Palestine: The Ottoman Campaigns of 1914-1918

by Edward J. Erickson

Overview

The campaigns fought by the Ottomans against the British in Palestine are often neglected in accounts of the Great War, yet they are fascinating from the point of view of military history and critically important because of their impact upon the modern Middle East. Edward Erickson's authoritative and absorbing account of the four-year struggle for control of Palestine between 1914 and 1918 of the battles fought for Suez, Sinai, Gaza, Jordan and Syria opens up this little-understood aspect of the global conflict and it does so in a strikingly original way, by covering the fighting from the Ottoman perspective. Using Turkish official histories and military archives, he recounts the entire course of the campaigns, from the initial attack by German-led Ottoman forces on Sinai and the Suez Canal, the struggle for Gaza and the outbreak of the Arab Revolt to the British offensives, the battle for Jerusalem, the Ottoman defeat at Megiddo and the rapid British advance which led to the capture of Damascus and Aleppo in 1918.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781399019774
Publisher:	Pen and Sword
Publication date:	09/29/2022
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x (d)

About the Author

Dr. Ed Erickson is a retired regular US Army lieutenant colonel, who served with the 3rd Armored Division in Operation Desert Storm (1991), headquarters IFOR in Operation Joint Endeavor (1995) and the 4th Infantry Division in Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003). He has a PhD in history from the University of Leeds in the UK and he specializes in the the Ottoman Army from 1877-1923. Dr. Erickson is a professor of military history at the Marine Corps University in Quantico, Virginia and can be reached at [e-mail].

Edward J. Erickson was born in Norwich, New York, USA. He recently retired from a long distinguished US Army career which included service in senior positions in Europe and the Middle East, in particular in Turkey and Iraq. He is one of the foremost authorities on the Ottoman Army during the Great War.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements vi

List of Plates viii

List of Maps ix

Chapter 1 Introduction 1

Chapter 2 1914: Planning and Concentration 10

Chapter 3 1915: The First Suez Offensive 28

Chapter 4 1916: The Second Suez Offensive 56

Chapter 5 1917: First and Second Gaza 75

Chapter 6 1917: Beersheba, Third Gaza and Jerusalem 97

Chapter 7 1918: Jordan Valley Operations 130

Chapter 8 1918: Megiddo and Syria 157

Chapter 9 Combat Support: Logistics, Men and Airpower 183

Appendix A Ottoman Orders of Battle, Palestine Campaigns, 1914-18 199

Appendix B Palestine Campaigns Commanders in the War of Independence 214

Select Bibliography 217

Index 224

Editorial Reviews

"Based on original research in the Turkish Military Archives, this companion volume to the author's The Ottoman Army At Gallipoli provides an in-depth history of the Palestine campaigns during the Great War from the Ottoman perspective. The work follows the entire course of the conflict from the initial attack by German-led Ottoman forces in Sinai and the Suez Canal, through the struggle for Gaze and the outbreak of the Arab revolt, to the British offensives, the Battle for Jerusalem, the Ottoman defeat at Megiddo and the capture of Damascus and Aleppo in 1918. The first-class work provides a detailed history of a theater of war often overlooked in favor of the Western Front."

Great War Magazine

"Authoritative and absorbing account of the four-year struggle for control of Palestine."

Journal of the Indian Maritime Foundation

"This book is an important addition to the historiography of World War I. It is highly recommended to anyone interested in the Middle East theater of operations, especially to those who want to read about the Ottoman perspective."

Roads to the Great War