-
2 years ago
4th Australian Light Horse Brigade at Beersheba, Palestine (1917)
800 Australian soldiers rode 60 miles through the searing desert to meet the Ottoman-held fortress of Beersheba from the unexpected side, which was guarded by two rows of trenches filled with Turkish riflemen and machine-guns - strengthened after two failed British assaults.
Rather than dismounting and fighting as infantry per convention, the Light Horse charged into the entrenchments, slashing with 2’ Bayonets from horseback. They leapt over the trenches, each four feet wide and ten feet deep, dismounting and stabbing everyone in a brutal gorefest. It was over in less than an hour.
31 horsemen died, and 36 were wounded. They captured 750 Turks, 9 artillery pieces, 3 machine guns, and tons of other munitions and supplies.
Badass deeds defined by magnitude, not morality - though any morality is often extreme.
