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Remembered Today:

Semakh


Guest hometurf

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Jorge,

the following is from 'Five Years in Turkey' by Liman von Sanders

chapter 22 'The month of September 1918', page 296

"On September 24th Captain von Keyserlingk at Semakh came in contact with British cavalry that came up from the south. For the defence of the defile and of the town of Semakh, he had in all 120 Germans, eighty Turks, eight machine guns and one gun. At 4 a.m. on the 25th a British cavalry brigade attached Semakh on the east bank of the Jordan. After a gallant defence of one and one-half hours the detachment of Captain von Keyserlingk was destroyed or captured. Part of his men had taken refuge in on a motor boat at the pier, intending to cross the Sea of Galilee and rejoin their own troops. The motor boat received a direct hit from the artillery, went up in flames and the men on it perished. When the British searched the houses of Semakh, they found about 120 Turkish soldiers who had evaded the engagement.

Under the pressure of the enemy, the Town of Tiberias had to be relinquished that day, after a stout defence under Major Schmidt-Kolbow, with the loss of all machine guns.

At El Hammi where First Lieutenant Diesinger directed the defence, the enemy was repulsed. At Semakh the enemy received more and more reenforcements.

My plan of holding the Tiberias front and the Yarmuk valley front for some time was frustrated by the fall of Semakh, the consequence of much friction of command and of the fatal orders of the Eighth Army formerly mentioned. It was to be expected now after the passage through Semakh had been opened for the enemy, that troops of the Tiberias front would be gradually forced back to Damascus."

There must also be a view from the other side in H. S. Gullett's "The Australian Imperial Force in Sinai and Palestine 1914-1918" (his source was probably the Australian official history) this is not it, but is based upon it

"After the conquest of Nazareth, Liman von Sanders attempted to establish a line along the Yarmuk and the western shore of the Sea of Galilee; Samakh, the weak link in this new front, was to be held at all costs. On 24 Sep 18 the 4th Australian Light Horse Brigade advanced on Samakh from Beisan and on the following morning, after a fierce battle, overcame the Germans, who defended Samakh's railway station "with exceptional boldness and stubbornness, their courage stimulated by an abundance of rum."

This last is from "The Changing Land Between the Jordan and the Sea" which also provides a 1918 aerial photograph of Semakh (or Samakh) taken by the Bavarian squadron and today held in the Munich War Archives. This site has a review of this book.

There will probably be more details in an Australian official history or a history of the Light Horse Brigade

Hope that this is of help

Michael D.R.

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I believe this town was taken by two under strenght Light Horse Regiments.

The 11th LHR made a charge with there A and B Squadrons and captured two goods trains, one areoplane, one 77mm Gun, 7 MGs and a number of German auto rifles as well as cars and wagons. I could not find how many were killed or captured.

The 12th LHR suported the charge and took part later with C Sqn 11th LHR.

S.B

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Guest hometurf

Dear all,

Thanx for the responses. They are very usefull. I did not know much except that it was a charge of the 11th Light Horse that lead to the fall of Semakh.

I read somewhere that the soldiers used their swords while fighting in the houses and streets of Semakh.

Jorge Groen

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