File 756/1917 Pt 2-3 ‘ARAB BULLETIN Nos 66-114’ [‎88v] (185/834)

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— 36 —
1 • i c^na-Ur fortified and defended with
£,1^’ OUBS Armoured fare, a ten-pounder battery and
aeroplanes^ co-operated, and must have
on the enemy The aeroplanes destroyed the water-tank^., De
un an ammunition dump, obtained direct hits w.th heavy bombs
on the station buildings and bombed a hostile aeroplane which
Zded at Mudowara on the 24th. Though no direct hits were
.Joined on this plane, it was apparently rendered incapable of
' Early on the 24th the Turks were reinforced from the north
by 400 men with machine guns, and as the Arabs had n this
time run out of ammunition, Sherif Feisal withdrew westwards
to Abu Sawana. The Arabs, whose casualties were light,
remained concentrated in the vicinity.
(b) Southern Area,—On January 20 Sherif Abdullah
carried out a successful operation against the railway m the
neighbourhood of Wagir, between Hadiyah and Jedaha, 1 he
Arabs destroyed eight and a half kilometres of hue and nineteen
culverts. They bombarded Wagir all day, but were themselves
attacked on both flanks by Turkish infantry and artillery. A
field gun fired on them from Hadiyah, and two mountain guns
arrived from that direction, while from the south came 400
infantry sixty Camel Corps, four mountain guns and .some
machine guns.
Major Davenport telegraphs that the Arabs stood the
shelling well, but their casualties were slight and they had no
killed. ° The Turks had fifty to seventy casualties and lost nine
horses. Three Turkish prisoners were brought in.
On January 30 it was reported that the line was still
unrepaired, and mine-parties were waiting for repaii tiains both
north and south of the break. On the 31st a trench party
mined a repair train, carrying rails and wood, between Ahu
Naam and Istabl Antar. Two engines, a tender and three
wagons were completely wrecked.
General,
Sherif Feisal’s army includes about 3,000 trained Arab
troops, thirteen guns and twenty-five machine guns. With Sherif
Abdullah are 450 trained troops, four guns and six machine
guns.
Captain Depui reports that Fakhreddin Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. intends, if he
is compelled to evacuate Medina, to withdraw by the Hail road ;
and that most of the dates which were stored at Medina have
been sent to Syria with a view to evacuation. . The latter
statement is denied from other sources.
^Later News. —East of Kalaat Aneizah the Arabs have
brought down an enemy aeroplane and captured the pilot. The
Arab garrisons at Delaglia and Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Musa have been moved
nearer Maan, to Mreigha and Ain Busta respectively.