Edward J. Erickson - Palestine: The Ottoman Campaigns of 1914-1918

Dedicated to the memory of

Mark Jacobsen, PhD
Professor of Military History
Command and Staff College
Marine Corps University
19502013

Marks love of British military history and his astonishing knowledge and understanding of the field of military history in general enhanced the professional education of a generation of Marine Corps field grade officers.

First published in Great Britain in 2016 by
PEN AND SWORD MILITARY
an imprint of
Pen and Sword Books Ltd
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Copyright Edward J. Erickson, 2016

ISBN: 978 1 47382 737 0
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The right of Edward J. Erickson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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Acknowledgements

I must first acknowledge the great intellectual and academic debt that I owe to those who have gone before me. In particular, the authors of the British and Turkish official histories of the Palestine Campaigns in the First World War, including British authors A. F. Becke, Cyril Falls and George MacMunn, as well as Turkish authors Cemal Akbay, Fahri Belen, kr Erkal, Dengiz Kmuran, Merhum Kmil Onalp, Yahya Oku and Hilmi stnsoy. All of these men have long passed but their work survives and provides the platform on which my work rests. I would also be remiss if I failed to acknowledge my debt to the late Professor Stanford J. Shaw for his personal encouragement and whose monumental study of the Ottomans in the First World War was prematurely ended with his untimely death. I find it easy to stand on the shoulders of giants.

Among the living I am indebted to the scholarly works of smet Grgl for his efforts in assembling Ottoman and Turkish orders of battle, Hilmar Kaiser for his refreshing and original work on Cemal Pasha and the Armenians, and Ole Nikolajsen for his superb study of Ottoman aviation in the First World War. I am fortunate to count among my personal friends Professors Yigal Sheffy and Matthew Hughes, whose work on intelligence, gas warfare in the Middle East and Allenbys campaigns have been very helpful in filling in parts of this story. My American friends, who are Ottoman historians, include Professors Justin McCarthy and Sean McMeekin, whose work on the Armenian rebellion and its ties to the Entente were incredibly helpful in framing the Ottoman Empires strategic posture in 1915. Two Turkish friends and colleagues whose brilliant work regarding the Ottoman Special Organization was especially insightful are Dr Polat Saf and Dr Ahmet Tetik. I also owe a very personal and special thanks to two of my dear Turkish friends, who were instrumental in answering my queries about these events. They are Professor Mesut Uyar, whose understanding of the Ottoman Army during this period is unrivalled in the world today, and Dr Ycel Gl of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whose knowledge of the Armenian threat to the Fourth Army is unmatched anywhere.

The maps in this book are used with the permission of the Askeri Tarhve Stratejik Etut Bakanl (ATASE) (Strategic Studies Institute, Turkish General Staff) in Ankara, Turkey. I gratefully thank the commander and his staff, especially Mr Serdar Demirta, for this permission.

This book could not have been produced without the encouragement and assistance of my friend and acquisitions editor at Pen and Sword, Mr Rupert Harding. Moreover, all readers (myself included), will also note the superb attention to detail of my friend and copy editor, Ms Alison Miles.

In Quantico, Virginia, this book could not have been written without the efforts of Colonel Steve Grass, USMC and Dr Doug McKenna, respectively the Director and the Academic Dean of the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, whose approval of (and constant support throughout) of a six-month sabbatical leave from my teaching responsibilities enabled me to complete this book on time. Lastly, and most importantly, I owe a tremendous thanks to my wife, Ms Jennifer Collins, for her unstinting and tireless encouragement of my writing.

List of Plates

Commanders

1. Zeki Bey and his staff, 1914

2. Cemal Pasha at his field headquarters

3. Enver Pasha and Cemal Pasha leaving Fourth Army HQ

4. Little Cemal Pasha in Jerusalem

5. Fahrettin Pasha inspecting troops in Medina, 1917

6. Fahrettin Pasha inspecting a fortified position.

7. Friedrich Kress von Kressenstein

8. Erich von Falkenhayn inspecting Ottoman soldiers

9. Sureya Bay, Ottoman Camel Corps commander

10. Colonel Esat with 3rd Cavalry Division staff

11. Otto Liman von Sanders

12. Mustafa Kemal Atatrk

The Ottoman Army in Palestine

13. VIII Army Corps encampment

14. An infantry column departing for the Suez Front, late 1914

15. An infantry column, early in the war

16. A hastily prepared infantry defensive position

17. Entrenched infantry

18. A machine-gun section

19. Field artillery with a range finder

20. Mountain artillery

21. 6th Cavalry Regiment

22. Infantry and cavalry awaiting attack at Beersheba

23. Von Kress inspecting Ottoman assault troops

Aviation and Logistics

24. German aircraft at Huj

25. German Albatross DV fighters at Huj

26. German Captain Felmy in his aircraft at Huj

27. A labour battalion road building and laying pipe

28. A railway dump, Jerusalem, 1917

29. Kuseimih Watering Point

30. El Arish Watering Station

List of Maps

Map Symbol Key

Chapter 1

Introduction

Palestine, The Ottoman Campaigns of 19141918 is intended to be a companion volume to Gallipoli, The Ottoman Campaign, which Pen and Sword Publishing graciously published for me in 2010. Like its predecessor,