Campaigns And Their Lessons
Edited By Major-General Sir Charles Callwell, K.C.B.
THE PALESTINE CAMPAIGNS
BY
COLONEL A. P. WAVELL, C.M.G., M.C.
With Maps
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Text originally published in 19282 under the same title.
Pickle Partners Publishing 2015, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.
Publishers Note
Although in most cases we have retained the Authors original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern readers benefit.
We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER
PREFACE
MY most grateful thanks are due to the following friends, who have helped me with criticism and advice: Major-General G. P. Dawnay, Major-General W. H. Bartholomew, Brigadier-General Sir Gilbert Clayton, the late Colonel W. J. Foster, of the Australian Forces, whose recent death has deprived the Empire of a fine soldier, and Major R. H. Allen. Also to the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence, and to Mr. H. J. Hudleston, of the War Office Library, for the information they have so kindly given me.
Place-names have been spelt, generally, as they were in official documents and orders during the war, when many strange places became familiar. The scientific method of transliterating Arabic names would only make these familiar places look strange.
A. P. W.
BRIGMERSTON FARM,
November, 1927.
PREFACE TO REVISED EDITION
THE Official History of the Palestine Campaigns has now been completed and issued. The publication of a new edition of this book has therefore been used to check carefully all facts, and especially the figures of strengths, casualties, etc., with the Official History, and to make any necessary corrections. These have been almost entirely confined to making more exact certain figures, times and dates.
A. P. W.
BLACKDOWN HOUSE,
May, 1931.
CHRONOLOGY OF CAMPAIGNS OF EGYPTIAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE AND OF EVENTS IN OTHER THEATRES WHICH AFFECTED THEM
MAPS
I. THE THEATRE OF OPERATIONS ( At end of volume )
II. DEFENCE OF SUEZ CANAL, 1915-1916
III. NILE VALLEY AND WESTERN DESERT, TO ILLUSTRATE OPERATIONS AGAINST THE SENUSSI, 1915-1917
IV. BATTLE of Romani, AUGUST 4TH, 1916
V. ARABIA
VI. SINAI DESERT
VII. GAZATO ILLUSTRATE FIRST AND SECOND BATTLES
VIII. SOUTHERN PALESTINE ( At end of volume )
IX. BATTLE OF BEERSHEBA
X. ATTACK ON GAZA, NOVEMBER 1ST-2ND, 1917
XI. ATTACK OF XX. CORPS, NOVEMBER 6TH, 1917
XII. YEOMANRY CHARGE AT HUJ, NOVEMBER 8TH, 1917
XIII. YEOMANRY CHARGE AT El MUGHAR
XIV. OPERATIONS ROUND JERUSALEM, NOVEMBER 18TH-DECEMBER 9TH, 1917
XV. CROSSING OF RIVER AUJA, DECEMBER 20TH-21ST, 1917
XVI. THE JORDAN VALLEY ( At end of volume )
XVII. NORTHERN PALESTINE AND SOUTHERN SYRIA ( At end of volume )
XVIII. BATTLE OF SHARON. ATTACK OF XX. AND XXI. CORPS, SEPTEMBER 19TH-21ST, 1918
XIX. CAPTURE OF HAIFA, SEPTEMBER 23RD, 1918
XX. CAPTURE OF DAMASCUS
CHAPTER ITHE ELEMENTS OF THE CAMPAIGNS
And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.Revelations xvi. 16.
The Topography of the Theatre of War. Historical associationsThe Sinai PeninsulaThe features of PalestineSyriaHarbours. railways and roads of the theatre of warTurkish lines of communicationAttitude of the population and political considerations.
The Relations of the Campaigns to the War as a Whole. The objectives of the campaignsThe influence of sea powerGermany and Turkey.
The Turkish Army. Qualities of the Turkish soldierOrganisation and strength of the army.
(SEE MAP I.)
1. The Topography of the Theatre of War
THE campaigns in Sinai, Palestine and Syria were fought along one of the worlds oldest and greatest highways, the main route between the earliest known cradles of civilisation, the valleys of the Euphrates and of the Nile. From Egypt its course keeps close to the sea while passing over the inhospitable desert of Sinai; thence it runs up the fertile plains of Philistia and Sharon, leaving the high rocky fortress of Juda to the east; crosses the Carmel Range by a low pass to the plain of Esdrlon or Megiddo; ascends past the Sea of Galilee to the plateau east of the Jordan; and so on to Damascus and Aleppo, whence the Euphrates Valley can be followed to Baghdad. Along this great road the tides of thought, of trade, and of war have flowed between Africa and Asia since the dawn of history. It is well called by the Arabs Darab es Sultani the Royal Road. Almost every name studded along that highway awakens a memory of some famous chieftain or of some noted deed. Gaza and Gath lie on it, cities of that strange people, the Philistines, who disappeared from history as mysteriously as they entered it. Romani (the ancient Pelusium) was the scene of a great battle between Persian and Egyptian 2,500 years ago. Arsuf recalls a fierce afternoon struggle between Richard Cur de Lion and his illustrious adversary Saladin. Csarea was named by a great ruler, Herod, after his greater patron, Augustus. From Acre Napoleon withdrew baffled for the first time in his career. The cities of Damascus and Aleppo have been from earliest days the great marts and emporiums of Eastern trade; the skill of the craftsmen of Damascus in the weaving of fabrics, in the making of weapons, and in the goldsmiths handiwork is commemorated today by words in common use in those arts. {1}
The great plain of Esdrlon, the traditional site of Armageddon, lies half-way between Egypt and Aleppo. It has seen many wars and many warriors. From Mount Tabor a wild rush of mountain men destroyed Siseras labouring host in the swampy plain belowmuch as the modern Pathan might swoop on a column in difficulties with its transport. More than three thousand years ago a host of irregular tribesmen camped in the plain fled in sudden panic from Gideons three hundred well-disciplined and well-schooled warriors in the first night attack of which we have a detailed description. {2} A little further to the north the fierce heat of a July day saw the doom of the Crusaders short-lived kingdom, when Saladins horsemen attacked under cover of a smoke screen created by firing the scrub in the face of the Christian Knights. Here, too, Napoleons cavalry drove back the Turks, while their leader was battering at Acre. Assyrian, Egyptian, Persian, Macedonian, Roman and Arab, all the great conquering nations have passed this way. It is fitting that in the greatest war of history this strip of ground should have witnessed the master stroke of a sweeping victory in which practically every race of the British Empire took part.
