Palestine Front
| date | January 28, 1915 to October 28, 1918 |
|---|---|
| place | Palestine , Sinai |
| output | Victory of the British and Arabs |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
John G. Maxwell |
Kemal Pascha
|
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1915: Suez Canal
1917: Rafah - Gaza (1) - Gaza (2) - Beersheba - Gaza (3) - El Mughar - Jerusalem
1918: Jericho - Tell 'Asur - Jordan (1) - Jordan (2) - Abu Tellul - Megiddo
The Palestine Front or Sinai Front was a secondary theater of the First World War . From 1915 to 1918 the troops of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) and the Ottoman army faced each other in changeful battles.
history
Sinai front 1915/16
The Sinai Front was opened in January 1915 by the advance of the Ottoman Empire to the Suez Canal , which was successfully repulsed by the British Commander-in-Chief in Egypt, General Sir John Grenfell Maxwell . The logistically complex supplies prevented the Ottoman success. Therefore, forces of the Central Powers built the military railway Maṣʿūdiyya – Sinai to Birüssebi (today Be'er Scheva) in 1915, which could be driven into the Sinai by early summer 1916. A second advance on the Suez Canal in June 1916, which was carried out with the support of the German Asia Corps under General Friedrich Kress von Kressenstein , also failed. Immediately afterwards, the British under their Commander-in-Chief Archibald Murray began to gradually recapture the Sinai Peninsula and, as a result of the Battle of Magdhaba (December 23, 1916), were able to take Al-Arish and by February 1917 Rafah .
1917
On the newly formed Palestine Front, the Turkish 8th Army (under General Kress von Kressenstein) successfully defended the Gaza line via Tel el Sheria to Beersheba . Two British forays into Gaza in March and April 1917 resulted in trench warfare and a British defeat as a result of the skillful defense of the Turkish-German troops. The First Battle of Gaza (March 26-28, 1917) was a failure, as Murray's deputy, General Charles Macpherson Dobell, recalled the cavalry shortly before the decisive breakthrough. The second attack on Gaza (April 17-19) ended unsuccessfully, whereupon General Chetwode Dobell took over and Murray was replaced on June 28, 1917 by General Edmund Allenby .
The Egyptian Expeditionary Force now began a successful offensive against the Ottoman Army , which was under the command of Djemal Pasha . In mid-July 1917, General Erich von Falkenhayn took over the command of Army Group F at the request of the Ottoman Army Command under Enver Pascha , whose forces were newly formed in Iraq and Aleppo . After long disputes with the Turkish leadership, Falkenhayn was also appointed commander in chief of the 7th and 8th Armies in Palestine on September 7th.
Allenby's forces had been significantly strengthened and were additionally supported by attacks by the rebellious Arabs behind the front against the Turkish supply lines. In late October / early November, the British expeditionary forces managed to break through Gaza and advance further north. One last major cavalry attack of the war was carried out on October 31 by the Australian 4th Light Horse Brigade and the British 5th Mounted Brigade at the Battle of Birüssebi ( Entente nomenclature: Battle of Beersheba).
On November 7th, Allenby finally took Gaza, which had been heavily fortified by the enemy. Thereupon the Ottoman resistance collapsed and Allenby was able to conquer Jaffa on November 16 . During the Battle of Jerusalem , the capital surrendered on December 9th, and General Allenby entered Jerusalem on December 11th, 1917.
1918
On February 19, 1918, Falkenhayn was recalled from Palestine, and General Liman von Sanders took over the leadership of the already badly ailing Ottoman Army Group. In February 1918 Jericho was occupied by the British. The British attempt at Amman initially failed, which again led to months of trench warfare in the Jordan Valley . With the breakthrough of the opposing front in the decisive battle at Megiddo on September 19, the British victory in Palestine could be brought about. Allenby was able to occupy Amman on September 24th. The Turks were forced to return to Damascus via Dar'a , so that the pursuing cavalry of the Arabs were able to occupy Dar'a without a fight on September 27th. The capture of Damascus by the Arabs (October 1) marked the end of the fighting in Palestine. On October 30, 1918, the Ottoman Empire had to agree to the Moudros armistice , which not only saw the Allied occupation of the previous Arab provinces, but also the Foreseen straits and large parts of Anatolia .
literature
- Stuart Hadaway: Pyramids and Fleshpots: The Egyptian, Senussi and Eastern Mediterranean Campaigns, 1914-16 . The History Press, 2014, ISBN 978-0-7524-9906-2 , pp. 150-161.
- Henry S. Gullet: The Australian Imperial Force in Sinai and Palestine. 1914-1918 (= Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918. Vol. 7). 10th edition. Angus & Robertson, Sydney 1941 ( online ).
- Frederic M. Cutlack: The Australian Flying Corps. In the Western and Eastern Theaters of War, 1914-1918 (= Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918. Vol. 8). 11th edition. Angus & Robertson, Sydney 1941 ( online ).
Web links
- Turkey in the First World War: Palestine on turkeyswar.com