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| Edmund Allenby 1861-1936. Also known as the 'Bloody Bull' he moved from attritional angst in France to glory in Palestine |
The previous post on the Arab Revolt (see
Post 23/7/2017) described how the many tribal factions in the Arabian peninsula and
the Hejaz were led (loosely) by the Hashemite King Sharif Hussein acting as a vassal of
the Ottomans in Mecca. Hussein took exception to the secular ‘Turkification’ program
of the Young Turks rule, and he signalled the opening of the Arab Revolt in June
1916. This was operationalised by his son Feisal’s capture of Wejh and,
subsequently Aqaba in early 1917. That threatened the Turks main rail supply line, the Hejaz
railway, to Medina. Feisal’s meeting and partnership with TE Lawrence had
brought the Arab cause in line with the British strategy for Palestine, and
their spoiling tactics against the railway forced the Turks to pull back north to
Medina. However, the Arab ambitions did not stop there. Lawrence was to prove a
crucial link with the British HQ and their plans for an advance through
Palestine to Jerusalem and Damascus. The Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF)
C-in-C Murray was stymied by defeat at Gaza and lost his command. The previous
blog ended with the move of Sir Edmund Allenby from the Battle of Arras in
April 1917 to take command of the EEF.
On arrival in Cairo in June 1917, Allenby
took to Lawrence at their first meeting, and recognised the potential for the Arab forces to stretch
Turkey on his own right flank; and also to bridge the gap between his EEF and
Maude’s army in Mesopotamia, which was advancing north from Baghdad and
Ramadie (See Post 12/7/2017). Thus, the Turks were coming under gradual pressure on a wide front to
withdraw towards Anatolia. The original British goal of reaching Constantinople and
knocking Turkey out of the war had not really changed since 1915 (and the abortive
Gallipoli campaign). The Germans were
reluctant to allow Turkish withdrawals, and Falkenhayn was moved from Roumania
to Aleppo in Syria to supervise defence and counter moves. He planned first to
cut off Maude’s continued push to Mosul near the Turkish border. Fortunately
for him, Maude’s sudden death from cholera at Tikrit brought British operations
to a temporary halt. Allenby’s arrival now presented him with greater dangers
to the south in Palestine.
To some extent, Allenby’s position
resembled Maude’s. The British were on top, but needed to keep moving forward
to have real impact on strategy. But Allenby’s hand was stronger. His
communication lines were well founded in rail links from Sinai; on his left
flank he could be supported by naval bombardment from the eastern
Mediterranean, whereas on his right flank he could encourage, via Lawrence, the
support of Feisal’s Arab forces.
He strengthened his EEF by adding two
Divisions (10th and 60th) from Salonika, and decided on a
campaign to capture Jerusalem. Like Murray before him, he needed to attack both
ends of his current front line, Gaza and Beersheba, but he planned to strike
north from both, rather than only along the coast beyond Gaza. With Falkenhayn directing defensive operations 500 miles away in Aleppo, he would have to
break through stronger forces than had faced Murray. By late October, Allenby had
completed his preparations. In the early hours of 31st, his infantry
and three cavalry divisions (yes, cavalry) were in place south of Beersheba and
as day broke they attacked, following a short bombardment. Through the day they
encircled the town by taking the two roads and important higher ground to the
northeast. By the end of the day Beersheba had been taken and and Turkish
garrison of 2000 men taken prisoner. Near the coast, the attack on Gaza had been
designed only to keep the Turks and their reserves in place, but once Beersheba
was taken the third and final battle for Gaza unfolded. Once the Scots of the
53rd Division had taken Umbrella Hill - the coastal high point
overlooking the city - the Turks began to withdraw, and Gaza was taken with
relative ease.
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| Palestine 1917 - Allenby's advance to Jerusalem |
Now the two pronged attack on Jerusalem could begin. The eastern flank was the more difficult, moving north from the town of Beersheba towards the railway town of Sheria, and further northeast to Hebron. The terrain was unforgiving, and water wells were scarce – when not destroyed by retreating Turks. The supply lines for men, horses and equipment were longer and more difficult. Nevertheless, Allenby was determined and, over four days, extended his advance to Abu Irgeig and Towal Abu Jehwal (see Map). To his right he was able even to employ the Imperial Camel Corps of some 3000 beasts, to push the Turks back to Hebron. But the main battle was for Sheria (see Map), and there were many fierce local actions, including a twentieth century 'Charge of the Light Brigade' (by the 4th Light Horse Brigade), before Sheria was captured on 7th November. It had been much harder than Allenby had expected, and he had lost vital time. Once Gaza had fallen, the advance along the coast was somewhat easier, as predicted. The 52nd Division soon took over the ancient town of Ashkelon (last British occupant Richard the Lionheart) and pushed on towards Jaffa. For this phase, Allenby’s target was the Junction Station, inland at Wadi es Sara, where Jerusalem’s only railway supply line, from the north, could be cut, isolating the Jerusalem garrison as his forces pressed. This was achieved on 13th, and Allenby now held a crescent shaped front of about thirty miles - from almost due south of Jerusalem to due west. His report summarised his gains: “In fifteen days our force had advanced sixty miles on its right and about forty on its left. It had driven a Turkish army of nine infantry divisions and one cavalry division out of a position in which it had been entrenched for six months, and had pursued it, giving battle whenever it attempted to stand, and inflicting on it losses amounting to, probably, two thirds of the enemy’s original effectives.”
It was clear to all that Jerusalem now was
‘directly threatened’. Enver Pasha travelled from Constantinople to do some
threatening of his own to the Turkish generals; and Falkenhayn came from Aleppo to
stiffen resolve. Neither stayed for long. From Junction Station and from Jaffa
(which they had now taken) the British moved east into the well defended
Judaean Hills. There was only one west-east main road, alongside the railway,
and progress through the hilly land would be hard going. Likewise there was a
single main north-south road out of Jerusalem (to Nablus) and this had to be
breached to complete the isolation of
the city – Allenby wanted take the city by siege rather than bombardment. By 20th
November his foremost troops were within 5miles of the Nablus road, but they
were coming under heavy counter attack. Allenby paused to bring the 53rd
Division on his right flank (rested from their earlier exertions) north from
Hebron to spread his attacks on the Turkish defences. From 4-7th December the
53rd made good progress before being halted by three days of heavy
rain. The resistance to the British attacks remained strong, but gradually as
the sounds of gunfire in the hills penetrated to central Jerusalem, nerves
started to crack. An exodus of Turkish civilians and military staff began. By
10th, Turkish troops were pouring back from the western positions
and joining the withdrawals to the east. The British were now able to cross the
Nablus road, and on that day the mayor sent out a note of surrender, and
British troops entered the city.
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| The famous image of Allenby entering Jerusalem on foot, 11th December 1917. |
The following day, 11th
December, Allenby entered Jerusalem on foot, fully aware of the historic and
symbolic steps he was taking. He issued a firm but conciliatory proclamation,
and declared British Martial Law to replace hundreds of years of Ottoman rule.
Like Baghdad, the capture of Jerusalem was
great for morale and prestige, and for propaganda purposes. But it was not as
important strategically as Allenby’s next objective - Damascus.
The Arab role in this phase had been
limited to diversionary actions along the Hejaz railway to the east. They had
destroyed the station at Bir-el-Shadia in October, and attacked the Tel Shehab
bridge and trains in November, to no great effect. They were in Azrak for the winter
when Lawrence was summoned to fly to Allenby’s HQ. He was invited to join Allenby’s
party as it entered Jerusalem – a great thrill for him, but he would beat even that
at Damascus.
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