The view from the other side

Source 4: Testimony of Lieutenant Colonel Hüseyin Emir

“Everyone thought that Beersheba had been thrown away, and that we had been defeated by our bad attitude at the very beginning. Otherwise the results of the later battles would have been very different. Thus, a great responsibility is attached to those who led the Battle of Beersheba.

Of course, the 8th Army Commander [von Kressenstein] is mostly at fault. His responsibility is all the more serious because Beersheba was not only an important base of operations, but our whole corps had been annihilated.”

“…[Von Kressenstein’s] whole strategy was based on the contents of a captured British book which had said that the English were going to attack at Gaza, they will only pretend to attack at Beersheba, there isn't enough water to attack from the East of Beersheba, etc. etc.”

—Lieutenant Colonel Hüseyin Hüsnü Emir, Yildirim, Istanbul, 1921

Source 5: Testimony of General Von Kressenstein

General Friedrich Freiherr Kress von Kressenstein was the German commander of the 8th Army in Palestine. He made this report to Ottoman headquarters on 18 November 1917.

"Beersheba was occupied by thirteen battalions, six batteries, and a cavalry division. This force would normally be considered capable of resisting any attack over open ground against the strong positions of Beersheba. If, in spite of this, Beersheba fell, the responsibility rests on the Commander of the 3rd Corps, who split up all his reserves until only one battalion remained when the enemy delivered his decisive attack.

...Secondly, I had no idea Beersheba would be captured so rapidly, and did not see the need for reinforcements. Also, it was believed that the enemy’s main attack was to be against Gaza, and that the attack on Beersheba was just a diversion. Besides, a possible invasion from the coast had to be watched. Finally, the lack of water stopped us from locating any reserves around Beersheba. The 3rd Corps Commander had been clearly informed that he could expect no reinforcements from me.”

—Report to Yildirim Army Group headquarters, 18 November 1917

Think

What do these sources add to our understanding?

Investigate

Hüsnü makes much of a captured British book that the German General possessed. The book, full of top secret British war plans, had been retrieved from a bloodstained haversack (shoulder bag) dropped by a fleeing British cavalry officer. Was this incredibly lucky, or had the Ottomans just been deceived? See what you can you find about “Meinertzhagen’s haversack".

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