File 756/1917 Pt 2-3 ‘ARAB BULLETIN Nos 66-114’ [‎337r] (682/834)

— 85 —
and, although, heavily equipped with guns and machine guns,
it apparently failed to put up any sort of a fight against an
untrained enemy armed only with rifles.
Later reports from Jeddah confirm the completeness ot
Abdullah’s defeat at Tarabah. According to a telegram sent
by the King to Emir Feisal, the “ martyrs {i.e., Shenfian
killed) amounted to 250, including several Ateibah sheikhs and
also Seyyid Hilmi, who was Abdullah’s Major-General Command
ing the so-called “ division ” of regular troops. Emirs Abdullah
and Shakir were themselves slightly wounded, all guns and
machine guns and two-thirds of the supplies were lost, and
only one-tenth of the mule mounted infantry got away.
It is worthy of note that, although they had had previous
warning of the night attack, the regular officers who got away
did so in their night attire. It was ever one of the Baghdadi
officer’s maxims not to allow military duties to interfere wi
his night’s rest, and during the war, outposts, picquets, and tke
like were invariably dispensed with by the Arab armies m e
^ The 10 000 Bedouin originally reported to be with Abdullah
seem to have melted away, and, as Colonel Bassett remarks
“ everything points to the majority of the tribal elements which
profess allegiance to King Husein being absolutely unreliable.
A consoling feature is that the captors of the guns, etc
have no followers trained in their manipulation and employment
In spite of the King’s assertion that Ibn Sand reinforced
Tarabah and Khurma, with a view to attacking Abdullah,
no enemy advance from Tarabah is reported Abdullah accord
ing to the King, is now “ remaining on the defensive, but both
he and the King fear an advance by Ibn Sand on laif and Mecca.
It is thought, however, that Ibn Sand will probibh now
rest content with his success and his reoccupation of larabali.
He has common-sense enough to realize that any further advance
towards the Hejaz cities would mean sacrificing our friendship,
subsidy and help, and he must realize that we possess the means
to punish him, even if he knows the King does not. It seems
probable that' H.B.M. Government’s orders to withdraw from
Tarabah will have the desired effect when he gets them.
The fact that the Ikhwan have not.advanced from larabali
since they recaptured it tends to show that Ibn Sand has them
under some sort of control, and if the more fanatical elements
had intended to raid Taif without his authority they would
surely have moved towards it by this time.
The military position at Khurma to-day (June 10, 1919),
Ibn Saud is said to be at Tarabah and his force probably