in the head and killed".

At 2 am the 4th Anzac Battalion was to advance with the New Zealand Brigade to attack Pt 3039 which required them to advance over 1500 yards of exposed ground, along the way the troops had to bypass a strong Turkish position on the route before assaulting the first Turkish trench. The men of the Battalion were all fatigued most not having rested for the last few days yet despite the bitterly cold and wet night all were ready for the attack.

The attacking force deployed along the form up point on the Quseir track with the Auckland Mounted Rifles and 4th Anzac Battalion in the front wave and the Canterbury and Wellington Mounted Rifles in the second wave. The 4th Battalion had the 16th New Zealand Company under Captain George Yerex in front for the attack with the 17th company under Captain John Hampton in support both deployed in two lines while two sections of the 13th company was held in reserve, with the remainder of the company with the demo party watching the breaks in the Hejaz Railway.

The advance went well from the start General Meldrum had planned his attack skilfully and the wind and rain helped by blowing into the faces of the Turks. Two troops of the Auckland Mounted Rifles secured the strong point in front of Pt 3039 allowing the remainder of the force with the 16th company to assault the foremost trenches which were captured at the rush with the bayonet taking the Turks by surprise, the garrison (who stayed) were all killed while the others ran away in the dark and 23 prisoners of the 126th Turkish Regiment and five Machine guns taken. Lieutenant George Sanderson the Battalion Intelligence officer, who had been ill and advised to remain behind, however had insisted on joining in the attack was killed during the assault. Veterinary Sergeant Matthew Kirkpatrick of the 16th company who in the last days had been busy caring for the many injured animals took part in the assault doing excellent work with the bayonet and clearing a section of trench allowing the objective to be gained by 2.40 am. Private Eric Tapfield of the 13th company had the misfortune to be accidentally killed during the advance when he progressed too far in front of the line and was mistakenly shot in the dark; he was found dead when the line reached him.

As the men consolidated the captured position shooting came from the second line of Turkish trenches 300 yards ahead and the second wave of the Canterbury and Wellington Mounted Rifles moved up and captured them with 14 prisoners and a machine gun, more machine guns and prisoners were taken as the New Zealand troops concentrated while others moved around the hill to clear it of all the Turks. The 16th company as per orders was moved up to join the second wave and with troops of the Canterbury Mounted Rifles attacked the third trench, the Turkish fire was heavy yet mostly high and as the troops secured this last trench on top of hill 3039 the Turks fled towards Amman, the casualties thankfully during the assault were light.

The warming rays of dawn showed to General Chaytor that the only success during the night had been limited to Hill 3039, a number of trenches captured by the Camel Corps in front of Amman and 181st Infantry Brigade to the north of the city and all were in danger of destruction as the Turks quickly organized a number of counterattacks against the ground lost during the night, the first of which came in on both sides of Hill 3039.

The defence of the Hill had placed the 4th Anzac Battalion on the far right or eastern flank of the NZ Mounted Brigade with the Wellington Mounted Rifles on the Battalions left flank. All the Battalion worked on stone sangers during the night, these were built for protection as the rocky ground allowing the shallowest of holes to be dug as the troops had no entrenching tools and once daylight came it was found that the soldiers were too exposed on the top of hill so most were withdrawn to the rear trenches leaving only one section of 10 men and two Lewis guns of the 16th company to hold it.

At 5 am the first attack came in supported by shell fire which smashed the stone Sangers the men had built for protection as shell and rock fragments sprayed the area. The shelling lasted an hour at which point the exposed section of Cameleers were withdrawn. By 9 am 500 Turks were seen massing to the north and at 9.30 they attacked yet despite their bravery the attack was beaten off by New Zealand troops with the help of captured machine guns. The Hong Kong and Singapore Battery had attached a section of guns to support the New Zealand Brigade in its attack however counter battery fire had smashed one of the guns sights and ammunition now ran out and the section was forced to retire to the main position.

Despite this setback the Turks tried again and during this attack someone was heard to order a retirement this allowed the front trenches to be abandoned and the New Zealand trenches were lost as the troops fell back to their second line. This order was reported by the New Zealand Mounted to have come from the Camel Brigade however it was more probity a German or Turkish officer who spoke English which fooled the fatigued troops.

This mix up was soon sorted out by the officers and a counterattack by the New Zealanders drove the Turks out of there ill gotten gains and down the hill at the point of the bayonet and the use of the bomb, the Adjutant Captain Alex Watt and the Regimental Sergeant Major Bob MacLean were wounded in the counterattack and Lieutenant’s Charles Thorby and Arthur Crawford of the 16th company inspired their men in the charge who with Sergeant Harold Jones as they coolly rallied their men and led them back into the Turkish trenches. Captain Stan Howard advanced with elements of the 13th company as the Turks made a fight of it however the men would not hold back and soon the Turks was driven off and despite the casualties the men stood on top of the hill shooting down at the panicked Turkish survivors as they fled back to Amman, the 16th company lost Sergeant Colin Campbell and Privates Carl Bailey, Roland Wilkie killed during the fighting. In the 17th Company Lance Corporal Stan Campbell was manning a Lewis gun when he was shot down, his brother Norm was the No 2 on the gun and quickly took his place only to be killed soon after, the Campbell brothers had enlisted in the 6th Light Horse Regiment in 1915 from Scone NSW before transferring to the Camel Corps, they died together on the barren heights of hill 3039.

The Turkish troops used in these counter attacks were largely from the 23rd Regiment 8th Division and the 46th Storm Company. Who had not long arrived and took time to sort out where the allied line was and the bravery of these men advancing in the open was acknowledged by the New Zealand troops who fought them. The veteran 23rd Regiment (8th Division) had been fighting in the Caucasus against the Russians for some years only with the revolution had moved down to the Syrian Front, to be detached and sent to Amman the day before.

While the New Zealand Brigade fought gallantly for there hard won gains on Hill 3039 the Camel companies under Major Day in front of Amman were subjected to attacks in force as the Turks was only 200 yards away, Major Julian Day was severely wounded in the arm and shoulder as the men sheltered from enfilade fire from artillery and machine guns under which a force of over 100 Turks attempted to recapture their trenches and reached within 30 yards before our fire cut them down and repulsed the attack with substantial loss, this assault was repeated again during the day as attacks continued without respite, the 10th company lost Sergeant Stuart Craggy (reported MIA) and Lance Corporal Wilfred Lyth killed during this attack.

Meanwhile Lieutenant Leonard Brothers of the 9th company help organize the defence after Captain Newsam’s death as the Turkish fire increased killing Privates Stan Stanfield and Herb Thoday and under this intense fire Private Bob Robertson carried messages from company HQ to Captain Deas however despite the courage of the men they were ordered to hold the captured trenches as the supporting artillery ran short of shells while some batteries had ran out. The Hong Kong and Singapore battery was now down to only three guns as one had been put out off action with shell splinters and with no ammunition left little could be done to support the men.

At 2 pm General Chaytor had ordered one last attack be made by the Infantry in the north yet it had little hope of success and with its failure the exhausted troops could do no more yet hold on. Lieutenant Herbert Denley was killed and Lieutenant Thomas Smith mortally wounded while attending to the defences, Private Arthur Mills of the 7th company found him self cut off with a number of wounded men as Turkish counterattacks came in, he held the line encouraging the men around him and providing first aid to the wounded. At 4 pm the troops were ordered to retire back to the original positions abandoning the captured works however because of the danger this was not attempted till dusk. Once it became dark the troops departed under Captain Deas direction back to the lines having buried the dead and carrying back the many wounded. This was accomplished without the enemies knowledge even though they were only a few hundred yards away with Lieutenant Matthews commanding the rear guard with the 4th company, as the worn out troops moved back in the darkness all the wounded were recovered however a few may have been left behind as some were reported missing later. The total Cameleers casualties in the attack were four officers and 40 men in the 2nd Battalion killed or wounded with about 20 Australian casualties.

The 2/18th London battalion reported the lost of five men killed and two officers and four men died of wounds with the wounded unknown while supporting the action on the 30 March.

Meanwhile on Hill 3039 the Battle still went on as the enemy kept throwing attack after attack at the New Zealanders. The next came at 4 pm and fell on the Camel Battalion where the Turks of the 46th Storm company out flanked the Cameleers line on the right and managed to gained a lodgement, Lieutenant Charles Thorby a butcher from Dannevirke NZ gathered a few men about him and led a counterattack to drive the Turks out yet was killed in the valiant attempt, while Corporal John McMillan carrying a Lewis gun advanced on the Turks firing his gun from the hip however he was soon killed, then Private Dave McConnell who had joined the attack by garbing a sack full of bombs, threw them with deadly effect until shot down, as Private Len Pask went out rescuing the wounded however thanks to the support of New Zealand reserves which in turn out flanked the Turks the attack was driven off. The casualties continued to mount in the battalion and the 17th company lost Corporal Bert Lincoln (reported MIA), Lance Corporal’s Bill Brown, Eric Cheney (reported MIA), Privates Cliff Jenkins (reported MIA) and Percy Collins killed, while the 13th company lost Corporal George Haag (reported MIA), Lance Corporal Les Delaney (reported MIA), Private’s Bill Temple and Will Trenaman (reported MIA) killed, the 16th company lost Sergeant Charles Lovett, Private’s Gilbert Alexander, Tom Bowman, John Craig, Rupert McKenzie, Sid Mills and Doug Walker killed.

During the day communication between Battalion HQ and the forward companies was constantly broken by shell fire which fell regularly over the exposed hill, Sergeant Albert Hooper was kept out continually repairing broken telephone lines at great risk to himself. Communications were accentual to the defence which enabled reinforcements to be switched from one threaten point to the next and under the able command of Lieutenant Reg Jephcott never failed. At 5 p.m. another attack came on with the support of three Turks batteries yet again it was stopped with assistance of the recently arrived Somerset battery using the last of its available ammunition.

As the long day wore on General Shea on hearing of the progress of the Battle asked General Chaytor his chances of success “if he could take the city” which he replied “little to none and only if reinforced with more guns and troops” these were now not available to Shea and he knew the battle was lost. The word was sent out at 5.45pm that the contest was over and all troops were ordered to be prepared to retire back across the Jordan.

In the late afternoon a supply column had arrived bring a little food and ammunition and a soldier was dispatched up the hill with a camel carrying a bag of rations and two fantasies of hot tea, he also carried the battalions withdrawal order which was gladly received as well as the tea.

That night the Army began to move back as the New Zealanders and 4th Anzac Battalion received their orders around 6 p.m, they began moving down from Hill 3039 at midnight with the many wounded carried in blankets as the rear guard covered the withdrawal however the Turks did not bother them.".

Mates I'd be very interested in any History of the 2/18th Bn London Regt which has an account of this battle?

Cheers

S.B

[spanner]

Thank you all, Gentlemen, for your interest and information.

As I mentioned the details I had were all in sketchy note form, taken down several years ago which explains my geographical confusion. I shall acquire a copy of the books and also revisit Kew to take proper notes this time.

I have some wonderful momentos of Cyril: several photos on camel back in front of the Pyramids; in uniform with his brothers, his 'dead man's penny', a couple of Egyptian coins (somewhere) and three very moving letters "from my little dugout" written to his 3/4/5 year old daughter (my mother), accompanying gifts sent home, and telling her to look after mummy and her little brother. It appears that they did get to see him again after he was first posted overseas, because he is recorded as "leave in UK 5/12/17 - 28/2/18."

thanks and best regards Roy