Although no units of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade where involved in the capture of Damascus on September 30th 1918 (The NZMR were engaged in the advance on Amman to the East) the story is an intriguing one because of the subsequent political events relating to claims by Englishman, Colonel T.E. Lawrence, that he and his newly formed "Northern Arab Army" were the liberators of Damascus.
In his book "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" first published in 1926, and destined later to become a best seller, Lawrence, now known as "Lawrence of Arabia", declared that his Arab Army was the first to enter and liberate Damascus on the 1st October 1918. A blatant "error" that can be easily rectified here with one of Allenby's own HQ maps showing events of the day before on the 30th September.
Various Australian Light Horse field diaries also confirm that the 10th Australian Light Horse (Troopers from Perth W.A.) were the first combatants to enter the city on the 30th as they followed up their attack, closely followed by the 3rd, 4th and 5th Brigades of the ALH.
Interestingly enough, Lawrence's own personal "field diary" placed him as sleeping at Kiswe (see map) on the night of the 30th - some 20 miles from the attack.
Further omissions such as not acknowledging the inclusion of the many Druse volunteers who bolstered up the numbers of the Arab Army meant that the Christian Druse population were overlooked when the new ethnic homelands were carved up from the old Ottoman Empire.
With all the twists and turns surrounding the stories of Lawrence, there is no doubt that he was an exceptional man. A little known fact was that besides his endeavours to promote a Arab homeland he also ardently promoted the rights too for an Armenian State. This vision to allow the many diverse peoples of the Levant their own autonomous homelands was ignored.

(Green unit markers denote Turkish forces in retreat - Remnants of the IV Turkish Army are being harried by the English 11th Cavalry Brigade, 4th Cavalry Division from the south, not shown on this restricted map view.)

The Trenches 3-6-'15
Dear Mr Dickinson,
You have my sympathy in the loss of your gallant brother. He was one of a little band of heroes who held an outpost in the face of overwhelming odds for 28 hours.
He and others perished in the attempt before the post was relieved, the marvel being that any returned.
The affair will be an obscure incident in a great war, but nevertheless it might easily have been another "Rouke's Drift".
Our wounded were bought out with incredible difficulty, and your brother died on the journey to the dressing station. We buried him there, on the spur of Walker's Ridge, rising steeply from the sea and commanding and exquisite view of sea and land, with Islands in the near distance; the place being known as "Fisherman's Hut", towards midnight on Sunday the 30th May, after repulsing an attack of the enemy, in which four more were wounded.
You may well be proud in your sorrow, that your brother died at the post of duty, like a good soldier, giving his life with so many more for the liberties of the world. That God our Father may comfort and succour you and all who loved him, is the prayer of -
Yours in sincerest sympathy,
William Grant, C.F.


[ Letter written by 11/86 William Grant, Chaplin of the Forces, Major. MiD.
Later Killed in Action Gallipoli
28th August 1915 ]

The photograph at right is such a powerful image, that we instinctively know there is more of a story here than just an isolated grave on a barren landscape. There is a feeling here of something more than loss of life.
There is a bond of friendship and comradeship that jumps across nearly a century of time to us today.
Here beneath this patiently carved slab lies the body of Alf Dickinson. The carver has worked the letters deep into the rock to make sure that rain and wind would not destroy the marker of his resting place, and we will surely remember him, and where and why he fell.

Alfred's military record shows he signed up while working at Gibon's Limited, a small company in the equally small township of Hawera in the Taranaki, North Island.
The link between three men starts here.
The photograph taken of the grave site at Gallipoli is by fellow Trooper James Read, who had listed his next of kin address as Thomas Read, of Denbigh Road, Hawera.
Further confirmation of an association stretching back to the small town is the letter reprinted below, written by another of Alf's comrades. He was Archie Cameron and was with Alf in action when he fell. This trooper also gives his enlistment address as Hawera.
All three men boarded the Troopship Arawa, leaving Wellington on the 16th October 1914 with the Main Body with the Wellingtons.
It is obvious that a great bond existed between these men.