31 October 2017

Prime Minister

Minister for Veterans' Affairs

Minister for Defence Personnel

Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Centenary of ANZAC

Australia will today commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Beersheba.

It is an opportunity to pause and reflect on the nature of military service and the sacrifices made on our behalf in defence of our nation and values.

In one of the great cavalry charges, the Australian Light Horse attacked the enemy lines defending the town of Beersheba, in what is now Israel.

About 800 Australians from the 4th and 12th Light Horse Regiments were involved in the charge, suffering 31 deaths and 36 wounded. They captured more than 700 Turkish soldiers.

Australia’s official war historian Charles Bean described the battle: "It had been a glorious hour, filled not only with military achievement of a very rare kind, but with memorable deeds by individual officers and men, which serve vividly to demonstrate the spirit which alone made success possible."

The capture of Beersheba led to an opening in the Turkish flank that enabled Allied forces to break the Ottoman line near Gaza on 7 November and advance further into Palestine.

More than 1,350 Australians lost their lives in the Middle East campaigns of the First World War and today we honour their bravery and sacrifice.

Meanwhile:

People in various parts of the world have staged protests on the centenary of Britain's Balfour Declaration, which promised a homeland for Jewish people and paved the way for the occupation of Palestine.

Thousands gathered in Ramallah on Thursday, the administrative capital of the occupied Palestinian territories, to march to the British cultural centre there, according to the official Palestinian media.

A statement from the office of President Mahmoud Abbas called for an apology from Britain, recognition of Palestine and compensation for the Palestinian people in political, moral and material terms.

read more:

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/11/balfour-declaration-protested-part...