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This was only secured, however, three days in advance, and it was not till 3 P.M. on Christmas Eve that we got orders to move at once to our position of readiness in the Wadi Zait.
It took two hours for the Battalion to cover this 500 yards. Wishing each other a very happy Christmas, we started on the last stage of our journey along the bottom of the wadi, which was almost a river, to our pitch in the Wadi Zait. We sat there till dawn sleep was out of the question and then started everyone on physical drill to get up some circulation.
The attack was carried out by an advance up the Wadi Zait to a position of deployment at the foot of Foka Hill itself, whence the summit was successfully rushed. There were few casualties and a good haul of prisoners somewhere about 150. But it was to prove impossible to remain there.
Even ammunition was not too plentiful, as everything had to be carried up the very steep Wadi Zait, the top portion of which was commanded from Hill A. The best way for evacuating wounded proved to be down the Roman road to Beit-ur-el-Tahta, where they were handed over to the 10th Division who were now on our left.
Once more I quote from the article by Kossovsky: In the provinces the pogrom mania invaded even the Soviets, not mentioning the Red Army which became more and more infected with it. According to the Kiev Naiye Zait, in the Vitebsk Soviet shouts were heard, "Chase the Jews out of the Soviets and its institutions!"
This meant that we had to get back to our old home in the Wadi Zait, at the point where it joins the Wadi Selman, advance by night to the Wadi Imaish, which lay between Foka and Zeitun, and deploy there for the main attack. This was some twelve miles from Beit Iksa, and the preliminary reconnaissance was a hard day's work.
The sector which we were supposed to take over extended from Hill 1750 where, presumably, even if we ever had had touch with our own troops, our flank would now be right in the air to the Wadi Zait. A deep and precipitous wadi the Shebab ran from the Turkish positions through the centre of our sector down to our Battalion H.Q. in the Wadi Selman.
Our spirits rose rapidly that day, partly owing to the prospect of something doing, partly because of a marked improvement in the weather, but chiefly on account of the arrival of rations in satisfying quantities, which allowed of a huge feed before we had to start at about 10.30 P.M. There was a nice moon, and our march in single file up the Wadi Zait to Foka was quite uneventful, and we got a pleasant surprise when we topped the crest and found that, by pure luck, we had struck a small footpath the only one for miles, we afterwards discovered which made the descent beautifully easy and comparatively silent.
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