File 705/1916 Pt 2 'Arab revolt: Arab reports; Sir M Sykes' reports' [‎125r] (247/450)

twenty-nine marches and losing on the way about 350 from sunstroke, all of
whom died.
After five days at Kasr-es-Shirin the battalion engaged the Russians at Klirint-
Mahadasht and Kermanshah. The Russian retirement was admirably conducted, not
^te man being left behind.
At Kermanshah the battalion remained one month, having been reduced to 400
strong by heat-stroke and casualties. The Persians afc Kermanshah were at first glad
to see the Turks, but regretted the Russians when they found that the Turks always
paid in worthless banknotes. On arriving afc Kermanshah the Turks were checked by
losses of baggage animals and the impossibility of replacing them owing to the Russians:
having carried off all local animals. The stories of Russian ill-treatment of the
Persians are quite baseless, the Persian feeling in favour of the Turks being only
ordinary prejudice, and not very violent at that. While at Kermanshah the two officers
learned of the Sherif’s rising, through aeroplane pamphlets dropped by the Russians,
and determined to take the first opportunity to escape. Junior Captain Shurbaji had
desired to go to Jebel Druse when at Damascus, but had been dissuaded by his father,
who feared reprisals ; he awaited his opportunity, and on the pretext of leading a raiding
party, with Second-Lieutenant Shaykha, managed to get behind the Russian lines and
give himself up with his companion on the 2nd August. At Tiflis he met a Serbian
officer who had been handed over to the Turks by the Bulgarians ; while with the Turks
he had adopted Islam in order to obtain greater liberty; profiting by this he had
dressed up as a Persian and escaped to the Russians. He informed both officers that
their names had appeared as deserters in tlie orders of the Turkish Army.
The Hejaz Railway.
(Report by Second-Lieutenant Shaykh, ex-stationmaster at Amman.)
Condition of the Line. —The line is by no means in good condition, and lacks
solidity. The road bed from Amman to Medina is all sand, and needs constant care.
Between each station fifteen or more workmen are employed in clearing the sand from
the tracks. If the line is neglected for two days the sand piles up on the rails and
makes the circulation of trains impossible.
Stations from Amman to Medina —The following are the stations on the Hejaz
Railway between Amman and Medina : El-Kasr, Khan-Zebib, Ei-Katrani, Kala’at-el-
Hasa, Jifr-el-Darawish, Kala’at-Anayze, Kasr-el-Bint, Maan, Akhabet-el-Shamieh,
Batn-el-Goul, Harat-el-Hamra, Mabrac-el-Naaka, Tobouk, Khadra, El-Mokaddam, El-
Plamra, El-Hujairafc, Al-Ula, El-Zamurrud, Madaien-Saleh, Hadieh, Ei-Shwefat,
El-Dwera, Medina.
The line measures 1,375 kilometres from Damascus to Medina.
Administration. —The general superintendent of the railway is a German. The
station-masters are all Arab Moslems. The firemen were all French, Lebanese and
Greeks before the war Italians were entrusted with the repair workshops. Turks are
not employed on the line for fear of Arab assaults.
Rolling-Stock. —The rolling-stock is interchangeable with the Beyrut-Damascus
Railway. Second-Lieutenant Shaykha estimates the entire rolling-stock at about
1,400 units, comprising passenger and merchandise carriages and waggons, and twenty
engines. Each train cannot carry more than one company of troops, unless double
traction is used. The carrying capacity of the trains must be diminished a great deal
at present on account of the deterioration of the engines by using wood for fuel, and
the lack of lubricating oils. < . .
Safety of the Line. —The line has never been safe from incursions by the Bedawm.
Even in peace time it had to be guarded the whole length from Amman to Medina.
Verv often the Bedawin attacked the trains, and plundered and robbed the passengers.
A favourite point for attack by the Kerak Arabs is a place called Istabel-Antar, 1 5 kilom.
from Akabet-el-Shamieh. Here the Arabs held a strong position on a wooded hill near
the line, where they hid themselves and attacked the train, as it had often to stop near
by on account of the accumulating of sand on the rails.
Another place at which the Arabs made systematic attacks on _ the trains is
Mabrac-el-Naaka. The situation here became so unsafe that the station was closed
and the trains went through without stopping. Two companies of infantry with two
guns were detailed by the Turkish Government to guard the railway. But these have
been probably withdrawn and sent to join the expedition against Egypt. Besides
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