CHAPTER CCL,XXX. THE CONQUEST OF SYRIA.

TURKS EXPELLED FROM AAABIC VII,AYETS-OPPOSING FORCES IN PALESTINE- ALLENBY'S STltA'L'EGy-BATTLES OF SHARON AND MOUNT EPHRAIM-'--THE GREAT CAVALRY RIDE- VON LIMAN'S NARROW ESCAPE- W-ORK OF THE AIR FORCE- Two TuRKISH ARMIES DESTROYED- THE EAST .J ORDA~ OPERATIONS-FROM GALlLEE -TO -DAlVIASCUS- -RYRJAN SEAPORTS SEIZrm- HoMS OCCUPIED - TUE ADVANCE TO ALEPpo- TASKS OF POLITICAJ. DEPARTMENT- lVIARSHALL'S VICTORY ON THE Trc1RTs- Two YEARS AT ADE N- SURRENDER OF MEDINA.

ENERAL ALLENBY'S campaign in Upper Mesopotarnia by General Marehall. The _ the a.utmnn ef 1918 did more than Turkish force which for three yeftrs bad been G free Palestine and Syria from t.he encamped nf'ar Aden ~ nrrenderod a:1.d was Ottoman yoke. In conjunction with deport.ed The Turkish posts in the Yemen the. advance of General J\1:ilno from Macedoni9. and Asir wen:- likewise w~t.hdrawn, ancl various to the Turkish frontier near Adrianople, and small enemy posts guarding t.he Hedjaz: railway t.he new advance of General Marsha11 in Meso­ south of Ma'an wore giv6n up to the Arabt' . But

potamia, it bronght about the capitulrttion of at. Medina 3, determined attompt WJ3.S made to furkey. Genp. ral Allenby opened his offensive disrogard the terms of the armistice, and it was on Soptembur 19, thp Turks then holding not until Jarmary 10, 1919, that t.he Turkish positions at Sinjil, only 16 miles north ot commander there was forc ~d to capitulate. Jerusalem. In six weeks the f::iituation was Wit.h the entry of t,he Hedjaz Arab:;; into that completely transformed, The main Turkish city, to Moslems second in sanctity only to armies W'::lre shattered in two days; by Octo­ Mecca, Tirrkish al1thority throughout the ber 1 Damc~scus had heen occnpiod, and Aleppo Arabic vilayets vanished. fell on October 25. General Allenby W -.1S about In Vol. XVIII, Chapter CCLXVIIl, the t.o advance on Alexandretta when, on October 30, openine: phases of General Allenby's campaign the armistice was signed. On that day, b efore werA briefly outlined, the part taken by the the armistice took effect, the Ottoman Divil',ion Arab Army under the Emir Faisal being alone deknding Mosul surrendered to General Marshall , given in any c~('tail. Allenby's campq,ign, onc w'hile General M;ilne's force, after an arduous of the most successful .in military history, can march from the Struma, was ready to seize now be treated as a whole. With it, completing Adrianople and advance on Constantinople. t;he survey of the destruction of the enemy

_ r\ condition of the armistice was th9t all the I power in the Arabic vilayets, falls for descrip­ remalOlng Turkish garrisons and troops ih the tion the last carn.paign in Mesopotamia and the fidel in th0 Arabic vilay('ts of the Empire final stages of the war in Arabia itself. s hould surret.rler t.o the lJ ea.rest Allied post. ~\Icxandrctta was accordingly occupied by At the heginning of Septemher, 1918, General Oeneml Allenby, and Mosul and other places in AHenby estimn,ted t.hat the Turkish Armies Of' Vot. XIX--Part 240 181 182 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE VV AR.

RAIL\,_AYS (as nnSeplS 191B) 5bandard Gauge ___ Metre Decauvi/le

JERUSALEM TO PAMASCUS AND BEYHUT. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 183·

his front had 4,000 cavalry:and 32,000 infantry, Tirailleurc:: Algerians, the 1st Battalion of the. with 400 guns-representing a" ratio::! strength') Cape Corps (coloured troops . from South of 104,000 men. The German-Anstrian con­ Afrjca), t.he 1st and 2nd Battalions of the tingent n umbered about 15,000, consisting British W est Indies R egiment, and notably mostly of t echn:ical troops. The enemy forces _J -ewry's contributior;-the 38th and 39th were in three groups : (.Jewic:;h) B attalioils of the Royal Fusiliers. (1) The VIIth and VIIIth T urkish Armies between In addition mention shoulcl b e made of the the J ordan and the Mediterranean, with 27,000 infantry Italig,n D etachment, which, though tlaking no and 268 guns. (2) The IVt h Turkish Army east of t he J ordan, with 6,000 infantry, 2,000 sabre"" and 74 guns. (3) The 2nd Turkish Army Corps in garrison a t Ma'an - sou th-east of t he D ead Sea-and on posts on the H edjaz ra ilway north of Ma'an, some 6,000 infan try and 30 guns. B esides these three hodies there were in :ceserve b etween Tiberias, Nazareth and Haifa about 3,000 infantry, with 30 guns. The German General Liman von Sanders, com­ mander-in-chief of the· enemy forces, had hjs headquarters at Nazareth.. For the defence of Syria, shou).d the armies jn Palestine be defeated, the Turks had no adequate force. They had lost the flower of thei.r army in the d efence of Gallipolj and in the previous campaigns in Palestine, Mesopotamia aDd the Caucasus. They had squander ed, too, thousands of excellent troops as German and · Austrian auxiliaries in the Dobrudja and the Carpathians. On his side General Allenby had in the fighting line a total of '~some 12,000 sabres, 57,000 rifles and 540 guns .... a considerable GENERAL LIMAN VON SANDERS. superiority III numbers over the enemy, Commander-in-Chief of the Germano-Turkish especially in mounted troops." His force was, Forces. he stated, "made up of two cavalry divisions, promillent part in the camp'l.ign, ," throughout two mounted divi.sions, seven infantry divisions, the operations g::we valuable and loyal an Indian infantry brigade, four unallotted assistance" ; * of the South African Field· battali ons and the French D etachment . (the Artillery, the Australian Flying Corps, Egyptian equivalent of an infantry brigade with other Infantry Batta.lions, and, behind the fighting arms attached)." It was a considerable force, hne, of the Egyptian Labour Corps. Canada. but, as has b een shown in Qhapter CCLXVIII, too, was not wholly unrepresented, h<:tyjng sent a large proportion of the troops consisted of a un:it of its Ordnance Corps. If to all these newly raised Indian battaliohs, the bulk of the be added the Arab Army under the Emir Europeall .units having been withdrawn for Faisal, and the British and French naval service jn Fnmce. The last. Ifldian battalions squadrons which cooperated, an idea may be . to arrive had only b een formed a few months gained of the mixed character of the forces tho arid had not b een incorporated into divisions Turks ha d to face. till early in Augnst. While the majority of There had b een no alterations of special Allenby's army now consisted of Indiaus, its importance in the staff and leaders in the field composjtion was cosmopolitan. The mounted since Gene::.'al Allenby first succeeded to the troops were m ade l]P of British and Indian command of the Egyptian Expediti.onary (Regular and Imperial Service) regiments, Force. Sir J. L. Bols, a soldier of Belgjan Y eomanry, the Australian L ight Horse, N ew descent, remained Chief of Staff; Sir Philip Z e fl,l and Mounted Rifles, and a regiment of Chetwode and Sir Edward Bulfin were the French cavalry. The infa:'ltry, besides some commanders of the two principal infa'1.try famous British ~egiments, included the * The Italian deta chment returned home in Fe bruary~ ' Armer: ian troops of the LE3gioll d'Orient, the 1919. 240-2 184 THE TI1YIES HISTORY OF THE WAR

corps, Sir Harry Chauvel Of the Desert Mounted ori first-class roads. Conseqnont,Iy, considering Corps, and Sir Edward Chaytor of the Australian what it wa~ hdped to accomplish, the opening and New Zealand Mounted Division. Col P. operations could not safely be postponed to de Piepapo commanded the French Detach­ . later than ~d-September, this not'lvithstanding ment. The moral of the force was excellent,; that several of the Indian battalions had had British and Indi:tn regiments brigaded together very little chance to get familiar with

worked i ...1 a fine spirit of comradcsrup and. conditions prevailing on the Palestine front. emulation. It may here be noted that any apprehensions .In t.he earlier fight.ing of 1918 it had been felt concerning the Indian and other newly demonstrated that the Turks ('ould greatly raised battalions were soon set at rest ; they embarrass the British ol'crati ons in Eastern all showed good fighting qualities, i,hough Pa19stine by transferring troops from t.he naturally they lacked t.he doll of the veteran

west to the cast bank of the Jordan. I t was troop ~! .

ARAB CHILDREN. Waiting their turn to be clothed and fed by the British.

highly desirable, on political as woll I1S military The plan of campaign was drawn on bold and grounds, that the Turk should be cleared simple lines. The main feature was that the from Moab and GHead, that Medina should b e cavalry were to pour through a gap made for entirely cut off from any chance of succour, them by the infantry in the enemY ,lines, and, and that no enemy force ~hould be left getting behind the Turks, cut off their retreat between Pa1estine and Mesopotamia. General by seizing all vital points in their line of com­ Allenby realized th8.t th~s could b est be done munications. It v..-as obvious that this by a successful offensive in WBstern Palestine . manceuvre would have mote chance of success . Moreover, the destruction of the VIIth and in the coast sector than in the hill country north ,VIIIth Turkish Armies-that is, the enemy of Jerusalem, though even on the coast sector forces west of the Jordan-appeared to the the cavalry, to cut off the Turks, would have British commander" to b e within the bOlUlds to cross the western spurs of t.he hills of of po~sibility." Accordingly he decided to Samaria. Allenby therefore made his main strike at them. The time for opening t.he attack in the coast plain. The command ofiensiv(I was partly dictated by weather of the attacking force fell to General Bulfin, conditions. The rains usuaJly b egin in W estern whose corps, . the XXIst, had continuously Palestine at the end of October, rendering the formed the left wing of Allenby's army. plairls of Shftron and Esdraelon \ otherwise This corps, besides the 54t,h Division Armageddon) impossible for tran8port except (Maj.-Gen. Hare) and 75th Division (Maj.- THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 185

Gen. Palin), which had fought their way up 233rd' Infantry Brigade. fre·m Gaza, , now included the 3rd (Lahore ) Brig.-Gen. CO LSTON. 1/5th Somerset L.I. Division (Maj.-Gen. Ho s~ins)* and the 7th 29th Punjabis. (Meerut) Division (Maj.-Gen. F ane). In a ddi­ 3/3rd Gurkha Rifles. 2/154th Indian Infantry. tion the 60th (London) Division (Maj.-Gen. 234th I nfantry Brigade. Shea), from the XXth Corps, the French D e­ Brig. -Gen. MACLEAN. tachment, the 5th Australian Light Horse 1/4th Duke of Cornwall's L.T. Brigade (Brig.-Gen. Onslow), two brigades 123rd Outram's Rifles. 125th Napier's Rifles. of mOlmtain batteries, and 18 heavy and siege­ Divisional Troo ps. gun batteries were placed at Sir Edward Bulfin's 37t. h, 172nd, and 1st South African B rigades R.F.A. disposal. This was rendered possible by 60TH DIVISION. withdrawing the reserves from t he front n~ rth 17 9th I nfantry Brigade. of J erusalem and by reducing to a minimum Brig.-Gen:. HUMPHREYS. Z/13th London Regiment. the forces in the Jordan valley. 3/15I ~ t Punjabi Rift~s. The composition of General Bulfin's force 2/19th Punjabis. 2/I27th Baluch L.T. was as follows: 180th I nfantry Brigade 54TH DIVISION. Brig.-Gen, W ATSON. 16lst I nf antry Brigade. 2/19th L ondon R egiment. Brig. -Gen. OUPEN -P ALMER. 2nd Guides Infantry. 2/30th Punjabis. 1/4th, 1/5t h, 1/6th, and 1/7th Battalions E ssex R egiment. 1/ 50th Kumaon Riflef' . 162nd -1 nfantry B1·igade. 18lst I nfantry Brigade. Brig.-Gen. MUDGE . Brig.-Gen. DA COSTA. 1/5th Bedfordshire R egiment. . 2./2~nd London R egiment. 1/4th Northamptonshire Hegiment. 1/30th Balunhi;:: . 1/IOth and l/llt.h London Regiment. 2/97th Deccan I nfantry. Z/I52nd ·Punj·a bis. I 631'd I nfantry R1·igade. Divisional Troops. Brig.-Gen. lV[c.NEILL. 301st, 302nd, 303rd Brigades R.F.A. 1/4th and 1/5th Norfolk Regiment. 1/5th Suffolk Regiment. 3RD (LAHORE) DIVISION. 1!8th H ampshire Regiment. 7th I nfantry Brigrtde. Brig-.Gen. DAVIDSON. Divisional Troops. 1st Battalion Connaught Ranger :;: . 270th, 27 Ist, and 272nd Brigades R.F.A. 2/7th Gurkha Rifles. 7TH (MEERUT) DIVISION. 27th and 9Ist Punjabis. 19th TnfantTY B1-igade. 8th Infantr~ 1 B1·igade. Brig.-Gen. WEIR. Brig.-Gen. EDWARDES. 1st Battalion Seaforths. 1st Battalion Manchester R egiment. ' ~8th, 92nd Punjabis. 47th Sikhs. 125th Napier's Rifles. 59th Scinde Rifles. 2/I 24th Baluchistan. 21st I nJantry Brigade. 9th I njant1'y B1·igade. Brig.-Gen. KEMBALL. Brig:-Gen. L UARD . 2nd Battalion Black ·W~tch. 2nd Battalion Dorset R e;irnent.. Ist.Guides I nfantry. 1/ I '3 t Gurkha Rifles. 20th Punjabis. 93rd Indian Infantry. I/8t h Gurkha Rifles. 105th Mahratta L.I. 28th Infantry Briga.de. Division(J.l Troops. Brig.-Gen. DAVIES . 4th, 8th, 53rd Brigades R.F.A. 2nd Battali on Leicester R egiment. 1/34th Sikh Pioneers. 51st Sikhs. .. Altogeth er some 35,000 infantry and 383 guns 53rd Sikhs. 56th Punjabi Hifles. were at Bulfin's service, while the enemy Divl:sional T roops. strength opposed to him was estimated at n ot 261st, 2G2np, 264th Brigades R.F.A. more than 8,000 rifles and ' 130 guns. But if 121st Pioneers. the Turks were weak numerically, they had, 75TH DIVISION. under G\3rman instru ction, constructed very 2~{2n (l I nfantry B1·igade. Brig.-Gon. HUDDLESTON. elaborate and strong qefences. Their coast 1/4th vVilts Regirnent. sector :ran from Jiljulieh (i .e. Gilgal *) to the sea, 72nd Punjabis. a distance of some 10 miles. The railway 2/'Jrd Gurkha. Rifles. ard K ashmir T.S. I nfantry. from the n orth, skirting the foothills of Samaria,

* Major-General Hoskins had been recall ed from Ea t * But not the Gilgal of Joshua, where the twe~v e Africa to take up command of this Division (see Chapter stones were erected as a memorial to the crossing of OCLXXVI). t h e Jordan by the I sraelites drvshod. 186 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR.

is built in a slight depression close to the hills, 11th Gavab'Y Brigaie. and in this depression lies Jiljulieh. . Brig.-Gen. GRIWORY. l / lst County of London Yeomanry. To the west of this depression the Turks [wrot.e Sir 29th Lancers. E. Allenby] h ad constructed two defensive systems. 36th Jacob's H orse. The first, 14,000 yards in length and 3,000 in depth, 12th Caval1'Y B1·iyade. ran along a sandy ridge in a north-westerly direction Brig. -Gen. WIGAN. from Bir Adas to the sea. It consisted of a series of 1I1st Staff ordshire Yeomanry. works connected by continuous fire trenches. The 6th Cavalrv. second, or Et Tireh syst~m , 3,000 yards in rear, ran 19th L anc;rs (Fan e's H orse ). from t he village of that name to t ho mout.h of the Nahr Falik. On the enemy's extreme right the ground, Divisional T1· OOpS. except for a narrow strip along the coast, is marshy, 20th Brigade R.H.A. and could only be crossed in few places. The defence 5TH CAVALRY DIVISION. of the second system did not, thereforo, require a large Maj.-Gen. MAcANDREw. force. The railway itself was protected by nwnerous 13th Caval1'y B1·igade. works and by the fortified villages of Jiljulieh and 1/1st Gloucester Yeomanry. Kalkilieh. The gr01md between our front line at 9th Hodson's Horse. Ras El Ain * and these villages was open, and was 18th Lancers. overlooked from the enemy's works on t he foothills 14th Caval1'y Brigade. rou nd K efI' K e,Slm. Brig.-Gen. CLARKE. These were the systems Bulfin's force was to Ijlst Sherwood R angers. attack. Behind, awaiting the breaching of the 20th Deccan Horse. 34th Poona Horse. enemy's line, were the 4th and 5th Cavalry Divi­ 15th Caval1'Y B1·igade. sions of the Desert Mounted Corps, the Austra­ Brig.-Gen. HARBoRD. lian Mounted D ivision being, for the time,absent. Jodhpore 1.S. Lancers. Mysora 1.S. Lancers. These cavalry divisions were made up as 1st Hyderabad 1.S. Lancers. follows ~ Divisional T1·OOpS. 4TH CAVALRY DIVISION. E ssex Battery R.I!.A. Maj.-Gen. BARROW. 10th Cavalry B1·igade. It was hoped to take the Turks by surprise,.. Brig.-Gen. HOWARD-VYSE and Brig.-Gen. OREgN. l/lst Dorset Yeoma,nry. but the difficulty was to conceal from the 2nd Lancers. 38th Central India Horse. enemy knowledge both of the withdrawal * The Antipatri"l of H erod the Great. t he Mirabel of of two cavalry divisions from the Jordan tha Crusaders. valley and of the concentration of a large·

A GERMAN SCOUT PLANE SHOT DOWN IN SYRlA. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 187

NAZARETH: THE WELL OF THE VIRGIN. force on the coast. There was not, as was reported to be an "infantry can'lp, two the case in Mesopotamia, a great danger from battalions. " spies on foot ; in Western Palestine German Further to mislead the enemy, Genera1 airmen were the eyes of the enemy, and they Chaytor was ordered to carry out a series of had been very daring. Sir E. Allenby wrote: demonstrations to induqe the enemy to believe The concent ration in t h e coastal plain was carried that another advance east of the Jordan, either 'out by night, and every precaution was taken to prevent on Amman or Madeba, was intended. At this any increased movement becoming apparent to the 'TurkR. Full use of the many groves round R amleh, time (about September 10) part of the Emir Ludd and J af£.:t was made to conceal troops during tha Faisal's army, accompanied by British armoured day. The chief factor in the secrecy maintained must be attributed, h owever, to the supremacy in the air cars and a French mO"lmtain b~ttery, was which h ad been obtained by t h e Royal Air Force. Tha assembling at Kasr el Azrak, 50 miles east. of process of wearing down the enemy's a ircraft had been Amman, so that had its rendezvous been going on all through the summer. During one week in June 100 hostile aeroplanes h ad crossed our lines. discovered (it was not) the Turks would have During the last week in August this num ber had decreased been strengthened in their belief that an attack to 18. In the next few days a number were shot down! with the result that only fou), venturild to cross our lines on Amman was impending. In any case during the p eriod of concentration. Liman von Sanders was deceived; he did not When Nazareth was captured a number of move an additional man to t,he defence of the enemy aeroplane reports were fm.md, in which coast sector, and he believed that no alteration constant reference was made to the destructive had been made in the disposition of the British accuracy of the British anti·aircraft service. forces. He certainly was expecting the British As a result German scouting machines, when to move, but apparently anticipated an attack they did come over, flew very high, at 14,000 in the hill region north of J erusalem. Daring fee~ or so, relying upon their powerful photo­ bombing raids on Der'aa by the R.A.F., and graphic apparatus for information rather than equally daring raids by the Arab Camel Corps the eyes of their observers. In consequence of on the railway, north and west and south of this the enpmy observers were unable to detect Der'aa (September 16-19), must have cau.sed any signs ot the concentration in Sharon, and the enemy perturbation, as they completely even failed to identify General Allenby's great severed rai1way communication with Palestine, H eadquarters camp at Bir Salem, which was and when on the night of September 18-19 the 188 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR.

Official photograph. NABLUS, THE ANCIENT SCHECHEM. . 53rd Division (Maj. -Gen. Mott) of the XXth by means of bombs all enemy signal stations, Corps (Sir Philip Chetwode's) swung forward headquarter telephone and telegraph exchanges, its right east of the Bireh-Nablus road,* the and advanced wireless installations. This was Turks probably thought that they had to meet so successfully carried out that the enemy was the real offensive on that sector. Chetwode's entirely deprived of all means of communication operations ~ere, however, subsidiary to those of other than visual signalling, and for days was Bulfin, his immediate object being to block the unable to ascertain the nature or magnitude of Turks" exits to the lower valley of the Jordan. the disaster in which he was involved. With one exception the Welshmen captured all Going from east to west, the attacking troop" their objectives. . There was stiff hand-to-hand were the French Tirailleprs and the Armenians fighting and over 400 prisoners were taken. (in the foothills), next the 54th Division (in the The campaign had begun well. foothills overlooking the railway at Jiljulieh), The hour had come for Bulfin to strike' At then the Lahore Division, the 75th Division, 4.30 a.m. on September 19 his artillery opened the Meerut Division, and finally, along the an inten8e bombardment of the enemy lines, the shore, the 60th (London) Division. In the destroyers Druid and Forester helping by foothills the enem.y put up some opposition; bringing their fire to bear on the coast road. on the left the Londoners, the Meerut and_the Under cover of the bombardment, which lasted 75th Divisions overwhelmed the enemy in only 15 minutes, the infantry left their deploy­ their first defenSIve system and pressed on, ment positions. The enemy artillery (partly without a pause, to the Et Tireh position. served by Austrians) replied energetically to The Londoners reached and passed the Nahr the British guns, "but in most cases his barrage (river) Falik and turned inland towards Tul fell behind the attacking infantry," and the Keram. The battle of Sharon had been won Turkish lin e~ all along the Sharon front were and a road cleared along the coast for the ablaze with the green and white lights sent up c.avalry. Elsewhere the infantry met resistance by the enemy infantry to ask for artillery help. more or less stubborn, but by 11 a.m. that Shortly afterwards, as soon as the light was resistance was everywhere broken, and dis­ good enough to enable objectives to be clearly organized bodies of Turks began to stream distinguished, General Allenby launched - an north across the plain, pursued by th~ 60th air attack for the express purpose of destroying Division and the 5th Australil}l1 L.H .• to which brigade was attached a composite regiment of * That is, the Jerusalem-Shechem road. The British had built a light railway north from J erusalem to Bireh, Chasseurs d' Afrique and Spahis. which became the advanced base on tIus sector Meantime the Desert Mounted Column had THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 189, begun that amazing ride which at once became from Ludd (Lydda), 10 miles behind the famous. It was not · their business to take front line. The story of the exploits of the a direct hand in the fight in which the XXlst cavalry may be, however, postponed while the Corps was engaged, but to press north and ~ast fortunes of the XXlst and XXth Corps are and cut off the retreat not only of the VIII th followed. Turkish Army, with which Bulfin was engaged, In some places, as already indicated, the but also that of the VIIth Turkish Army, still resistance of the Turks to Bulfin's divisions facing Chetwode astride the J erusalem-Shechem had been not inconsiderable. Thus at the road Before Bulfin's divisions attacked, both stroTl~ly fortified village of Et Tireh the the 4th and 5th .Cavalry Divisions had moved 75th Division m et with determined opposition, out from the concealment of the orange groves while Jiljulieh and neighbouring points were around ~arona and had formed up in the r ear "defended with stubbornness" against the

A PACK WIRELESS STATION. These wireless outfits could be taken anywhere on horses, quickly erected and put in operation ·within ten minutes. They had a range of about a hundred miles.

of the Meerut and 60th Divisions-that is, assaults of tIle Lahore Division. But when behind the divisions nearest the co;:tst. They by 11 a.m., these places had been captured had had the order to fall in about 2 a.m., and it the enemy thought of nothing but flight. Tul required some manceuvrmg to get. all in readiness Keram, towards which the Turks made, is on in the da.rkness and contracted space. Im­ the railway at the point where it debouches patiently the men waited the moment when . into the plain from the pass leading up to they could advance, many of thenT b eing Samaria and Shechem, and was an advanced echelonned along the beach under the steep enemy base.. As General Allenby su~cinctly cliff3 of Arsuf. The order came Sooner tha.n put it, " great confusion reIgned at Tul Keram," they could reasonably have expected., but to the confusion which grew continually worse. . as the eager m~n it seemed arl age. As Soon as thf 60th Division and the 5th Australian. L.H. Londoners had broken through the second Brigade pressed on, the Londoners oC,cupying Turkish system the command tb start was given Tul K eram · itself during the afternoon. By to the cavalry. The men rode hard and by noon this time large forces of the enemy were trying had covered 18 miles. They had then reached to escape by the road leading east from Tul J elameh and Hudeira, and thereafter effectively Keram to Messudieh and N ablus (Shechem) :- carried out the task assigned them. Behind This road, which follows the railway up a narrow them came the Australian Mounted Division, valley, was a lready crowded with troops and transport. The confusion was added to by the persistent attacks of which early in the morning had started out the R oyal Air Force and Australian Flying Corps, from 190 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR.

which there was .no escape. Great havoc was caused (Maj.-Gen. Hill) had had much hard fighting and in several places t h e road was blocked by over­ turned lorries and vehicles. Later in the evening an in the spring before leaving for France. Australian regiment, having m ade a detour, succeeded The following are the details of the com­ in 'reaching a hill four miles east of Tul K eram, over­ position of Chetwode's two divisions: looking the road. As a result., a large amount of trans­ port and many guns fell into our h ands. (Allenby.) 53RD DIVISION. 158th Infantry Brigade. Brig.·Gen. VERNON and Brig.-Gen. WILDBLOOD. While the enemy in that direction was already 5/ 6th Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers. demoralized, the VIIth Turkish Army in thf 4/11th Gurkha Rifles. hills still stood firm. They were now dealt 3/153rd Rifles. 3/154th Indian Infantry. with by the XXth Corps and the right wing 159tl. Infantry Brigade. of the XXlst Corps. Of the troops of the hst­ Brig.-Gen. MONEY. named cort1s, after tbe morning's fighting, 4/5th W elsh R egiment. 3/152nd, 1/153rd, 2/153rd Punjabis. the Mcerut, Lahore and 54th Divisions had 160th I nfantl'y Brigade. turned east into the hills of Samaria and by Brig.-Gen. PEARSON. 1/7th Royal Welsh Fusiliers. nightfall had n'lade good progress. The main 1/17th Infantry. attack on the enemy hiil positions was made 1/21st Punjabis. that night by the XXth Corpi::>. In anticipation 1st Cape Corps. Divisional T1'OOpS . of the success of the attack on the coast sector, 265th, 266th, 267th Brigades R.F.A. the two divisions-the 53rd ancl 10th-had 10TH DIVISION. been concentrated in r eadin(;ss, and as soon as Maj, -Gen. LONGLEY. 29th Injant'fY BTigade. B-lllfin's m en had broken through Sir Edmund Brig.-Gen. SMITH. Allenby gave Sir Philip Chetwocle his orders to 1st Battalion Leinster R egimen t. 1/101st Grenadiers. attack. The 53rd Di."vision was on the right, 1/54th Sikhs. that is east of the J erusalem-Shechem road; 2/151st Indian Infantry. 30th I nfant1'Y B1-igade. the lOth Division (Maj ·Gen. Longley) on Brig.-Gen. GREER. the left, in the neighbourhood of KefI' Ain 1st Battalion Royal Irish R egiment. .and Berukin, places on either side of the 1st K ashmir 1.S. Infantry. 38th Dogras. Wadi D eiI' Ballut, where the 52nd Division 46th Punjabis.

[Offi.cial Photograph. THE MAIN STREET OF TUL KERAM. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 191'

. Official rholOgrath. AUSTRALIAN CA V ALR Y RESTING.

31st I nfantry Brig(tde. kingdom of Israel, now a small v.illage III the Brig. -Gen MORRIS. 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers. midst of many remarkable ruins. . But posses­ 2/ 101st Grenadier s. sion of the high ground north -east of Shechem 74th Punjabis. would enable Sir Philip Chetwode effectually 2/ 42nd D eoli R egiment. to deny to the Turks the roads leading to the Divisional T TOOpS. 67th, 68th, 263rd Brigades R.F.A. lower valley of the Jordan. All difficulties not­ withstanding, good progress W9,S made in the From the night of the 19th to the evenin~ night attack on September 19 fLnd during the of the 20th the VIIth Turkish Army fought succeeding day. hard. The enemy here was neither disorganized The 53rd Division captured Kh. * Abu Malul, and nor de.moralized, and the attacking troops in advanced their line in the centre. On their right Khan this the th{rd battle of M01mt Ephraim had Jibeit was heavily cotillter-attacked on the morning of September 20. The Turks succeeded in regaining a stiff task. For one thing, the hill country, the hill, but were !iriven off again after a, sharp fight. as has been sufficiently shown in previo~s TIllS incident, and the necessity of making a road to chapters dealing with the Palestine campaign, en able the guns to be brought forward, caused delay. The 10th Division advanced in two columns, and by is very broken and rugged, and it is imposs1ble midday on September 20 the right column, after a hard for field glms to keep pace with the infantry. fi ght at Furkhah, had reached Selfit and was approaching I sk aka, which was strongly h eld by the enemy. The Roads, in fact, had to be improvised behind left column rea ched K efr Haris, which was only captured the adve,ncing infantry before the glms could after h eavy fighting. The 10th Division had already driven the enemy b ack seven miles. The artillery, be brought uI?' Again, the enerny' had long however, had been tillable to keep up with the infantry, been expecting attack astride the J erusalem­ and little progress was made during the afternoon. Shechem road, and to meet it hact built defences On the left of the 10th Division theXXIst Corps had continued it.s advance in three columns. On the right of great strength on successive ridges. The the L ahore Divi.'"ion ad vanced up Wadi Azzun. I n the 10th Division, through whose 'sector this road centre t he Meerut Division moved on K efr Sur a nd B eit Lid. The 60th Division and the 5th Austra li.an lay, was directed to avoid-a frontal attack R.nd Light HO~'se Brigade advanced along t he Tul K eram­ to make its stroke north-east erly. Even so, N ablus road on Messudieh Station. By evening the line its work remained difficult. B aka-Beit Lid-Messudieh Station-Attara had been reached. Chetwode's objective w~ s Shechem, the The 3rd (Lahore ) and 7th (Meerut) Divisions encoun­ modern N ablus, a city closely associated with t ered a determined and well-organized resistance, which stiff C' ned as t he M·3e rut Division approached B eit Li.d. the history of the J ews from the days of the Up to the evening of this day (September 20) Patriarchs and to-day the home of the remnant the commander of the VIIth Turkish Army of the Samaritans. It lies in a valley between Ebal and Gerizim, the mounts of cursing appears to have been unaware that Allehby's and blessing, and has not the commanding cavalry had already blocked his line of ret.r eat, position or the strategic importance of the neigh­ but he had been withdrawing his tra.nsport on bouring Samaria, once the capital of the * Kh. = Khirbet = ruin. 240 -3 192 THE TnYIES H18TOEY OF THE WAR.

Shechem. all day and his resistance had b een will be recalled, was to seize the vital points in virtually brol~e n, notwithstanding the stoutness the enemy's line of , communications with with which his troops fought. ' During the Damascus. These were, first, t he railway, which night the enemy learned the bitter truth about from near Samaria ran n orth to El Afule on the British in his rear, and now the VIIth, like the plain of E sdraelon (and seven miles almost t.he VIIIth, Arrny took to flight. The enemy due south of N (1zareth), thence went south-east r e~rguards were driven in early in the morning along t~le Vall ey of J ezreel to B eisan, * where of the 21st, and all organized resistance ceased. it turned north and followed the Jordan Valley Later in the day the 5th Australi.an L.H. to the south end of the Sea of GaFlee (Lake Brigade, consisting of the 14th, 15th, and 16th Tiberias). There it crossed the Jordan, going Australian L.H. R egiments, with the ~ Fren ch east up the Y arrrruk Valley to D e~ aa, the r- I I

[Offic~a l photograph. TURKISH PRISONERS. cavalry leading, entered Shechem from the. junction with the . ,Damascus-Hedjaz line. west, the lOth Division entering the town from Secondly, there were the roa ds. Those running the south. By the evening the XXth Corps north all copverged either on El Afule or had reached Mount Ebal, while the line of the Beisan. . Thence they went by Nazareth, the XXIst Corps ran through the ruins of Samaria. western shore of the Sea of Galilee and by The part played by the cavalry* in the rout Rosh Pinah to the old caravan track to of the Tmks may now be told. By midday Damascus which crosses the Jordan by t he on Septemb er ] U, as has b een stated, the famous bridge of the Daughters of J acob 4th and 5th Cavalry Divisions were already (Jisr B enat Yl;I.kub), ,south of the Waters of 18 miles north of what had been Bulfin's \ Merom. In addition there were the roads front line at 4.30 a.m. After a short halt the leading south-east by the Jordan crossing at two divisions went forward again, taking, Jisr cd D amieh to E s Salt and Amman, roads however, separate routes. Their object, it by which the' enemy, if beaten, would be certain * That is, not including the mounted troops just * The B eth-sh ean (House of Quiet) of the Old Testa­ mentioned attached to the XXIst Corps, who after­ ment, a place whose history belied its name. On its wards rejoined the Australian Mounted Division in time walls the Philistines exposed the body of Saul after his to take part in the advance on Damascus. d efeat and death at t he neighbouring field of Gilboa. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. .193 to try to escape. Of the places mentioned reins in one hand, my horse meanwhile grazing. All Der'aa had already been dealt with by the along the road we encountered abandoned Turkish transport, guns, wagons and horses higgledy-piggledy Emir Faisal's Arabs; the task of the cavalry all over t he place. A Turkish officer hiding in a tree was primarily to capture El Afule and Beisan. fell down and was taken prison er. The poor man, who wore a splendid fur coat, was terror-struck at the They did that and much more. thought of being left in the custody of I ndians. H e In the morning ride very little opposition expected to be murdered at sight, and was astonished had been encountered; practically every Turk to find t h at some of the Indians were of the same religion as himself.... E ventually by a miracle in the met by the horsemen as they galloped on at morning we reached t he entrance to t he plain of Arma­ geddon. H ad the Turks succeeded in getting to t h e pass with a few machine-guns, they would have held us up for hours. The cavalry encountered the rest of the battalion at Megiddo, the scene of many great battles in the history of the Jews, and the Armageddon. of the Apocalypse. There was no great fight here in this campaign, but what there was to do was done neatly and success­ fully. The 2nd Lancers charge4 over exposed,

GERASA, EAST OF THE JORDAN: THE TEMPLE OF THE SUN. once surrendered. When, in the afternoon, the 5th Cavalry Division (Maj.-Gen. MacAndrew) move ~ on north, the 13th Brigade (Brig.-Gen. Kelly) leading, there was still no serious resistance. Presently the division turned east and ent ered the hills of Samaria at about their narrowest part, near where they join Mount CarmeI. After a few hours they were given ' a rest, getting water, food, oranges and a little sleep. B efore long the division was off again, but a good many of the horses were already done up and had to be left behind. The two brigades ~f the division now separated, the 13th m aking for Nazareth, the 14th for El Afule. The 4th Cavalry Divisio~1. (Major-General Barrow), which had also gone north after t.he midday halt on the 19th, turned east into the hills at a point south of that taken by the [Offic ial photograph. 5th Division. It took the v !'tlley of the Wadi LAYING A TELEPHONE CABLE. Arah, which gradually narrows to the paSF; of unoven ground, and in face of heavy machine­ Musmus, b eyond which the road crosses the gun and rifle fire, and. rode through the enemy, northern slopes of the hills to Megiddo, dis­ killed 46 with the lance and captured the guisod by its modern name of El Lejjnn, and remainder, some 470 men. At Megiddothe thence across the Plain of Esdraelon to' El 4th Division r~st e d, but early on the 20th was Afule. Awaking to their danger, the Turks . again in the saddle, m aking "for Afule. But had h astily sent a battalioJl from Afule to man the 14th Brigade (Brig.-General Clarke) of the Musmu.s. The advanced guard only had 5th Division beat them by half an hour. They reached the pass when the 4th Division .rode captured Afule at 7.30 a.m., t aking the garrison, up and their opposition was quickly overcome. about 1,500 men, prisoners. At the railway All t hrough the livelong night [wrote one officer] we had shoved on, sometimes at a gallop, h alting only for station were found "ei!Sht locomotives, two brief intervals. I snatched a moment's sleel> with the complete trains. 40 lorries and a vast quantity ]94 'l'HE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR.

BRITISH BOMBING MACHINES LINED UP READY TO START ON A RAID.

oi stores, nmong them "lump sllgar, cigars relief can1.'2 down ai1.d fired machine-glills into and champagne galore." Shortly afterwards the hangars, with the result that enemy an enemy aeroplane tried to la~ld, ignorant that . ai-rcraft were prevented from taking any part Afulo had been taken. I t. was shot down. in the battle.

Th0, 4th Division, which arrived at Afule at The Australians had little difficulty III 8 a.m., rode down the V fl.lley of Jezreel to capturing J enin. The following account of Beisan, which it reached by half-past four in their enterprise is from the pen of Mr. H. S·. the afternoon, ha.ving covered 80 miles in Gullett, the Official Correspondent with t.he 34 hours-a fine record. About 1,000 of the Australian Forces in Palestine, under date anemy sllTrenderecl at Beisan. Septemb er 21 : The Australian Mounted Division (Major­ L ast night two regiments of Australian Light Horse. General Hodgson) was some distance behind Victorians and W estern Australians, about 600 strong, moving rapidly , suddenly enveloped J enin. Galloping the two cavalry divisions when the great ride at d usk with drawn swords upon t he old stone-built began. It was made up as follows : 3rd hillside town, they were astonish ed to meet shouting A. L. H. Brigade (Brig.-Gen. Royston) droves of Turks advancing and crying for luercy and waving white flags of a ll size!: . The only resistance was 8th, 9th, and 10th Regiments A.L.H.-4th from a detachment of German machine-gunners, but. A.L.H. Brigade (Brig.-Gen. Grant) 4th, 11th, this was quickly silenced. The Australians captured nearly 7,000 prisoners. and 12th A.L.H. R egiments-5th A.L.H. including 700 Germans, and a substantial cavalry f orce, Brigade (Brig.-Gen. Onslow) 14th, 15th, with 900 h orses ; also two aerodromes and a huge quantity of war m aterial, including rolling stock, guns, and 16th Regiments of A.L.H. The Australians and machine-guns, and complete trains of motor and had followed the line of the 4th Division horse t ransport. into the Plain of E sdraelon aDd were now The Ger mans h ad fired great dumps of ammunition, petrol, and t.he h angars and workshops on the aero­ sent south-east to J enin (En-Gannim= dromes a t our approach. But one plane was seized Fountain of Gardens), where the road from intact, and close by was found a big cave containing thousands of bottles of champagne and ot her wines and Shechem to Nazareth leaves the hills. J enin spirits. . was the headquarters of the enemy air force, and T o-day E 3draelon Plain presented a wonderful w~r a considerable number of German troops were sp ectacle. From d aylight to d usk interminable columns of prisoners cam e winding across the valley ~rom stationed there. The a0rodrome had been ' Nazareth, B eisan, Afule, and Jenin. incessantly patrolled by British and Australian While these ev ents were happ ening the airmen on the' 19th in oreer to prevent the 13th Cavalry Brigade had a ccomplished much enemy from making use of his machines to farther north. They had st a.rt.ed for N azareth supplement his disorganized ·telephonic and ~ t 6 p.m. on the 19t.h and had 42 miles to go t elegraphic commUllications. Jt was also of to reach their objective. The troops hoped to the first importance to prev~nt him from arrive in time to catch Liman von Sanders getting any n ews of the advance of the cavalry ~ napping. The city of the N azarene, with its consequently it was necessary to prevent enemy sacred memories, had been chosen by the machines from leaving the ground. With this Germans as convenient headquarters, and its end in view two scouts at a time patrolled over numerous hospices, schools, and even . the Jenin aerodrome, each carrying four bombs, churches were turned to military use. And with which any sign of enemy activity was however badly the Turks fared, the Germans discouraged. Each pair was relieved while had seen well to their own comfort. On this still patrolling over the aerodrome, and on point the testimony of many witnesses might. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 195 be given, but the following extract from a Rtill at peace with that country. Von Liman's statement by an officer who took part in the flight had been so hurried that he, too, left all operations will suffice. Writing in the Kia Ora­ his papers . behind. These and some members Coo-ee he said : of his staff fell into, the hands of the British. Von Liman hurried to Damascus and, then You saW' evidence of German super-comfort, super. -equipment, super-feeding and super-accommodation on to Aleppo and Constantinople, leaving ' the ·everywhere. It struck you first and most forcibly on German Asiatic Corps as well as the Turks to seeing the droves of prisoners come in. "There Turkish their fate. Hi8 conduct was bitterly criticized officers walked, German officers were riding on qonkeys, on caroels, in gharries, or any vehicles; you can fairly in Germany, criticism which found public safely infer that at the time of capture all these means utterance after the revolution of November: of locomotion were available equally to Turk and German. __ . Take the matter of food alone. I lived The English were not so far wrong [said a writer in in -- for t hree days. There was much captured the Vossische Z eitung of November 24] when they said provender there, Turkish and German. I lived chiefly "The German commander is much in a dvance of his on German M. & V. and German tinned sausage and dried troops." General Liman von Sanders had sent his fruits. I had often heard of this ration in France, but d aughters to a seaside place, and it seemed that his had never tasted it. To taste it was to spurn bully.... chief concern at the beginning of the debacle was to get All the Turkish food consisted in spare supplies of dried t hese ladies to a place of safety. On the morning of legumes. If you base your comparison on quantity the 20th main h eadquarters were taken by surprise, a lone you will see how well the German fed by comparison officers, nurses and m en being caught in bed and led with " Joe Burkp." [Here follows a paragraph on the into captivity. . .. There were hardly any orders 'German wine stores, t h e quantity and variety of liquor issued, and when they reached the troops they could not found showing" with wh at resolution the Hun had set be executed, and the watchword was Sauve qui ' peut ! out to 'do himself yv .~ ll ' at any cost."~. . .. Captured The German troops gathered in small groups and ~orries and motor cars are German. Captured Turkish attempted to fight their way through. . .. The army transport is the' miserable little wagons t h at a New­ rescued four guns and its commander and his daughters foundland dog could almost drag.... Of clothing rescued their baggage. and equipment little n eed be said. The Turk is in rags ·of greater diversity than any slum can show. It is the Though deserted by their commander, the more pathetic beside the comparative splendour of troops at, Nazareth showed fight, giving a good ,the German uniform. deal of trouble to the Yeomen and Indians. With · a guide 'to lead, the 13th Brigade­ Over 2,000 prisoners, among them many the Gloucestershire Hussars, 9th Hodson's Horse, and 18th (Bengal) Lancers - tra­ velled by rough tracks through the hills and across small valleys until, about 2 a;m. ·on the 20th, they r eached the Plain of E sdraelon, "wonderfully fertile." Riding .across the plain, they stopped to blow up a .S'I:lction of the n arrow-gauge railway to Haifa, thus cutting off the garrison of that port. Then on aga.in, the advanced guard (the 18th Lancers) surprising and capturing the garrison ,of a village, about 250 m en, who were asleep in barracks. At 5.30 a.m. the brigade trotted up ·a steep hill which overlooks the little basin in which the town lies, and entered Nazareth with swords drawn. A scene of great confusion -ensued. There was some stiff street fi ghting, ~nd the brigade had also to face persistent JOSEPH'S WELL, ON THE ROAD FROM JENIN TO AFULE. fire from ma,chine-guns posted on high ground north of the town. A troop was sent to find German telegraphists, mer-hanies, and other von Liman ; it was led to the wrong house, and technical troops, were taken by the Brigade; when the right house was reached it was to find but as it had ridden 62 miles in 22 hours, it, was ,that von Liman had .got away by car-in his not called upon to attack the hill positions pyjamas, according to an eye-witness-and north of the town. It was, at 11 a.m., withdrawn with him the notorious von Papen, formerly. fr~m Nazareth and s'ent to El Afule, taking 'German military attache at Washington, who with it. the prisoners, the captured pfl.pers and had, however, left behind various incrimmating considera;ble loot, inGllldi:ng £8,000 in gold, and -documents respecting the plots carried out "much brandy, hock and champagne, of which .against the U nilied States while Germany was every man had a bottle that night,." The 196 THE TI1\,1IES HISTORY OF THE WAR.

[Australian official photograph. A'USTRALJAN LIGHT HORSE AT NAZARETH, AFTER ITS CAPTURE BY THE 13th BRIGADE. brigade had no intention 0:1' not completing its A mile beyond t his point the W adi F a rah passes through a gorge. The head of the column was h eavily bomb~d work, and tho next day (Reptember 21) went at this point.. The drivers left their vehicles in panic, back to N azaret h. Going up a very steep wag0us were overturned, and in a short time the road track under MoUnt Tabor, they approached the was completely blocked. Still attacked by the Royal Air Force, the remainder of the column turned off at place fr~m the north, 9Jnd this time met with Ain Shibleh, and headed for B eisan. no opl'osition. Some time was spent in The destruction of the enemy column retreat­ hunting out small enemy parties still sheltering ing along this road was an example of the high in the houses. valu8 of the aeroplan'e aFl an offensive weapon. The enemy resistance on the whole front It was impo ~sible ' for troops to move along the attacked had by now been ~vercome. Within surface of the country in time to stop the 36 hours of the opening of the offensive both retreat of the enemy ur..less his progress could be the VIIth and VIIIth Turkish Armies had been delayed. The Roya] Air Force not only delayed defeated and 3.11 their main outlets of escape the progress of the column as required, but closed. September 21 saw the enemy forces almost entirely destroyed it as Well. All west of the Jordan employed solely in seeking available machines were mobilized forthe attack, to escape by the only possible routes left to and departures from the Ramleh aerodrome them-the crosf':ings of the Jordan. It was were so timed thEl,t two machines should arrive now that the ,Air. Force distinguished itself by over the objective every three minutes, and that what was in fa:ct an outflanking movement. In an additional formation of six machines should ../ , - his dispatch Genera] Allenby shows clearly both come into action eveTY half-hoUr. After the plight of the enemy and the value of the discharging its bombs every machinp then raked work of the airmen. He writes: the retreating column from a low altitude with Since the early hours of the morning [of September 21) machine-gun fire before returning to Ramleh great con,fusion had reigned in the Turkish rear. Camps for more bombs and trays of cartridges. These and hospitals were being hurriedly evacl,lated; some were in flames. The roads leading north-east and east attacks were maintained from 8 a.m. until noon from Nablus to Beisan and the Jordan Valley were on R0ptember 21, by which hour the troops h ad congested with transport and troops. Small parties of troop:> were moving east along the numerous wadis. come in touch with the remnant of the enemy. The disorganization which already existed was increased The road by t.his time was completely blocked by the repeated attacks of the Royal Air Force; in particular, on the closely packed column of transport , with the corpses of men and animals and the moving nort.h from Balata to Kh. F erweh, where a road debris of 87 guns, 55 motor lorries, 4 staff pars branches off, along the Wadi Farah. to Jisr ed D amieh. and 932 wagons. * Some of , the transport continued along the road to Beisan. where it fell int,o the hands of the 4th Cavalry , * A con<:iderable proportion of t h e abandoned enemy Division., The greater part made for the Jordan a long stores never reached t h 9 British commissariat. Some the Wadi F arah. Nine miles from Kh. F erweh, at were set on fire by th9 Turks in their retreat, much was Ain Shibleh, a road branches off to the nor.th to B eisan. looted by the natives, for it was impossible to guard THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 197

The Turkish hold 'of both banks of the Jordan from Shechem to Jisr ed Damieh, and a few from Dmm es Shert northward-little use as hours later the two battalions of thp British it was t.o them in consequence of the air attacks West Indies Regiment, in a fine bayonet charge, -did not last beyond the day. While the stormed the bridgehead at Jisr ed Dn,mieh, taking sceiles described in .the extract given from 514 prisoners. The bridge itself was undamaged. ,Alleaby's dispatch were being enacted, General The disorganization of the units of the Chaytor's force * in the Jordan Valley advanced Turkish Armies was even more marked on north on a route west of the Jericho-Beisan September 22, a.nd from ail early hour parties of road, and early in the morning of September 22 Turks began to come into Beisan and surrender, the 38th (Jewish) Battalion Royal Fusiliers but the greater number continued their efforts captured the bridgehead at Dmm es Shert­ to escape the first piece of work of note of these :aebrew At 08.00 [8 a.m.] a column with transport and soldiers. Meantime the New Zealand Mounted guns, 10 miles long, was reported by the Royal Air Rifles got astride the road by the Wadi Farah Force to be moving north along the Ain Shibleh-Beisan

more than a fraction of the stuff. ~e n Jenin, Afule, 2nd A. L. H. Brigade. and other ' places fell "the Beduin came from every Brig.-Gen. RYRlE. camp and village within 20 miles, and with him came 5th, 6th, 7th A. L. H. Regiments. his women and children, his parents and ,grandparents, and camels and horses and asses. To his credit it New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade. should be said that he ' was not shy of risks. At J enin Brig.-Gen MELDRUM. I watched hundreds of these people scrambling around Auckland, Canterbury, and 'Wellington M.R. Regiments. a huge burning dump fired by the Germans. They Divisional Troops. went boldly on to the edge of the flames, careless of the 18th Brigade R.H.A. frequent explosions and showers of debris as t.he fire A/263rd Battery R.F.A. reached shells and bombs. The temptation there was 195th H eavy Battery R.G.A. a great supply of German tinned fresh beef, and they 29th, 32nd Indian Mountain Batteries R.G.A. laughed and shouted as t.hey ventured tJleir lives for it." No. 6 Medium Trench Mortar Battery R.A. (Mr. H. S. Gullett.) Nos. 96, 102, and 103 Anti-Aircraft Sfl ctions R.A. * Chaytor's Force was as follows: 38th and 39th Battalion Royal Fusiliers (Hebrew AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND MOUNTED Troops). . DIVISION. 20th INDIAN BRIGADE. Maj.-Gen CHAYTOR.. Brig-Gen. MURRAY. 1st A.L.H. Brigade. Alwar, Gwalior, and Patiala 1.S. Infant.ry. Brig.-Gen. Cox. 1l0th Mahratta L.I. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd A. L. H. R egiment.s l!;:t and 2nd Battalions British West Indies R egiment.

(0ffici~l pMtogra,ph. THE BLACK WATCH MARCHING THROUGH HEYRUT 198 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR.

Toad, its h ead being nine miles south of B eisan. The against them in the open every glill wn.s hit. 4th Cavalry Division was ordered to send detachments Over 3,000 prisoners were captured on this towards it, and also to patrol the road which follows the Jordan on its east bank, to secure any parties which occasion. might escape across the Jorda n. At the same time By the evening of the 24th-that is, in a the Worcester Y eomanry of the XXth Corps, supported by infantry, was ordered to advance northwards from period of six days-the two Turkish Armies Ain Shibleh, and the infantry of the 10th Division along west of the Jordan had ceased to exisf. Over -the Tubas-Beisan road, to collect stragglers, and to 40,000 men were prisoners in the hands of -drIve any formed bodies int o the hands of the 4th -Cavalry Division. The Royal Air Force had proceed ed the British. The victory, too, was not costly to att~ck the Turkish column, which broke up and in lives. "Our total casualties," said the abandoned its guns and transpo.rt. War Office report of September 26, "amount It was now only a quest.ion of " collecting" to less than one-tenth of the number of the fragments that remained of the enemy prisoners captured." armies west of the Jordan. The process went The 5th Cavalry Division, . which had not on during September 23 and 24, the Turks taken part in the "collecting" operations, now coming in to ·surrender in la.rge numbers. during the same period was employed in Opposition was but occasional and fitful. One occupying the seaports of Haifa and Acre column of Turks with guns trying to get over (Akka). Part of the Haifa garrison, r ealizing the Jordan at a crossing a little south-east of that they were likely to be trapped, had set Beisan' was caught up by the 1 Hh Cavalry out to march across country to Tiberias, on Brigade (Brig.-General Gregory), but not before the Sea of Galilee. They were marchil{g some of the Tnrks had crossed the river at through ·the night and at 1. 30 a.m. on • Makh.q,det Abu . Naj. These were followed, September 22 "bmnped into" the outposts charged, and broken up by J acob's Horse, few of the 13th Cavalry Brigade outside Nazareth. escaping. The others were charged by the The brigade at first took the affair to b e an 29t.h Lancers and Middlesex Yeomanry, who attempt of the enemy to recapture that town. kiUed or captured the whole party, taking also The 18th Bengal Lancers cbarged the Turks 25 machine-guns from the Turks, who put up a by the moonlight, killing a large number and stout resistance, as is shown by the fact that capturing over 300. F ew escaped. The next when the Rants battery came into action day the 13th Brigade spent quietly, but were

DAMASCUS: THE FORTRESS AND TOWN. •

THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 199

order ed to go on the 23rd and capture Acre, which he now ordered General Chauvel to the last spot in Palestine held by the Crusaders. undertake with the Desert Mounted Corps. This city of many sieges, attacked in vain by Before, however, describing the advance on Napoleon, who ther e was forced to give up Damascus, the fate of the IVth Turkish Army, his P alestine expedition, fell ea sily enough to the army east of the Jordan, may be told. It t he 13th Brigade. Rtarting from Nazareth was concentrated opposite the British forces .at 3 a.m. (September 23), they had a 25-mile in the lower Jordan Valley, with its base at .ride, partly through the fertile valley of ·the Amman on the Hedjaz railway. As has b een Kishon with its pOl1'legranat e gardens. Making seen, up to September 22 it held the crust baIlk .a detour over the flat plain around the port, of the river at Jisr ed Damieh and other -the horsem en got to the north of the town to cut off an attempted retreat, and at 2 p.m. {'eceived the submission of the small garrison ...()f some 150 m en. H aifa garrison, or what was left of it, offer ed .80me opposition. R elations here, a s at many ·other places, b etween Germans and Turks wer e strained.. The Germans were for surrender; It he Turks bade them fight . The position of the town favoured the defen ce, and a b attery .of armoured cars which made a daring recon­ .naissance on September 22 fOlmd the e ll e~y on the alert. The road into the town was .b arricaded and the cars were m et with machine­ .gun and rifle fire at point-bla nk range. The . ·cars, r eturning, marched the 100 or so prisoners A HEDJAZ ARAB. ,they had made before them, fighting the while a r earguard action. On the 23rd the 5th crossings. On that day the IVth Army -Cavalry Division (minus, that is, the 13th realized that its position was no longer tenable, Brigade) marched out from A.fule, following and it r etreat ed to the tableland of Moab on ,the road p ast Harosheth of the Gentiles, which the 23rd, m aking for E s Salt and Amman. as it n eal'S Haifa is ' confined b etween the General Chaytor sent his Australian and N ew · marshes of the Kishon and Mount Carme!' Zealand Mounted. troop s in pursuit,. while " When the 5th Cavalry Division reached this the enemy was liberally born b ed by the airmen. ,point on September 23 it was shelled from the At 4.30 p.m. the N ew Zealanders captured ·slopes of Mount Carmel, and fOlmd the road E s Salt (making the sixth time the t own had .and the river crossings defended by n~erous changed hands in 1918), taking 380 prisoners machine-guns. Whilst the Mysore Lancers ah d three guns. The pursuit continued, and were clearing the ~ocky slopes of Mount Carmel after two days' obstinat e r esistance by enemy ,the J odhpur Lancers (Imperial Service troops), rearguards Anm'lan was reached and captured -charged through the defile, and, riding over on . September 25. The Turks now fled north ,the enemy's machine-guns, galloped into the in. disorder, harassed by the airmen and the town, where a nun'lber of Turks were speared Arabs and pursued by the Anzacs. Over ,in the street s. Colonel Thakur Dalpat Singh, 5,000 m en ' and 28 guns were captured-the M.C., fell gallantly leading this charge." greater part of the IVth Army. The rest of In the capture of Haifa 1,350 prisoners and the IVth Army fell a prey to the Emir Faisal. 117 guns were taken. The townsfolk gave a As it strean1.ed north the Arabs issued frem -very hearty welcome to the victo~s; even the the Hauran, forcing the Turks to abandon ,German colonists-at Haifa is one of the guns and transport. Next the Arabs largest of the German colonies in Palestine­ entrenched them selves n orth of Der'aa and were pleased to b e rid of Turkish ex a ctions. barred the e n~my 's line of r etreat. The two ·Of Palestine west of the Jordan only the forces m et on September 27 and sh al'p fighting northern part of Galilee remained tmoccupi e ~ went on all day. H eavy casu alties were ;by the British, and that fell to General Allenby inflicted upon .the enemy-among whom were ,in the advance on Damascus, an advance many Germans. Having complet ely, broken up •

200 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR.

what was left of the IVth Army, the Arabs the the railway to Dama.scus touches the south same day seized Der'aa. end of the Sea of Galilee, had been capturrd on After his rapid conquest of Moab General September 24 by the 4th AU3tralian Light Chaytor's force again concentrated at Amman Horse Brigade (Brig.-General Grant), after a in order. to deal with the 2nd Turkish Army fierce hand-to-hand fight. The enemy, includ­ Corps, which held the Hedjaz railway hne ing a hrge proportion of Germans, 'had built from south of Amman to south,of Ma'an. This a "laager" of engines and other rolling stock corps had not realized the changed situation defended by machine-g'1.lls, and made a stout in time, and it was only on September 23 that resistance. It was only ended by a determined the Turks evacuated Ma'an. That place, charge, in the course of which many Germans which had long be8n an objective of the Arabs, were driven into the Sea of Galilee and there was at once occupied by the H edjaz force lanced or drowned. The 4th A.L.H. took under the Emir Zeid, who continuonsly 350 prisoners. Tiberias-the city built by worried th~ rear of the retreating Turks. Five H erod Antipas and ,named in honour of his days later the 2nd Turkish Army Corps had patron, and whose Palace of the Princes of reached Leban, a station on the railway 10 the Galilee is still in part habitable-was miles south of A:mman. Here they came into occupied the next day, and it is hardly to be contact with Chaytor's force. The Turkish expected that the troopers escaped the visitation command,er, Ali Bey Wahabi, saw that he of the fleas, whose king, say the Arabs, holds could not escape and he had no mind to fight his court here! At Tiberias the Australian to a finish; The next day, September 29, he Division concentrated , on the 26th. On the surrendered to Chayto'r with 5,000 men, who same day the 5th Cavalry Division, which 'h ad gave up their arms as soon as their safety had had three days of rest and sea bathing at been assured by tho arrival of the 2nd Australian Acre and Haifa, was marching to join them via L.H. Brigade (Brig.-General Ryrie) at Kas­ Nazareth. tal, as the Turks were in great peril .from On September 27 the two divisions stf',rted the H edjaz Arabs and the fellahin of the from Tiberias, having to cover 90 miles to district. reach Damascus, The Aust,ralian troops led, The advance on Damascus was purely a an.d on reaching Jisr Benat Yakub found the cavalry affair. Sir Her;ry Chauvel had for this passage of the Jordan disputed. The bridge operation the 4th and 5th Cavalry Divisions Uisr') here consists of four stone arches, and the and the Am:;tralian Mounted Division, and he Turks, who knew the strategic importance of re'ceived the help of the E.;rur Faisal's Arab the crossing-the connecting link with Syria Army. The advance was in two columns; by the route from Egypt-had blown up the one column, thp 4th Cavalry Divisjon, crossed centre arch. They had also sent down from Jordan at various pla'ces south of the Sea of D amascus in motor lorries a mixed Turco­ Galilee and marched through the la,nd of Gilead German-Circassian force of about 1,000 men, on a route .parallel-to the Yarmuk river to join tngethe.r with field and mac~ine-guns. The the Arabs, who were advancing from D er'aa. enemy were posted on the steep eastern bank I t started from Beisan for Damascus-a of the river, and they opened a hot fire as the 120-miles march-on the afternoon of Septem­ Australian horsemen rode up. A crossing by bqr 26, and two days later joined hands with the bridge was impossible, but the Australians the Arabs near Er Remte, west of D er'aa: It were not baulked. The 5th A.L.H. Brigade had had a trying march and twice hFLd had to swam t.he river a milE' south of the bridge, meet considerable opposition, first at Irbid and worked round the enemy's flank and attacked a,gain a.t Er Remte. before the rearguard could get away in their Chauvl3l's second column, the ' 5th Cavalry lorries. Fifty Gerrnans, 200 Turks, three field D~vision and the Australian Mounted Division, and some machine-guns were captured. was directed to go along the west side of the After this episode the whole column moved Sea of Galilee, cross the Jordan at Jisr Ben8,t forward, climbing up on to the plateau on the Yaknb (the Bridge of the Daughters of Jacob) way to El Kuneitra, the centre of the Circassian and advance then direct on Damascus by the settlements planted in Syria some time ago by ancient caravan route·- the route which from the Ottomans in an endeavour to ke~p the the earliest dawn of history had fGlmed the Desert Arabs in check. The Circaseian villagers h ighway from and to Egypt. Semakh, where freely sniped the column as it passed, and at THE TIMES HIHTORY OF THE WAR. 201

El Kuneitra itself opposition wae encountered, kept fit and well The supply service worked and quickly overcome. From that place the excellently, the men's rations never failing. march was continued. It was a great test of On September 29 the column met enemy endurance. The elevation of the region-well re'arguards at Sasa, where a bridge crosses a over 3,000 feet-made the nights cool, and the stream which is thought by some authorities troopers were i~ their Slunmer clothing. As to be the 'upper course of the Pharpar, One of far as possible both men and horses lived on "the rivers of D amascus" of Naaman the the conntry, but much of the land they were Syrian. The Turkish rearguards were driven now traversing was desolate and rock-strewn. , back after a brisk little fight, and by 10 o'cloci~ Later they came into undulating pasture land, on the mornLJ.g of Septem?er 30 the Australians intersected by many of the streams coming had reached Katana, whi.ch is on the Roman down from Mount Hermon, whose dome-shaped road from Cffisarea Philippi to Damascus, a summit, over 9,000 feet high, towered on the road running some miles north of and parallel left of the column The marches were neces- to the more ancient , roaCl. The Australians

TIBERIAS: THE BAZAAR. sarily long, the object being to reach Damascus had diverged with the object of closing the before the Turks there, with such remnants of exits from Damascus on the north-west, while the a:rmies from Palestine as had escaped, the 5th Cavalry Division kept to the caravan should have the chance of pulling themselves route in order to close on the city from the together. One squadron of the Gloucestershire south. This the 5th Division successfully Yeomanry were in the saddle for 33 hours out of accomplished. They ent.ered the verdant oasis 36, and the r ecord of other squadrons was in which Damascus lies, a large plain with equally striking, Many horses were worn out, many streams and gardens and groves, and but, as one officer wrote, "we have to carry encamped for the night. The Australians, on till they fall." Many, indeed, had to be however, had found a fairly strong force posted left behind to die, though,t.he wastage was by at Katana to oppose their progress, and for the no means excessive. But the men, both of moment they were checked. Turks and Ger­ the 5th Cavaky and the Australian Division, manS III Damascus were qu'arreJling and · 2 . ~ THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR.

JISR BENAT Y AKUB: AUSTRALIAN ENGINEERS INSPECTING THEIR FINISHED REPAIRS.

'fighting one another, but the main anxiety of 6 a.m. on October 1, ~nd at 6.30 a.m. a detach­ both bodies was to get away, and retreat was ment of the 10th Australian L.H. Brigade (Brig.­ -only possible by the roads on which the Austra- General Wilson) under Major Olden reached lians were advancing. But after some two the Serail, being the first Allied troops to enter hours' fighting the Turks at Ka.tana 'Yere Damascus. The Sherifian Camel Corps was i beaten; the Australians continued their march only about balf an hour behind them. * This, and by the evening had blocked the roads the most ancient city in the world still inhabited, ,leading from Damascus towards Aleppo and did not make a very favourable impression on .the coast. the British troops-" a dirty, dull town, and The 4th Cavalry Division and the Arab Arm3" evil-smelling" was the general verdict-and by 'which had been m.arching directly north since the time their "trimuphal march" was over their junction near D er'aa on September 28, (it covered some 20 miles, start to finish) they also reached the outskirts of Damascus on the were glad to get back to the olive and palm ·eveninfS of the 30th. The 4th Cavalry Division groves in which they encamped. But even had followed the track of the dismantled while the ceremonial occupation of Damascus ' French railway from Damascus, "a weary, was taking place the 3rd Australian L.H. · desolate road;" With the Arab Carp.el Corps and Brigade had been sent to try to overtake · others who rode sturdy ponies', on its right flank, those enemy forces which had left the city still " pressing on the heels " o~ what remained before the cordon closed and some troops which -of the IVth Turkish Army. "In this way a had avoided it by a detour to the east. The -column of Turks some 1,500 strong was driven at Australians succeeded, on October 2, in over­ noon on September 30 into the arms of the taking an enemy colmun 17 miles north-east 14th Cavalry Brigade at Sahnaya." To the of Damascus. They attacked, captured 1,500 · Turkish stragglers who fell into their hal'lds the prisoners and three guns, and dispersed the rest Arabs showed no mercy. of the coh.unn. No attempt to resist the British and Arab General Allenby's bold policy had succeeded \ forces was made at Damascus itself. The entry * See further for the entry into Damascus Vol. XVIII. ~ of the Desert Mounted Column was made at Chapter CCLXVIII. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE W AB. 203 ~

completely, and of the 104,000 enemy troop~ in or bo(;h, and, as a resnlt of the deliberate with-­ Palestine and Southern Syria on September 18 holding of food, famine and diSE:aR8 had had, over 80,OOO-including 3,000 Germans or full play. In the Beyrut and Lebanon distI'iets . Aust,rians-were prisoners of the British ' or only over 200,000 people had . perished cf Arabs by Octobel' 2. The r emnant which had starvation Save for some of the alien plant a- . escaped numbered no more than 17,000, "of tions, such as those of the Kurdl:" and whom only 4,000 were effective rifles." As Circassians, the Turk h ad not a friend in General Allenby said, this body of 17,000 men Syria. . The Syrians themselves, inspired by' "fled northwards a mass of individuals, the n ewly realized Arab solidarity, desired without organ ..zation, without transpor,t, and freedom, and they looked to Britain arid France · without any of the accessories requir ed to for help. Both nations, as far as Ottom,ln enable it to act even on the defensive." rule permi tted, had done much to develop the ThE, E gyptian Expeditionary Force now material resources of the country and to spn;8d ent ered on the last phase of its strenuous education. The French, moreover, ever sil;.ce campaigning, which had already lasted over in 1860 they had intervened in the Lebanon to­ four years and had seen an advance from the put a stop to Turkish atrocities, had maintained Suez Canal to D amascus. General Allenby political claims in the Levant, and an Anglo­ took full advantage of the destruction of the French agreement, made in 1916, had recognized' Turkish hosts, and his subsequent operations the special position of France. The country' exp elled the Ottomans from the rest of Syria. where so many interests were involv~d was now· Throughout the war the Syrians-of whom the to b e freed from one of them-that.of the Turks. large majority are of Semitic race and of Arabic Syria is a land of hi~h mountain ranges and speech and culture-had sufipred great persecu­ narrow valleys. These run in lines parallel to·· tions, notably at the hands of the notorious the coast, which has few g:ood harbours, the Vali, Djemal Pasha. He had spared neither chief b eing Beyrut in the south and. Alexandretta. Moslom nor Christian, nor J ew nor Druse. ,in the north. The conquest of the country, if Many notables had been hanged, thousands had 'held by a resolute foe, would have involved suffered imprisonment or confiscation of goods. much hard fighting. But the Turks · had no ·

"

I (Offici,l! Phoiograph.

BRITISH MOTOR LORRIES BRINGING FOOD FOR TURKISH PRISONERS IN DAMA~CUS _ 204 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR.

resolution left, and Allenby's army had more were most heartily greeted. The glory has marching than fighting before it. The occupa­ indeed departed both from Tyre and Sidon, but tion of Syria was carried out by two distinct Tyre has still some 5,000 inhabitants and forces. The D esert Mounted Corps marched f3idon, which shows some remains of its former north from Damascus, following the line of the greatness, about thrice that number. When railway to Aleppo, while another colmnn, the British approached Saida, as Si don is now chiefly infantry, marched north along the coast called, "the people rushed to tear down palm from Haifa. leaves, built triumphal arches, decorate~ the For tho C08.st operations the 7th (Meernt) houses, a nd hung out carpets." The infa ntry Division, which had b een alr ~ady brought to could not pass through the narrow streets Haifa, was ordered to march on B eyrut, ~nd until the p eople'were induced to b et alre them­ later the advan'ce, in conjunction with other selves to the b alconies and roofs of their houses, ,troops of the XXIst Corps, was continued to " where they stayed all day, cheering deliriously Tripoli ' and tirelessly.'; This may be regarded as a Leaving Haifa on October 3, the Moerut sample of the way in which the dwellers in Division marched past Acre along the PhCB­ the ports welcomed the troops-when Sir nician plain and ,crossed "the Ladder of Edward Bulfin a little later entered B eyrut Tyre," great steps cut in the rock where a spur "the p eople threw flowers and sprayed p er­ of t.he L ebanon runs seawards, In three days fumes in front of his car." India~ Pioneers turned the "Ladder" into a After a truly remarkable march the Meerut road fit for wheeled traffic. The appearance Division reached Beyrut on October 8, I smail of guns and lorries coming fl~om the south Hakki Bey, the governOl', had on the fall of amazed the inhabitants, who were accustomed Damascus received orders to retire, and had to regard the "Ladder" as an impassable handed over the government to the munici­ barrier in that direction to all save the pality, to whom also the Turkish ~roops who very lightest of wheelE;d ve:picles. The divi­ were left in the place surrendered. These sion, which was followed up by Yeomanry, troops, some 60 officers apd 600 men, were met with no opposition, and at Tyre, "whose ftt once handed over to the Meerut Division. mercha,nts were princes, whose traffickers ,were The infantry had been preceded at B eyrut the honourahle of the earth," and at Sidon they by some armoured cars ft nd by ships of the

£O;}i ci-l photcgraph . DAMASCUS: ARAB REGULAK SOLDIERS ' EXAMINING BEDUIN THE TIMES HIS TORY OF THE WAR. 205

[Official photogruph. SIKH PIONEERS ROAD-MAKING ON "THE LADDER OF TYRE."

French Naval Divisio~ of Syria, :under Admiral Varney's .ships in the harbour. A note in the Varney. Early in the morning of the 7th .Iou·mal des Dc/JQts, on the French naval co­ French ships~ together with British destroyers, o'peration with Allenby's force, said: had entered the harbour and landed a detach­ On October 12 the division arrived oil El Mina [on the ·ment of marines. promontory which forms Tripoli harbour] and landed Marines there. The same day our ships reached Tripoli. From Beyrut the cavalry of the XXIst Corps The chief of the admiral's stail and Governor of Rand was sent forward, together with batteries of I sland landed with detachments of sailors. Accom­ pani~ d by a crowd numbering seyeral thousands, he visited armoured cars. The Meerut Division had I t.he public offices, the railway station and the port. earned a brief rest. On the 13th our destroyers and small boats organized a sea-police service arid 'took , p art in the operations The march from H aifa was a splendi d achievement {said Mr. W. T. Massey, writing from Beyrut on between Tripoli and Latakia Lsome 75 miles farther n orth], where Marines were disembarked. October 9]. The Division of Scottish and English and Indian troops which was first in Baghdad [i .e., the Tripoli (Tarabulus, th~ ancient Tripolis, Meerut Division] was the first infantry in Beyrut. The H ertford and Lancashire Y eomanry entered th3 so-called because it was the seat of the federal town yesterday, and Fren ch warships were in the port. council of Sidon, Tyre, and Amdus) was In seven days the infantry . marched the 100 miles from H aifa, m aking roads h alf the way, joining the of s'pecial use to General Allenby, as there m etalled highway north of Tyre. Only those who . is a good motor road connecting it with Horns, * have been with the infantry can appreciate the magnitude a town roughly half-way between Damascus of their performance. The division's last day's march was 20 miles. Their condition was wonderful. and Aleppo, which was occupied by the Desert Bulfin's cavalry (the Lancashire and H ert­ Mounted Corps on October 15. fordshire Yeomanry) and arrpoured cars entered Sir Henry Chauvel for his advance from 'Tripoli, over 40 miles north of Beyrut, on Damascus had not the services of the whole of 'October 13.* They found some of Admiral his corps. The grea t e ~ number of his troops, • who had been in the El Afule-Beisan area a fort­ * Later, on the 18th, t he following troops of the Meerut Division arrived: Under Brig-Gen. W eir:­ night before, wera now suffering from malaria; the Seaforths (19th Brigade) with the 28th and 92nd there were also many cases of influenza con­ Punjabis and the 125th Napier's Rifles. Under B rig.­ 'Gen. Davies :-the Leicesters (28th . Brigade), wi't h tracted in Damascus. The Australian Mounted the 51st and 53rd Sikhs and the 56th Punjabi Rifles. Di vision remained behind in the neighbourhood The Seafor th Highlanders m arched in headed by their ,pipers, whose music and appearan ce'stirred the Tripoli­ * The railway from Homs to Tripoli, only completed tans to great· enthusiasm. in 1911, was taken up by the Turks during t he war. 206 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR.

of that city. The r est of the corps had started Having (with t,he help of the Mperut Division) out on October 5, the immediate objectives opened up Comm unication between Damascus being Rayak and 7 ahle, both in the valley and the sea, the D esert Mounted· Column was ' between the i\nti-Libanus al)d the Lebanan ordered on October 9 to turn north for Horns. ra.nges. Traversing the pass through the Anti­ That same day armoured cars had gone ahead LibaIlus foUowed by the railway, the cavalry and had occupied Baalbek-where the Venus­ occupied WIthout opposition both places on Astarte cult. in the temple of Jupiter-Baal caused:!;lo small scandal to the Christian Church 16 centuries ago. To-day B aalbek, owing to the building of the railway, is known to t01ll'ists as well as travellers, . who com~ to see the vast ruins on the Acropolis, rUins cleared from Ifl4rge accrmulations of debris thrm~gh the agency of German archreologists. H ere the armoured cars gathered in 500 Turks who h ad surrendered to the inhabitants. On the 11th the 5th Cavalry Division, which led the advance, also reached Baalbek. The official reception of the General had taken place the day before-the country was already perfectly safe even for civilian

ISMAIL HAKKI BEY. Turkish Governor of Beyrut. October 6. Rayak is the town where the standard g::tuge railway from Aleppo joins the metr8 gauge railw:-tYFl which lead west and east, to Beyrut and Damascus respectively, and Zahle is a station on the line to Beyrut west of Rayak. The last Turkish train north for Aleppo, containing the g~rrison of the phwe 3,nd also 'German troops who had abandoned Beyrut, had left Rayak before the carvalry arrived. Besides being an important railway junction, Rayak was also an enemy aerodrome base. It had been heavily bombed by British a.irmen on the 5th, and when the horsemen arrived on the 6th they fm.md the remains of TEMPLE RUINS, BAALBEK. 30 aeroplanes ~hich the Germans, not daring travellers. Mr. Massey, the cl)rrespondent of to try to save, had burned. Much rolling the London press, who had come up to Baalbek stock-mostly damaged-and large quantities from Beyrut, wrote: ." Over nearly 40 miles of of stores wer8 also found there. A day or two mountain road which I traversed not a British later the Transport Department had a motor soldier was to b e seen, yet an Englis.hJ:n[l:U was service running from Beyrut to D amascus The as safe as in Piccadilly," notwithstanding that railway could be worked only part of the way, every man in the Lebanon was fully armed-if 81S a big bridge high up on the Lebanon had' only to be aole to meet the Turkish tax-gatherer. been destroyed by the enemy. For the first The General [adds Mr. Massey] was received by the time Allenby had a sea ba ~e worthy of the Mayor of Baalbek with much h eartiness, and an impro­ name nearer than Port Said. vised 'band of half a dozen old instruments played

• THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE W AB. 207

"God Save the King." A party of young girls sang an the road, but. it could hardly arrive in time. ode of welcome in English. (It should be remembered For hours were precious. The Ottoman Govern­ that large num bers of the tourists who go to Baalbek are Briti.sh and that many of the inhabitants have lived ment had at last realized its helplessness, and in America.) The arrival of a fine body of horsemen has was a. lready asking the Allies for terms. It completed the p eople's feeling of security. was, however, highly desirable that Aleppo The 4th Cavalry Division now came up and should be wrested from the 'Turks befr.re was stationed at Baalbek. Much reduced in hostilities ceased. The Emir Faisal had strength by sickness, it needed a period of rest. declared Aleppo an Arab city to be.redeemed, Meantime the 5th Cavalry Division went for­ and a mobile Arab force was even now on its ward again, and, crossing a watershed, entered way to Aleppo. As' the 4th Ca-vali:'Y ' Division

l j [Ojfi;ial photof:/'aph. STREET SCENE IN JUNIE: SIX MILES NORTH OF BEYRUT. the Valley of the 'Orontes. Riding up that was making a compulsory halt at Baalbek, the valley, it ren,ched Homs (the ancient Emesa) only British force immediately available was ,on October 15-over 80 miles from Rayak . . the 5th Cavalry Diyision, together with the The Turks, who had been bombed by the Armoured Car Batteries. Sir E. Allenhy Australian Flying Corps, had been gone three judged thati the division would be strong .days, having burnt the railway station before enough for the purpose. Of the 20,000 Turkish leaving for Aleppo. Homs conunands the and German soldiers then (October 15) believed great north road from Egypt, Palestine and to be in Aleppo not more than 8,000 were com­ :Damascus, and from remote antiquity, when batants, "and they were demoralized." An Rameses n. fought the battle of Kadesh, enemy cavalry deta.chment had b een, located by invading armies from the south had been the airmen at Er Restan, 11 miles north of opposed on its plain. The latest invaders found, Homs, but they were gqne when the armoured however, none to bar their way. cars pushed forward. The cars went on, meeting With Tripoli in his hands, and thus a short no opposition, and on October 20 enteren H ::una) route for supplies availablf', General Allenby once a royal city of the Hittites and the Hamath . determined to go on to Aleppo at once. The of the Old Testament. Itis built on. the banks .difficulty wP,s to find the men to send forwg,rd. of the Orontes, here spanned by four bridges . The Australian Mounted Division was 100 miles A considerable city, and a great mart for the .away, by Damascus. It was ordered to take Syrian Beduin, it had been bombed by 208 THE TTNIES HISTORY OF THE WAR.

Australian alrmen and the enemy fled incon­ render at 10 o'clock. · The Turks refused t,o tinently. comply with the stunmons and the cars with­ The next day, October 21, the 5th Cavalry drew, only to reoccupy Khan Tmna,n on Octo­ Division started out from Horns. The arm01.. ITed ber 24, and again engage cavalry in the direction cars did not await the auival of the cavalry. of Aleppo and Turmanin These were d.ispersed They and the colmnn of the Arab Army on their and the cars pressed on. But when five miles right made straight for Aleppo. On the. 22nd from their goal the cars were checked by strong the cars overtook an enemy rearguard at the Turkish rearguards, and .they halted to await village of Khan Sebil. The Tmks were just reinforcements. These did not arrive till the moving off in motor lorries when the British cars afternoon of the next day, October 25, when clashed up, and after a long stern-chase captured the cars wore joined near Turmanin by the 15th a German armoured car, a lorry ' and some (Imperial Service) Cavalry Brigade. prisGners. After this little scrap the cars on That night Aleppo fell. By the evening a October 23 engaged enemy cavalry near Khan detachment of the Arab Army had rElached the Tmnan, only 10 miles south of Aleppo. These eastern outskirts of the Clty, and d~ing the were scattered and Aleppo surmnoned to sur- Jf.ight the Arabs forced their way into the central quarters, slaughtering many Turks and, Ger­ mans. Those of the enemy who could escape fled north and north-west and wore joined by the troops who had held up the armoured cars. The 5th Cavalry Division on eI,ltering Aleppo in the morning found only 50 Turks left to capture, but they also secured 18 guns. Meantime the Armoured Car Batteries and the 15th Cavalry Brigade had not entered' the city, but early in the morning (October 26) followed up the enemy, gaining touch with h im

ALEPPO: TWO VIEWS OF THE CITADEL. THE TI1YIES HIS TORY OF THE WAR. 209

THE CORN MARKET, ALEPPO. south-east of H aritan, on the Aleppo-Katma proaching 150,000, was therefore a great prize road. Then followed the last fight in Allenby's for the victors. The 5th Cavalry Division lost campaign. no time in seizing Mus1imie J "Lillction and thus cutting off the earliest m eans the Turks had The Turkish rearguard consisted of some 2,500 infantry, 150 cavalry, and ight guns. T he Mysore of communication with Mesopotamia . It was L ancers and two squadrons of t h e J odhpur L ancers attack ed the enemy's left, covered by t he fire of the armoured cars, t h e Machine Gun Squadron and two dism olmted squadroIls of the J odhpur L ancers. The Mysore and J odhpur L ancers charged most gallantly. A number of Turks were sp eared , and m any t hrew down their arms, only to pick them up again when the cavalry h ad p assed through and their weakness h ad become app a rent. The squadrons were not strong enough to complete the victory, and were withdrawn till a larger force could be assembled. That night the Turkish rearguard withdn,w to a position n ear D eiI' el J em el, 20 miles north-west of Aleppo. The loss of Aleppo was a great blow to the Turks. Though the city- has long ceased to be, as it had been for many centuries, the centre for trade between India and Europe, it is still the emporium of northern Syria and, as Mr. D. G. Hogarth has pointed out, the Ottomans had regarded it " as one of the strongholds of their dominion and faith and a future capital of their empire should they be forced [entirely] into Asia." T en or - 11 miles north of the city, at Mus1imie, is the junction of the Bagbdad railway with the Syrian lines, and, via Muslimie, railway connexion had during the war b een established b etween AJ eppo and its seaport Alexandretta. A1eppo, with a population ap- RUE BAB.EL.AHMAR, ALEPPO. -210 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR.

awaiting the reinforcement of the Australian Division lined the streets. After receiving the Mounted Division to advance on Alexandretta heads of the religious and civil communities, . whe,n the armistice concluded between the General Allenby addressed a great crowd which Allies and Turkey came into force and put an had gathered in the Serail Square. His promise . end to hostilities. As it was the record of this of security and personal freedom for all was division was remarkable. It covered 500 miles enthusiastically acclaimed. .:between September 29 and October 26, captured There is no need to dwell upon the brilliance of General Allenby's campaign nor the gallantry and determination of all ranks and all arms. "With such men," Sir E. Allenby declared, " any general could win victories." But men­ tion should be made of the Royal Artillery and the Royal Engineers, whose fine work was of the utmost value. General Allenby's tribute to the Administrative and :Medical Services, which overcame all difficulties, was fully deserved. In particular. "the Signal Service, strained to its utmost, maintained uninterrupted com­ munication wit~ units of the army as far east as Amman and as far north as Aleppo." The task of the Political D epartment, which was under Brigadier-General Clayton, was arduous and delicate. In accordance with Mr.

[0 fficia.l photograph. Balfour's declaration, full support was given JARMOURED CAR IN ALEPPO RAILWAY to the Zionist organization; at the same time STATION. the legitimate interests of the Moslem and 11,000 prisoners and 52 guns, arid lost only 21 Christian communities had to be adjusted and 'per cent. of its horses. safeguarded. To deal with the vast and intri­ Clause XVI. of the Armistice provided cate work involved in administrative and for "the surrender of all [Turkish] gatrisons economic questions a Provisional Military in the H edjaz, Asir, the, Yemen, Syria, and Administration under Major-General Sir Arthur Mesopotamia to the nearest Allied com­ Money was created to control the occupied mander," and lmder that clause Alexan­ territory and create order out of chaos. One ·dretta was occupied by British and French of the most pressing tasks was the feeding of troops on November 10. D estroyers b elonging the people, and large quantities of wheat, maize, to the French Naval Division l.mder Admiral millet and rice were imported from Egypt. Varney had appeared off Alexandretta on Even when the people had money want was 'October 14 and had fired on · the Konak, felt, for the Turks had seized the crops and whereupon the Turkish flag was lowered. practically no seed had been left to the culti­ . Crowds of townspeople gathered on the vators. Cattle, fuel and labour were also ·-quays and waved a welcome to the French scarce. And while the army fed the people, sailors. But as the pourparlers for the armis- and met the exp~nse .out of its own funds, taxes tice had already begun Admiral Varney was were remitted over large areas. While, too, -ordered not to take Alexandretta by fCiTce. the people had to be cared for, the n eeds of While awaiting its smTender French ships . conunerce had to be considered, and one phase ·-cruised before the port and proceeded to clear of the duty of the Political D epartment was to the Gulf of ' Alexandretta of enemy mines. deal with the requests ~or concessions, so that Some little delay occurred in the occupation in the future Palestine should not be shackled

of the rest of Syria, but it was completed by the In the development of its resources. In middle of -December. At Antioch, "where January 1919 it was found possible to authorize the disciples were called Christians first," a general resmnption of trade with Palestine mutiny and pillage by enemy soldiery had to be and Syria. N or were the wider interests of suppressed. It was not till December 10 that the army neglected. In March, 1918, ap­ General Allenby made 'his formal entry into peared the first issue of The Palestine News, a .Aleppo, when as was fitting, the 5th Cavalry weekly newspaper which kept the army in- THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. formed not only about its own doings but of the . one in encouraging and assisting the establish­ news of the world. Edited by Lieut. -Colonel ment of indigenous governments and adminis--· H. Pirie-Gordon, D.S.C., and generously sup­ tratiohs in Syria and Mesopotamia." * That ported with literary contl'ibutions by all ranks th3se Governm3nts would need, for some con­ of the army, it was published in English, siderable period, the help of their Western Arabic and Hebrew, and occasionally issued, Allies was, however, clearly recognized by the­ to meet the needs of the Indian soldiers, in Arabs themselves. Hindi, Urdu and Gurumukhi. "Set up," by Greeks, Arabs and Italians, The Palestine News On October 24 (1918), on which day General . was in form and contents worthy of the troops Allenby's advanced troops were only five miles for whose benefit it was published. * from Aleppo, General Marshall renewed opera­ One political problem in which the admin­ tions in Mesopotamia. They lasted exactly a ,· istration was deeply intBrested was the relation week, resulting in complete victory and the of the Entente Powers to their Arab Allies. surrender of, 8,000 Turks on the morning of.' This was a matter in which t,he final decision October 30, the day on which the armistice did not rest with the men on the spot, but their was signed. There had been little change on., advice was sought. In 1916 Britain, France the MesopotaIPian front since the close of the ­ and Italy had all recognized the independence Mosul Road operations described in Vol. XVII~ _ of the Hedjaz, and in October, 1918, imme­ Chapter CCLVI. The general situation in the diately after the fall of Damascus, formal country occupied by the, British was satisfac-­ official recognition of the belligerent status of tory. The incident at Nejef, one of the sacred all the Arab tribes (not those of Arabia alone) cities of the Shi'it8s, where the political officer" who were aiding Allenby's army was given. Captain 'Marshall, had been murdered in . This was followed the next month by a joint Marc-h, 1918, had ended in a moral as well as a ·, Franco-British declaration that they were" at material victory for SirWilliam Marshall, * Col. Pirie-Gordon also issued excellent guide. books owing to the great tact displayed by Lieut. - ' t.o P a lestine and Syria for the use of the army, and Colonel A. T. Wilson, D.S.O., the' Acting Civil _ with the h elp of many other officers compiled an official record of the camp a ign. * Morning Post, November 8, 1918. , 'I

EDITORIAL OFFICE OF THE PALESTINE NEWS. A journal published in English, Hebrew, Arabic, Hindi, Urdu and Gurumukhi, at General Headquarters, March-December, 1918. 212 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR.

y R I A D E s E R T

Scale of'Miles. o~~mq~ ~ ~ ~ ! M HI ' I

BAGHDAD TO ALEPPO AND JERUSALEM. Commissioner, by Brigadier-General G. A. F. on the Persian side as well as on the Syrian Sanders, in command of the troops, and by side, were, in short, never more in sympathy Captain F. C. Balfour, M.C., the local political with the British than they were when General

officert who gave practical demonstration of Marshall struck his last blow at the Turks. the respect of the British for what the Moslems A bountiful harvest, which ,yielded 475,000 held sacred. * "The dwellers in Mesopotamia," tons of grain, had been gathered in 1.mder * The incident of the murder of Captain Marshall is army superintendence; trade with India given on pages 279-280 of Vol. XVII. In his di, patch was brisk and trade with P ersia reviving. In of October I, 1918 (published on February 20, 1919), many directions the resources of the country -General Marshall gives an account of the measures taken to exact reparation, and their result. The crime had were being developed, and in the resultant Ibeen traced to enemy agency, and, fostered by German' prosperity the people largely shared. gold, a conspiracy controlled by "The Committee df Rebellion" was organized. T o put down the conspiracy An advance up the Tigris from, Samarra to .and punish the murderers without injury to the city, Mosul had hitherto been out of the question which contains one of the most holy shrines of the because of the length and tenuity of the Shi'ites, and is surrounded by a very high wall, was a difficulty. However a strict blockade was established line of communication. Now there was a and gradually the blockade line closed in until the bas ­ regular rail and steamer service from Basra tions of the walls and the entrance gates were held. 'Two attempts of the insurgents to break out were to Samarra and the railway by the beginning ,stopped. " Every consideration was shown to the holy of October had been completed to Tekrit, Ulema and to the theological students (most of whom were Persian subjects), and had it been necessary to 35 miles from SFtmarra and 120 miles north of ,proceed to extremities all these would have been given Baghdad. In the middle of that month the an asylum. The loyal inhabitants, under the guidance advanced troops of the Mesopotamian Force of the Ulema, determin,ed, however, to rid themselves and their sacred city of these evil-doers, and eventually were in touch with the enemy outposts 18 miles by April 13 the proscribed persons had been handed north of Tekrit. Farther east, on the main -over and the blockade was raised. The instigators of the murder and the actual murderers were brought Baghdad-Mosul road, which goes via Kirkuk, ,before a military court ... eleven were . . . executed, the advanced British 'posts were somewhat ,seven others were sent.enced to transport.ation, and thr8c south of Tauk, over 120 miles south-east of were deported; in addition a number of tmdesirables were sent out of the country. The firmness with which Mosul. On both river and road fronts the the situation was handled, the fairness with which the Turks were entr enched in' strong positions, and law-abiding inhabitants were treated, and the scrupulom; -care which was taken to avoid dama.ge to holy p ersons I smail Hakki Pasha, the commander of the and places created a m08t favourable impression on all Turkish Army in the 'Mosul Vilayet, was not a the surrounding tribes." Subsequently Sir William Marshall visited Nejef and was received with every man to throwaway his chanees. H e had, too, token of honour. at his ' disposal seasoned troops who fought THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 213

,hard and well. But, completely outmanCBuvred, Brigade joined the 11th Indian Cavalry Brigade, and , Ismail Hakki was compelled to surrender with the 53rd Indian Infantry Brigade, moving up the ea"t bank after a march of 33 miles, was able to support his whole force. The total Turkish casualties the cavalry in preventing any Turks breaking through were over 10,000. The following is General northwards. On October 28 the 17th Indian Division successfully assaulted the Turkish Shergat position, and Marshall's own account of the Tigris operations. on the 29th, though exhausted by their continuou'3 Victory, it will be seen, was attained, as in fighting and marching through the rugged hills, pushed earlier operations on this front, by bold out­ forward and attacked till nightfall the Turks, who were now hemmed in. (Part of the enemy force which flanking movements of the cavalry:- tried to escape during the night was cut off by the Operations commenced on October 24 with an c,avalry and about 1,000 prisoners and much material attack on the strong Turkish position at Fathah, were captured.] where the Tigris flows through the J ebel Hamrim. On the morning of the 30th the Turkish Commander This was carried out by the 17th and the 18th Indian slUTendered his total force, consisting of the whole Divisions west and east of the Tigris respectively, of the 14th Division, the bulk of the 2nd Division, assisted by the 7th I ndian Cavalry Brigade on the and portions of two regiments of the 5th Division, east bank of the Tigris, and the 11th Indian Cavalry with all their artillery train and administrative services. Brigade on the west bank. The latter by a march of [Altogether some 7,000 men, besides the 1,000 already over "50 miles forced a crossing over the Lesser Zab captured.] in face of opposition, and by a further march of about The fortitude and courage displayed by all the troops 50 miles _ got right round the Turks and astride their was beyond pro.ise and was the main factor in the

GENERAL ALLENBY ADDRESSING THE POPULACE AT ALEPPO.

lines of communication at Hurwaish, where they were defeat of a stubborn enemy holding carefully pr'e. joined by our Armoured Car Brigade. ' pared positions in a rugged and difficult country. Outmanamvred on the east bank and driven back on t h e west bank the Turks fell back to their second On the Baghdad-Mosul road the operations line at the confluence of the L esser Zab, a position of were of a subsidiary character. They had begun great natural strength. On October 25 the 18th Indian Division forced a crossing over the L esser Zab On October 18, when an enemy cavalry detach­ and drove back to the west bank of the Tigris all Turks ment was driven out of Tauk, and Kirkuk was who were east of that river, while the 17th I ndian captured o,rl the evening of Octob er 25 after Division closed up to the enemy, who were now a ll on the west bank. slight r esistance. The retreating' enemy was The fi ghting which en ued was of a very severe followed up to Alt1.ll Keupri by armoured cars nature. The hilly ground, indented with ravines and previously prepared for defence, was all in favour which caused many casualties among the Turks. of the Turks, who fought with the greatest stubbornness. On the 27th the main column was in touch Our difficulties were increased , by the sandy nature of the soil, which delayed transport, and by absence of 'with the enemy troops covering the crossing water except the Tigris itself. of the Lesser Zab. These hastily retreated After continuous fighting the 17th Indian Division when they learned of I smail Hakki's fate. forced the' Turks to fall back on their third position on the hills covering Shergat [50 miles due south of Thus ended the Mesopotamian campaign. Mosul] on the morning of the 27th. All that day The r emaining Turkish garrisons on the Turkish reserves tried to break through the 11th Indian Cavalry Brigade, who barred the road to Mosul, but 'Euphrates above Hit, those on the Tigris and without su ccess, though the arrival ~ f the Turkish along the line of the Baghdad railway, all reinfqrcements from Mo, ul forced t hat Brigade to draw bowed to their fate. Mosul itself was surren­ back its right in order to cover its rear. On the night of October 27-28 the 7th Indian Cavalry der ed on November 14. General Ma;rshall I ,

214 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR.

HIT, O~ THE EUPHRATES. received the notabilities of the town, who may you know, makes no di::::tinction between sects or may not have remembered that their city and classes but treats all alike," and he called was the modern representative of Nineveh, upon them to work loyally with Colonel LeHch­ and lectured them on the municipal short­ man, who had been ftppointed civil adminis­ comings. "I intend to work until it is in a trator. The Nakib, an Arab, replied, saying passably cleftn state. At present the dirt and the presence of the British troops gave them filth are worse than I have see ~l anywhere in, a feeling of security, and he thanked God the world." On wider subjects Sir Edward "who has given u s [ArabsJ liberty to speak told them that "the British Government, as our language aft'3r being dumb." And the ceremony ended with the Chaldean Patriar(!h iles. . 0 50 100 ;200 300' calling for the blessing of God UPQll, and the I intercession of the prophets and saints for, the flag of Britain, which, he said, «wherever it is flown is a sign of justice, civilization and Great'1 .Ne/ud well-being. "

'Ha~~ ..~vj The Armistice terrr s also required . the sur­ render of the Turkish garrisons remaining in the N E J D I Hedjaz, Asir, and the Yemen. The two last­ ~ named r egions lie south of the Hedjaz, and geo~aphically the western half of the Aden Protectorate forms the southernmost part of the Yemen. Since July, 1915, Ali Said Pasha, Governor of the Yemen, and part of the 39th Turkish Division, had been encamped in the fertile valley of Lahej, in places little more than a dozen miles from the port of Aden. Since July, 1916, in consequence of the revolt of the Grand Sherif of Mecca, All Said had b een cut 'off from reinforcements from Turkey. * The situc.tion was anomalous. The enemy was comfortably settled down in a British protectorate, and living on the country, but. showed a wise- disinclination to . attack the strong defences of the Aden Pe·ninsula. The British garrison for its part was too weak to undertake a serious offe~sive,

COUNTRY BETWEEN ADEN AND * For the early Aden operations, see Vol. X, pages JERUSALEM. 400-404. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 215 and was, in pl:ldicf-), content with the line it The next news from tbis forgotten . corner held, whic.h for~l c rl an arc about 11 miles from of the war came from the Turks, who managed ' Aden. Moreover, as tbe Arabs of the Ye n~. e n t.o get occasional information. It was dated were giving th~ Turks much <-,onble, snch rninor March, 1918, and was significant in that it operations as were carried \)ut were partly admitted fighting with" rebel tribes" in Asit, designed to hinder Ali Said giving,,,help to his and the Yemen, though it was claimed that the comrades. During 1916, Major-Gen ~ra l J. M. Iman of the Yemen sided with the Turks, " who Stewart, C.B., who had retm'ned to India froll.1. behaved with indescribable gall antry." " Sor­ East Africa, took ever the con1.mand at Aden, ties attempted by the British from the fortress the troops uncleI' him including Punjabis, of Aden to escape from the state of siege Carnatic Infantry and Malay States Guides. established by us completely failed," as did In D ecember (1916) an attack was made on also, the TLU~ kis h public were informed, an Jabir, 15 Jni1es north-east vf Aden. Besides attempt to land near Hodeida, the chief port of inflicting some 200 casua.lties on the enemy, the Yemen. Only one more glimpse, officially,

--, -....------.. - - . .. ~

ADEN: THE MARKET. this action" prevented the withdrawal towards was afforded of the operations. On July 30, the Yemen of Turkish tl;'OOps." N early a year 1918, at Bir Sal eh, some 20 m iles west of Aden, then passed before anything more than outpost 'British cavalry discovered a body of the enemy, skirmishes happened, and the captm'e of J abir charged, and scattered them. "Twenty Tm'ks on November 22, 1917, was hardly a greater were killed,' and five men and 12 camels cap­ affair. ' Apparently, the captors withdrew to tured." their original line, for, on January 7, 1918, the Such is the scanty chronicle of two Yfais' .. vVar Office announced that, two days earlie:c" , warfare. Both sides ",;ere in reality marking "a strong reconnaic:sa n ce' was luade towards time, and a sort of nwdus vivendi appears to Hatum and Jabir." On . that occasi.on the have been established. There was even, t hrough Turks had a sharp lesson, for" aeroplanp.s co­ Arab intermediaries, a trade in the vegetables operated with onr artillerJ;'> ' who did great. grown in the Lahej Valley. It was with nat.ural execution on t.he enemy's infantry 111 the opon r eluctance that All Said Pasha obeyed the wit.h di.rect observation at eff ective range." instructions h e received after the conclusion The gunners, that is, had just the t arget t.h ey of t.h e armistice on Oct.ober 30. It was not, liked . indeed, until D ecember ] 1. tha t. he and his 216 THE TI]\1.E8 HIS TOR Y OF THE WAR.

MOSUL. staff surrendered to the Governor of Aden. have been razed. But some of his officers were There were difficulties, ' too, in getting the less obstinate. Many of their men were rea9Y 'enemy forces in Asir and the Y emen to yield, to desert, and early in J anuary a party of but before t h Ei ' end of 1918, "after a certain officers gave themselves up. Others were . a.mount of peaceful persuasion," they ' h ad all ready to follow their example, and Fakhri laid down their arms. So, also, had the small P asba saw that the end had come. On J anu­ Turklsh posts in Northern H edj az. ary 8 he dispatched his chief of st,aff to AbdJUa, At the beginning of 1 () 19 there remained in who insist.ed on unconditional surrender, On Turkish hands in all the Arabic vilayets one January 10, tbe formal submission of Fakhri place only, but that p lace 'was Medina. The Pasha took place at the Emir's headquarters ; Tud{ish Government had sent ,orders to the on the 13tb, at eleven in the morning, the Emir commandant, Fakhri Pasha, to surrender, Abclull~ m'ade his ceremonial entry into Medina. but be ~aw fit to disobey. H e and his troops H e at once went to the tomb of the Prophet, had been isolated for months by the Arabs ,~' h ere ~e offered the mid.day prayer, from under t.he Enl.ir Abdulla. The Turks had which the name of the Sultan of Turkey was retreated to the centre of the city, and were omitted; the customary sign of a .change of posted round the great mosque. In thi mosque dynasty. is' t he tomb of Mahomet, and the Emir Abdulla The last act in the drama, as far as Ottoman would not order an ai;>sau}t, for fear of injury sovel'eignty in the Arabic vilayets was con­ to the holy place. The situation COllld not be cerned, had been played, and t he age-long feud permitted to last inde~nitely, and the Turkish between Turk and Arab had come to its fitting Cabinet was informed early in January that end. Wbatever their destiny, neither Syria unless Medina was 'surre'ndered in a few days n or Mesopotamia n or any part of Arabia was the forts of the D ardanelles would be destroyed. likely again to fall under the blighting power For all Fakhri Pasha, cared, the forts might of thf' Turk.

MOSQUE OF HOSEIN, KERBELA.