Being upon the shore, which was gently shelving, they were able to walk in
and drink to their hearts' content. A number of men also took the
opportunity to bathe; it was fairly hot, being 680 feet below the level of
the sea.
The River Jordan runs right through the lake, and it is interesting to know
now that this point was 64 miles (as the crow flies), up the river from the
site of the late Squadron camp when it was previously in the Jordan Valley.
It was reported to us that the 4th Division had had tough work in the
streets of Tiberias in order to capture it. They had now gone round the
southern shores of the lake and joined forces with the Sherifian Troops,
who had been harassing the enemy's Fourth Army east of the Jordan and were
now pursuing them northwards. Practically the whole of the Turkish Seventh
and Eighth Armies, which previously held the line west of the Jordan, had
now been accounted for.
At 12.00 we continued the advance along the shores of the lake through
pleasant, cultivated country, to the north-west corner; then northward, for
about six miles, and down an avenue of trees, past the pretty little Jewish
village of Jataine.
The Australians, in front, were held up at Kusa Atra on the Jordan by
artillery and machine-guns at the bridge, which the enemy had destroyed.
Pages:
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139