The Wells of Beersheba

Emu Plumes on a felt slouch hat and a rifle 'cross their back
Eight hundred Aussie horsemen, many learnt to ride outback.

They swept towards the Turkish lines across the Sinai sand
To Beersheba, where the Turkish troops did elect to make their stand.

It was the secret to this desert war, the only water to be found
And five thousand British troops had failed to take the town.

These Australian Lighthorsemen had a commaner named Chauvel
Who's orders were impossible, they were, to take the well.

Six thousand yards to the Turkish line must these gallant horesmen ride
At full gallop they must go till they reach the Turkish side.

Artillery shells flew overhead, as across the sand they raced
Not fast enough were the Turkish guns to check their lightning pace.

As they cleared the Tukish trenches, machine gun bullets filled the air
But they sped on to Beersheba with the Turks now in despair.

With bayonets drawn, they charged the town, they were a fearsome sight
But they had fulfilled their orders, they took the town by night.

And forty gallant horesemen paid the ultimate price to see
The fulfilment of God's prophecy, to set Jerusalem free.

By Warren Eggleton, July 1998