You’ve
heard we won Jerusalem
By
You’ve heard we won Jerusalem
And all the country wide
But the part that scuttled Abdul
Was the great Beer Sheba ride.
We were camped by Tel el Fara
On the Wadi, in the sand
And we rode away, tho’ Gentile
To win the Promised Land
At dark we crossed the Wadi
And rode throughout the night
We came to Beer el Sani
By the morning hazy light.
There you heard a welcome “whinny”
The horses sniffed the air
We knew that there was water
For man and beast to spare.
We moved ahead at gloaming
With horses fresh and strong
An easy ride by moonlight
The track we rode was long.
We drew the rein at Khalasa,
Where Christian tombs lay still,
And thought of old Crusaders,
Who kept that lonely hill.
Twas long hard dry and dusty
And “Jacko’s” chief ally
Was the lack of drinking water
To troops who made the try.
The last halt was at Asluj
By the Minaret and well;
We had to take Beer Sheba
E’re we had another spell
The night time found us snoring
Small halt to ease the pace
The Taubes had seen us coming
And all hung on the race.
The Bedouin in their humpies
Who rise before the sun
Were sleeping calm and peaceful
When we made the final run.
Full sixty miles by break-o-day
Around the “Jacko’s” flank
Our guns blew their reveille
On Tel-el-Saba bank.
A gallant charge by men on foot
A reckless race on horse
And “The ANZAC’s have Beer Sheba!”
Went tickling o’er the morse.
And now we’re in the sand-hills
No Colonel rides the grey;
For he rode him to Valhalla
On the lone Beer Sheba way.
Not on ahead in fleeting dust
And caught by touch of spur
The boys who form his escort
Are gone to God knows where.
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