Arriving at Sarona at 16.30, the Squadron encamped beside an orange-grove
and adjoining the Aerodrome. It may here be mentioned that Sarona before
the war was a German colony, and from its appearance, must have been a
prosperous one. The main street is lined on both sides with detached and
semi-detached houses, mostly with red tiles, prettily designed. Fir trees
are abundant and help to make a pleasing picture. Outside the village there
are many orange-groves and vineyards, each with its red-tiled house, which
has, either inside or in a separate building, a well with an engine for
pumping water into a stone cistern, from which it is allowed to run, as
required, along concrete gullies, and thus distributed over the land,
irrigating it.

In consequence of the camp proving insanitary the morning after arrival,
the Squadron moved about half a mile nearer the coast into a vineyard! This
was an exceedingly pretty spot, from which an excellent view of Jaffa could
be obtained; a few trees provided us with the unaccustomed luxury of some
shade. The Brigade was attached to the 21st Infantry Corps and was "Corps
Reserve". A training-area was allotted, and every morning the Squadron went
out for mounted training through the village across the narrow gauge "Heath
Robinson" railway, and through the orange-groves out to the area beyond
Point 275 and north of the Village of Selmeh.

FOOTNOTES:

[11] _Yebna = Jabneh of the Bible, see Josh xv, 11; II Chron. xxvi, 6.
There are ruins of a Crusaders' Church here._


INTERESTING TACTICAL INSTRUCTION.