CONCLUSION
Serious fighting had practically finished with the capture of Damascus.
The northward flight of the Turks continued, closely pursued by our
cavalry and armoured cars. A Division of infantry was brought forward in
support, but the difficulties of supplying a large force so far away
from a base made it impossible to bring forward the infantry in any
strength. Australians rounded up a Turkish column some miles north of
Damascus, and a few thousand more prisoners were captured. Beyrout, the
port of Damascus, was abandoned without a blow, and, on the 6th October,
was occupied by the allies. A Division of French troops was landed here,
and, thereafter, this port became the main channel of supply for the
troops operating in Northern Syria.
Our forces pushed on northwards, meeting with little or no opposition,
and occupying Baalbek, Tripolis and Homs. A Turkish force, under General
Liman von Sanders, and estimated at about 12,000, concentrated a few
miles south of Aleppo, where they threatened to offer some resistance.
The advance northward was, however, unopposed. The enemy had constructed
trenches covering Aleppo, and at first showed signs of holding them.
But, after our armoured cars had got into touch, and our airmen had
bombed them, the enemy decided to evacuate, and withdrew to the hills
towards Alexandretta. Aleppo was entered by our cavalry on the 26th
October, and the station was seized at Muslimie, the junction of the
Baghdad Railway. By these captures we had made ourselves masters of the
main line of communications with Constantinople of the Turkish armies in
Mesopotamia.
Their armies virtually destroyed, the Turks now concluded an armistice,
which took effect as from the 31st October. Their allies, the
Bulgarians, who had suffered disastrous reverses in Macedonia, had just
concluded an armistice; the Austrians were being badly beaten by the
Italians and were clearly nearing the end; and the Germans were fast
retiring from France and Belgium: so, with all hope of succour gone, the
Turks had no alternative but to conclude an armistice, the terms of
which practically amounted to unconditional surrender.
The terms of the armistice included the following. Immediate
demobilization of the Turkish army, except troops required for the
surveillance of the frontier and the maintenance of internal order; the
surrender of the garrisons of the Hejaz, Assir, Yemen, Syria and
Mesopotamia, and the withdrawal of troops from Cilicia; the surrender of
all ports there; occupation by the Allies of the Taurus Mountains tunnel
system; the allied control of all railways; occupation by the Allies of
any strategic points considered necessary for their security;
prohibition of destruction of military or similar material; all Germans
and Austrians to quit Turkey within a month; Turkey to cease all
relations with the Central Powers; all allied prisoners in Turkish
possession to be handed over unconditionally, but Turkish prisoners in
the Allies' hands to be kept at the disposal of the Allies. In addition,
all war vessels in Turkish waters were to be surrendered, the
Dardanelles were to be opened, and free access secured for allied ships
to all Turkish ports and exchanges and to the Black Sea.
A few days later, Austria threw in her hand, and, on the 11th November,
an armistice was concluded with Germany. The Central Powers had
surrendered. The greatest war in the history of the world had been
brought to a close.
Will our campaign be passed down to history as "The Last Crusade"?
Presumably not. Throughout the campaign there was little or no religious
animosity, except that the Moslem Turk extended no quarter to the
Hindoo. To speak of this as a campaign of The Cross against The Crescent
is untrue. The Turkish high command was controlled by Germans, so-called
Christians. The British soldier fought with no less zest than when
opposed to Turks. At the final battle, the Moslems, serving in our
armies, by far outnumbered the Christians.
The close of the great war forms a fitting point at which to bring our
story also to a close. Its aim has been a blend of history and
reminiscence. Much has been set down here which would have been omitted
from a history; much more has been omitted which a complete history
would have contained. In particular I plead guilty to omitting names of
units deserving of special mention. Generally their names have not been
known to me; in such cases as they were known, I have feared that to
mention them might have caused more jealousy than satisfaction. We each
of us think, and rightly so, that our own unit does better than any
other engaged. So, many a reader may be disappointed at finding no
mention of the unit in which he is particularly interested. I can only
refer him to the congratulatory telegrams which his unit received in the
field, and which are doubtless preserved among the records of the
regiment.
We have now completed our brief review of this campaign. We have seen
its small beginnings in the defence of the Suez Canal, when Turkey,
leaning upon Germany, a broken reed, vaunted herself in an attempt to
conquer Egypt. We have traced the footsteps of the British army as,
pushing back the invading Turk, it crept across the Desert. We have
watched its struggles on the frontier of Asia, culminating in the
victory of Gaza and Beersheba. We have followed its progress in the
onward sweep, which conquered Jerusalem, and watched it through
succeeding months of trial, patience and disappointment. Finally, we
have seen it destroy the remnants of the Turkish armies, and, in one
great rush, conquer the whole of Northern Syria. Proud, indeed, should
those of us feel who have been privileged to play a part in this
campaign.
INDEX
Abd, 15
Abu Aweigila, 16
Abu Hareira, 45
Ain Karim, 83
Ajalon, 71
Akaba, Gulf of, 4, 26
Aleppo, 23, 143
Alexandretta, 143
Ali Muntar, 38
Amman, 114, 141
Anwas, 73
Apex, The, 46, 50, 59
Arara, 131
Armageddon, 33
Asluj, 54
Atawinah, 45, 58, 59
Auja, 5,14
Australia Hill, 39
Baalbek, 143
Baghdad, 22
Baha, 45
Baku, 23
Beersheba, 39, 45, 51, 56
Beihesnia, 75
Beit Dukka, 75
Beit Iksa, 83
Beit Hanun, 45, 58, 63
Beit Jibrin, 67
Belah, 38
Bethel, 109
Beth-horon, 71
Bethshan, 139
Bireh, 72
Bir-el-Abd, 14
Bir-es-Sakaly, 54
Bitter Lakes, 5
Constantinople, 7
Ctesiphon, 22
Damascus, 142
Dardanelles, 6
Dead Sea, 112
Deraa, 142
Dueidar, 13
Egypt, 1
El Arish, 5
El Burj, 80
El Kep, 130
El Kubeibeh, 67
El Mesmiye, 68
El Mughar, 68
El Tine, 45
El Tireh, 138
Emmaus, 78
Enab, 75
Ephraim, 124
Erzerum, 24
Esdraelon, 135
Es Salt, 114, 141
Gallipoli, 7
Gamli, 46
Gaza, 37, 51, 56
Gezer, 69
Ghoraniyeh, 113
Hajlah, 113
Hareira, 58
Hejaz, 25
Hill 1070, 54
Homs, 143
Huj, 63
Ikba, 126
In Seirat, 39
Jaffa, 69, 116
Jericho, 111
Jerusalem, 79, 84, 86
Jiddah, 25
Jisr-ed-Damieh, 141
Jordan, 32, 109, 112
Junction Station, 36, 66, 68, 101
Kalkilieh, 138
Kantara, 12
Katia, 13
Katrah, 68
Kauwukah, 57
Khalassa, 54
Khan Epenus, 5
Khan Yunus, 19
Khasim Zanna, 54
Kosseima, 5
Kut el Amara, 21
Latron, 73
Ludd, 69, 101, 108
Maan, 25
Mageiba, 14
Maghdaba, 16
Magruntein, 17
Mansura Ridge, 40
Mazar, 15
Mecca, 25
Medina, 25
Mejdel Yaba, 122
Middlesex Hill, 58
Mosul, 23
Mount Carmel, 29
Mount Royston, 14
Mudros, 7
Muslimie, 143
Muweileh, 56
Naaneh, 69
Nablus, 139
Nasiriyeh, 21
Nazareth, 139
Neby
Musa, 110
Neby Samwil, 71, 76, 80, 81
Oghratina, 13, 15
Outpost Hill, 58
Palestine, 28
Philistia, 30
Plain of Sharon, 30
Rafa, 4, 16
Rafat, 130
Ramadi, 23
Ramleh, 69, 108
Rayak, 35
Romani, 12, 13
Shatt-el-Arab, 21
Sheikh Hasan, 55
Sheikh Zowaid, 16
Shellal, 17
Sheria, 57
Shunat Nimrin, 114
Suez Canal, 2, 4
Suvla Bay, 7
Taurus, 35
Tel-el-Kebir, 2
Tel-el-Saba, 54
Three Bushes Hill, 126, 131
Towal Abu Jerwal, 56
Trebizond, 24
Tripolis, 143
Tul Keram, 139
Umbrella Hill, 55
Umm Jerar, 48
Wadi Auja, 116
Wadi Deir Ballut, 116, 119
Wadi Ghuzzeh, 38, 44
Wadi Hesi, 58
Wadi Nahr, 138
Wellington Ridge, 15
Yemen, 25
_Printed in Great Britain for_ ROBERT SCOTT, _Publisher_, PATERNOSTER ROW,
LONDON, _by_ BUTLER & TANNER, FROME
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
LIST OF FIXED ISSUES
p. v--typo fixed, changed "Judaean" to "Judæan"
p. vi--typo fixed, changed "Khuweilfah" to "Khuweilfeh"
p. vii--typo fixed, changed "Tamberlane" to "Tamerlane"
p. 019--typo fixed, changed "Weli Sheikh Nura" to "Weli Sheikh Nuran"
p. 029--typo fixed, changed "Keran" to "Keram"
p. 039--typo fixed, changed a comma into a period after "Ali Muntar
and Gaza"
p. 054--inserted a missing period after "in our hands"
p. 056--inserted a missing closing bracket after "farther west"
p. 073--typo fixed, changed "via" to "viâ"
p. 078--inserted a missing period after "his positions"
p. 097--typo fixed, changed "Napolean" to "Napoleon"
p. 112--typo fixed, changed "garrision" to "garrison"
p. 114--typo fixed, changed "Hajleh" to "Hajlah"
p. 135--typo fixed, changed "Nahr el Falik" to "Nahr el Falyk"
p. 147--typo fixed, changed "Abou Aweigila" to "Abu Aweigila"
p. 147--typo fixed, changed "Birel Abd" to "Bir-el-Abd"
p. 147--typo fixed, changed "Beth-Horon" to "Beth-horon"
p. 148--typo fixed, changed "Maza" to "Mazar"