File 756/1917 Pt 2-3 ‘ARAB BULLETIN Nos 66-114’ [‎7v] (23/834)

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— 417 —
money for the purchase of fuel and of wood for new buildings
at Maan is being provided. The high percentage of desertions,
not only from the Hejaz forces, but also all over the Asiatic
theatre, is causing grave anxiety to the Turkish military
authorities.
In the Maan area our own planes have been keeping up the
offensive since September 29, and a state of panic has been main
tained at Maan station by Flight-Commander Stent’s visits. On
one occasion he exploded a munition dump and on another
narrowly missed the G.O.C. who had just finished his breakfast.
The bomb went through his window and killed three servants,
llusta, Fuweilah, and Delagha have been bombed also, the last,
unfortunately, while occupied by a few friendlies. The Turkish
planes at Maan are inactive, partly owing, it is reported, to
“ rattening ” committed by the aviators themselves to escape the
obligation to meet us in the air. The G.O.C. reports all the
country around hostile and the Sherarat to have joined the
“rebels.”
The raid to Shobak, mentioned in our last issue (p. 400),
seems to have been mismanaged, the objective having been
needlessly evacuated after a few hours, to the damage of Feisal’s
prestige. I he latter has called in the commander responsible
and will destitute him. Meanwhile the supply of wood from
the Hish forest causes undiminished anxiety to the Turkish
military authorities. They have repaired the Hish-Aneiza light
railway, which the Arabs were able only to tear up, not destroy;
but supplies have been coming down very unsatisfactorily. The
G.O.C., H.E.F., has been warned he can expect no fuel from this
source, and must supply himself and the L. of C. up to
Muadhdham by the demolition of all secular buildings in Medina
city.
Interrogation of five Egyptian soldiers recaptured during
Major Lawrence’s recent raid on the railway did not reveal
anything particularly new except some details about the supply
of spare rails possessed by the Turks. It seems that a quantity
of new rails is kept at all the stations along the line, the smaller
stations averaging 200-250, and the larger ones about 400-500.
All the broken rails are carefully collected and stored at different
stations. One prisoner added that he saw engine shops at
Medam Saleh. At the latter place a camp of Arabs was seen
consisting of “ quite a lot ” of tents : these men were said to
belong to Ibn Rashid and their attitude towards the prisoners
was ot a most truculent sort.
A statement, which reached Mecca recently, that Aawwaf
Shaalan had come m to Abdullah’s camp, in Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Ais, is not
true, Nawwaf being now m Jauf while Nuri remains at or near
Ivat, since the recent narrow escape of father and son from
Damascus But two of Nuri’s nephews are in Hejaz viz the
AMS m ’ d Khali '’ th6 latte ‘ of h-, in fact visited