Battle of Megiddo (1918): Allenby's Victory in Palestine

The Battle of Megiddo (19–25 September 1918) was the decisive British victory over the Ottoman Empire in Palestine during the First World War. General Edmund Allenby’s Egyptian Expeditionary Force broke through Ottoman lines on the coastal plain and sent cavalry deep into the enemy’s rear, encircling two Ottoman armies within days. The victory opened the way to Damascus and helped force the Ottoman Empire out of the war.

Background

After defeating the Ottomans at the Battle of Beersheba in October 1917, Allenby’s forces captured Jerusalem in December. In spring 1918, however, the German offensive in France forced Britain to withdraw many of Allenby’s experienced troops. They were replaced largely by Indian divisions from Mesopotamia and France, which needed months of training.

By September the front ran from the Mediterranean north of Jaffa across the Judean hills to the Jordan valley. Facing Allenby was the Yildirim Army Group under the German general Otto Liman von Sanders, with the Ottoman Eighth Army near the coast, the Seventh Army (commanded by Mustafa Kemal, the future Atatürk) in the hills, and the Fourth Army east of the Jordan. The Ottoman forces were short of men, food and equipment, and desertion was high.

Deception

Allenby planned to break through on the coast, where the terrain suited cavalry, while persuading the enemy that he would attack in the Jordan valley, as he had twice tried that spring. Troops were moved westwards at night and hidden in orange groves. In the Jordan valley, camps were left standing, and some 15,000 dummy horses made of canvas were set up, while mules dragged sledges to raise dust. British and Australian aircraft won control of the air and kept German reconnaissance planes away.

Meanwhile the Arab Northern Army of the Arab Revolt, with T. E. Lawrence among its advisers, raided the railway junction at Deraa from 16 September, cutting lines and drawing Ottoman reserves east.

What happened

At 4:30 am on 19 September, after a short and intense bombardment, the infantry of XXI Corps attacked along the coastal Plain of Sharon. They broke the Ottoman Eighth Army’s line within hours. The Desert Mounted Corps under the Australian Lieutenant General Harry Chauvel, made up of Australian, British, Indian and New Zealand horsemen and a French contingent, poured through the gap and rode north.

That night and the next day the cavalry crossed the Carmel range through the pass at Megiddo and reached the Jezreel Valley. They captured El Afule, a key rail junction, and by the evening of 20 September held Beisan, closing the main escape routes. A raid on Nazareth nearly captured Liman von Sanders, who escaped from his headquarters.

The Ottoman Seventh and Eighth Armies tried to retreat eastwards towards the Jordan. On 21 September aircraft of the Royal Air Force and Australian Flying Corps caught a long column in the steep Wadi Fara gorge on the Nablus–Beisan road, destroying vehicles, guns and transport and blocking the road. Thousands of soldiers were captured or scattered.

On 23 September Indian cavalry of the Jodhpur and Mysore Lancers took the port of Haifa in a charge, and on 25 September Chaytor’s Force captured Amman east of the Jordan, while Samakh on the Sea of Galilee fell to Australian Light Horse after fierce fighting.

By the numbers

Figures vary between sources.

Consequences

The pursuit continued north. Australian Light Horse and Arab forces entered Damascus on 1 October 1918, followed by Beirut, Homs and finally Aleppo on 26 October. With its armies in Syria destroyed and Bulgaria already out of the war, the Ottoman Empire signed the Armistice of Mudros on 30 October 1918.

The victory shaped the post-war Middle East. Arab forces under Emir Faisal set up a government in Damascus, but Britain and France had already planned to divide the region under the Sykes-Picot Agreement, and in 1920 French troops ended Faisal’s Syrian kingdom.

Legacy

Megiddo is often cited as a masterpiece of deception, combined arms and mobile warfare, foreshadowing the fast-moving operations of later wars. It was also one of the last great cavalry victories. The name, chosen deliberately, recalled the ancient battles fought in the same pass, including the Battle of Megiddo of the 15th century BC.

Timeline

• 1917, 31 October: British victory at Beersheba.
• 1917, 9 December: Jerusalem surrenders to British forces.
• 1918, 16 September: Arab raids on the Deraa railway begin.
• 1918, 19 September: British infantry break through on the Plain of Sharon.
• 1918, 20 September: Cavalry take El Afule and Beisan; raid on Nazareth.
• 1918, 21 September: Air attacks destroy an Ottoman column in Wadi Fara.
• 1918, 23 September: Indian cavalry capture Haifa.
• 1918, 25 September: Amman and Samakh are captured.
• 1918, 1 October: Damascus falls.
• 1918, 30 October: The Ottoman Empire signs the Armistice of Mudros.

Why it matters

The Battle of Megiddo destroyed Ottoman power in Palestine and Syria within weeks and helped knock the Ottoman Empire out of the First World War. It changed the map of the Middle East and became a textbook example of how surprise and mobility could achieve a decisive victory.