St John's Cathedral, Brisbane and the Anzac Legend

Embedded in the sanctuary floor of St John’s Cathedral near the High Altar is a fragment from an ancient mosaic. It was uncovered in the First World War during the Second Battle of Gaza in Palestine in April 1917, when the Anzacs were fighting the Ottoman Empire (in the form of the Turkish Army) for the control of Palestine (see section 3). While the bulk of the Anzacs at Gallipoli had been transferred to the Western Front following their evacuation to Egypt, the Australian Light Horse and New Zealand Mounted Rifles regiments, re-equipped with horses, had remained in the Middle East, once again to engage the Turks. The coastal city of Gaza was a strongly-defended Turkish position in southern Palestine. Three major battles were launched in 1917 by British and Anzac forces to capture the city. The first and second battles were unsuccessful. But the campaign eventually led to the decisive engagement at Beersheba, spearheaded by Australian and New Zealand mounted infantry—one of the last mounted horse attacks in history and one of the most famous Australian engagements of the First World War. Eight hundred men of the 4th and 12th Light Horse regiments charged at high speed across the desert, cavalry-style, with unleashed bayonets, and overwhelmed the Turkish defences. The charge, commanded by Brigadier- General William Grant, a Queensland pastoralist, led to the capture of Beersheba which facilitated the fall of Gaza and opened the way to Jerusalem.

Opposite page: This image depicts the Shellal Mosaic from the 6th Century which was discovered at Shellal in Palestine.

Aimee Catt

The ancient Gaza mosaic, which lay buried underground near the town of Shellal, was first uncovered by Turkish soldiers who had built a signalling station near the town, in the process digging two trenches which partially exposed the antiquity. The rest of it was discovered by the Anzacs when they occupied the site during the Second Battle of Gaza. The entire mosaic was then excavated by Australian troopers and eventually transported back to Australia. The bulk of it is displayed in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra but a fragment was donated to St John’s Cathedral by Lieutenant-Colonel the Reverend William Maitland Woods who had supervised the excavation.

Australian Light Horsemen in Palestine in 1917, preparing the Shellal Mosaic for removal and packaging for transportation to Australia.

Australian War Memorial P04604.015

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