On October 31st, 1917 the British forces under General Allenby captured Be’er Sheva from the Ottomans, opening the route to Palestine. The ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) outflanked the Ottoman defences, reaching Be’er Sheva from the east, unseen, before the Ottomans could destroy the town’s wells. We’ll follow the route they took.
Badlands View Point
at today’s Kibbutz Be’eri (established in 1946). A British forward position overlooking Gaza
THE ANZAC MEMORIAL
established in 1967, in the form of an A whose front is shaped like a horses head. From the top we can see the battle fields of the Gaza campaign
TEL GAMA
on the banks of Wadi Ghazza. An army outpost with a reservoir and a field hospital, the tel itself is on the trade route to Gaza and has settlements dating back to the Chalcolithic period (4th century BCE)
TEL SERUHAN (TEL EL-FARA)
overlooks the Besor stream bed and the trenches dug by the Ottomans to prevent a cavalry attack (though in the end they abandoned the tel without a fight)
RESERVOIR LOOKOUT
overlooking three giant reservoirs collecting run-off water from the Besor valley and recycled sewage water from the Tel Aviv region. The reservoirs provide water for the region’s agriculture
BIR ASLUJ (GOLDA MEIR PARK)
the southernmost point of the ANZAC trail, with strategically located, rich water wells serving the final march into Beer Sheva. The park (sadly dilapidated) has a small ANZAC memorial museum.
WADI E-MASHASH
a well on the route to Beer Sheva, today an unrecognised Bedouin village whose residents were displaced from the western Negev in the early 1950’s.
CHAUVEL VIEWPOINT
named after the New Zealand commander, a high hill overlooking the battle field, where the ANZAC regrouped on the morning of 31st October to await the attack.
TEL BEER SHEVA
site of a Judean fort in the 7th century BCE. It held a commanding position over the plains to the east of Beer Sheva and only after it was taken by the New Zealanders could the attack take place.
PARK OF THE AUSTRALIAN SOLDIER
a memorial park in the north of Beer Sheva, a children’s playground but also the site of the bronze statue of the Australian Light Horseman, designed by Peter Corlett.
ANZAC MEMORIAL MUSEUM
at the site of the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Beer Sheva, presents memorabilia and the history of the ANZAC in the First World War and a gripping film depicting the battle itself.