The Battle of Sharon fought between 19 and 25 September 1918, began the set piece Battle of Megiddo half a day before the Battle of Nablus, in which large formations engaged and responded to movements by the opposition, according to pre-existing plans, in the last months of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of World War I. The fighting took place over a wide area from the Mediterranean Sea east to the Rafat salient in the Judean Hills. Here the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) XXI Corps with the French brigade sized Détachement Français de Palestine et de Syrie attacked the Yildirim Army Group Eighth Army's XXII Corps and German Asia Corps. The Battle of Sharon extended well behind the Ottoman front lines when the Desert Mounted Corps rode through a gap in the front line across the Plain of Sharon to occupy the Esdraelon Plain. Meanwhile, during the Battle of Nablus the XX Corps attacked Nablus while Chaytor's Force held the right flank in the Jordan Valley before advancing to secure bridges and fords across the Jordan River, to continue the encirclement the defenders in the Judean Hills. Subsequently, Chaytor's Force advanced against the Fourth Army to capture Es Salt and Amman after the Second Battle of Amman.
The Battle of Sharon began on 19 September with a Western Front style bombardment during which two-thirds of the mainly ground-based heavy artillery, supported by the firepower of two destroyers pounded Ottoman positions, while one third of the heavy artillery fired creeping barrages to cover the infantry assaults. The XXI Corps infantry attacked simultaneously along the front line from the Mediterranean coast where the 60th Division, launched an attack on the western coastal section of the front line defended by the Eighth Army's XXII Corps. During this Battle of Tulkarm the 60th Division breached the front and second line trenches to eventually capture Tulkarm, the site of the Eighth Army headquarters. On their right, the main Tabsor system of trenches held by the Ottoman XXII Corps was attacked and eventually captured during the Battle of Tabsor, by the 3rd (Lahore), 7th (Meerut), and the 75th Divisions. These three divisions subsequently advanced, despite the Ottoman XXII Corps being reinforced, to capture Et Tire and Masudiye Station. In the process of the battles for Tulkarm and Tabsor the 7th (Meerut) and 60th Divisions created a gap in the front line, for the Desert Mounted Corps to ride through. They rode north and eastwards to the rear to capture the defending Ottoman armies' lines of communication. The right flank of the attacking XXI Corps was protected from the Eighth Army's Asia Corps, by the 54th (East Anglian) Division and the French Colonial Détachement Français de Palestine et de Syrie holding and pivoting on the Rafat salient, during the Battle of Arara as the infantry battle progressed.
The cavalry phase of the Battle of Sharon began as soon as the gap was made during the infantry attacks. The 5th Cavalry Division led the way north up along the Plain of Sharon followed by the 4th Cavalry Division with the Australian Mounted Division in reserve. These divisions subsequently rode across the Mount Carmel Range through two passes, to occupy the Esdraelon Plain, on 20 September. Here they cut the main Ottoman lines of communication. Units of the 4th and 5th Cavalry Divisions converged to capture Afulah with the 4th Cavalry Division capturing Beisan in the afternoon. The Australian Mounted Division captured Jenin along with thousands of prisoners when they captured the main line of retreat from Nablus to Damascus. On 20 September Nazareth, the site of the Ottoman Army's Yildirim Army Group headquarters, was unsuccessfully attacked by the 5th Cavalry Division. During the Battle of Nazareth the Ottoman Commander in Chief, Otto Liman von Sanders, was forced to escape. The 5th Cavalry Division captured the town the following day and several days later this division also captured Haifa and Acre following the Battle of Haifa. On the last day of the Battle of Sharon, the Australian Mounted Division attacked a German reinforced rearguard garrison at Samakh, which had been put on the alert by Liman von Sanders during his escape from Nazareth. The Australian Light Horse victory at the Battle of Samakh and the subsequent Capture of Tiberias ended the Battle of Sharon and the Battle of Megiddo. As a result of the battles of Sharon and Nablus, known collectively as the Battle of Megiddo, much territory and many prisoners were captured. The Final Offensive of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign began the day after the Battle of Megiddo ended, with the pursuit to Damascus, which was captured on 1 October.
Background
After the series of Central Powers defeats in Palestine at the end of 1917, at Beersheba, at Gaza, at Mughar Ridge, and with the loss of large areas of southern Palestine during the subsequent retreats of the Seventh and Eighth Armies back into the Judean Hills, and following the loss of Jerusalem, several of the German and Ottoman army commanders in the region were replaced. General Erich von Falkenhayn commanding the Yildirim Army Group was replaced by General Otto Liman von Sanders and Friedrich Freiherr Kress von Kressenstein, commander of the Eighth Army was replaced by Djevad Pasha. Cemal Pasha appointed Cemal Kucjuk Pasha to command the Fourth Army. The commander of the Seventh Army, Mustafa Kemal who had previously resigned his command, was reinstated early in September 1918.
The focus of the Ottoman Army's war effort in 1918 turned from Palestine to Anatolia, to the provinces and territories lost by their empire between 1877 and 1878 during the Russo-Turkish War. This change of direction was heavily influenced by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, signed in March 1918 which ended the war on the Eastern Front between Imperial Russia and the Central Powers. As a result, the Ottoman Army embarked on a series of territorial conquests in the Caucasus. Erzerum, which had been captured by the Russians during the Erzerum Offensive in 1916, was retaken on 24 March 1918, followed by Van on 5 April and later Batum, Kars and Tiflis. The reoccupation of these former Ottoman possessions, however, brought little strategic advantage, compared with the potential benefits of military success in Palestine.
Also in March 1918, major offensive operations in Palestine became a low priority for the British Army when the spectacular successes of Erich Ludendorff's German spring offensive in France seriously threatened the British Expeditionary Force. By July, it had become clear that this German offensive on the Western Front, had failed. In August, a brief return to the battle of attrition in the trenches ensued until the Hundred Days Offensive, coinciding with preparations for a renewal of the campaign in Palestine, began in August. General Edmund Allenby was "very anxious to make a move in September" when he expected to overrun the German and Ottoman front line, capture the headquarters of the Ottoman Seventh and Eighth Armies at Nablus and Tulkarm, advance to the Wadi el Fara road, and capture Jisr ed Damieh and Es Salt. In addition to defeating the enemy and capturing a large area of their territory, Allenby had an ulterior motive: "Another reason for moving to this line is that it will encourage both my own new Indian troops and my Arab Allies."
Before the Spring Offensive on the Western Front began, the War Office had decided to substitute British units in the EEF with British Indian Army units. The relieved British units were to be retained in Egypt as reinforcements. When the Spring Offensive was launched these British units were quickly redeployed to the Western Front.
Battlefield
By September 1918 the front line was being held by EEF infantry from close to sea level on the Mediterranean coast, about 12 miles (19 km) north of Jaffa and Arsuf. From this point, the line extended in the XXI Corps area about 15 miles (24 km) south-eastward across the Plain of Sharon, before rising up to a height of 1,500–2,000 feet (460–610 m) above sea level in the Judean Hills for about 15 miles (24 km), into the XX Corps' battle of Nablus area. From this height the front line dropped precipitously down to 1,000 feet (300 m) below sea level, into the area patrolled by infantry and mounted infantry in Chaytor's Force. Here the line crossed the Jordan Valley in the Third Transjordan attack area, for approximately 18 miles (29 km), ending east of the Dead Sea in the foothills of the Mountains of Gilead/Moab.
The Seventh and Eighth Armies Ottoman defenders were supplied by two railways which crisscrossed the battlefield. A railway ran from Haifa on the Mediterranean coast to join the main railway from Istanbul to Deraa, which crossed the Jordan River before passing Beisan to enter the Judean Hills at Jenin. There were also good roads from Haifa and Damascus, via Nazareth and Jenin. From Deraa the extensive railway network, branched into two lines. The southern line known as the Hejaz railway continued east of the Jordan River to supply the Ottoman Fourth Army headquarters at Amman, the garrisons at Shunet Nimrin and Es Salt and the forces scattered along several hundred miles of the southern Hejaz railway. The western line known as the Palestine Railways crossed the Jordan River at Jisr Majami to become the Jezreel Valley railway, as it ran southwards down the west bank of the Jordan River to Beisan, on the western edge of the Esdraelon Plain. From there it turned westward to run parallel to the front line in the Judean Hills, to Afulah. Here the railway branched again into two lines, one line running north–westerly to Haifa on the Mediterranean coast, while the main line turned south across the Esdraelon Plan to Jenin. From Jenin the railway wound through a narrow pass in the foothills to climb to Messudieh Junction in the Judean Hills where it again branched. One line continued south–eastward to Nablus the Seventh Army headquarters, located on the main road to Jenin, Nazareth and Damascus, while the second line ran westward to Tulkarm and the Eighth Army headquarters before turning south to reach railhead behind the Eighth Army' front line on the coastal plain.
The advance by the Desert Mounted Corps' cavalry would take them north on the coastal Plain of Sharon and across the Mount Carmel Range. This rugged mountain range, approximately 7 miles (11 km) wide, stretching northward from the Judean Hills to end just to the south of Haifa, could be crossed by the mounted force through two passes. The northern pass linked the Plain of Sharon via Abu Shuheh to arrive on the Esdraelon Plain south–east of Nazareth, while the southern pass linked the coast via Musmus to arrive at Megiddo on the plain. However, the mountainous terrain made the passes easily defended by a relatively small force which would be hard to capture. If the cavalry encountered such defences in these passes, a protracted campaign would require another large infantry attack.
The quick occupation of the Esdraelon Plain, 40 miles (64 km) behind the Ottoman front line, would place Desert Mounted Corps in the rear of the two Ottoman armies fighting in the Judean Hills and in control of their lines of communication. The EEF cavalry would then be in a position to quickly control three lowland areas forming a semicircle around the Ottoman Seventh and Eighth Armies in the Judean Hills, from the Plain of Sharon, across the Esdraelon Plain to the Jordan Valley. They would then control the important Ottoman communications hubs at Afulah and Beisan.
Prelude
Attacking force
The XXI Corps commanded by the British Lieutenant General Edward S. Bulfin consisted of the 3rd (Lahore), 7th (Meerut), 54th (East Anglian), 60th and 75th Divisions with the Détachement Français de Palestine et de Syrie. These units were supported by Corps Troops' Composite Regiment (one squadron Duke of Lancashire Yeomanry and two squadrons of 1/1st Herts. Yeomanry) and the artillery of the XCV, XCVI, 100th, and 102nd Brigades RGA, and the VIII and IX Mountain Brigades RGA.
The Desert Mounted Corps commanded by the Australian Lieutenant General Henry Chauvel, consisted of the 4th and 5th Cavalry and the Australian Mounted Divisions. Armoured car support was provided by Nos. 11 and 12 Light Armoured Motor Batteries and Nos. 1 and 7 Light Car Patrols from the Machine Gun Corps.
A total of 54,800 beds were set aside in Palestine and Egypt, including convalescence and clearing hospitals. There were 22,524 hospital beds available in Egypt. A hospital centre in the Deir el Belah and Gaza area along with stationary hospitals between Kantara and Ludd, could accommodate another 15,000 casualties. By August, casualty clearing stations or clearing hospitals were located at Ludd, Jaffa and Jerusalem, supported by medical stores depots at Ludd and Jerusalem. However, the Australian Stationary Hospital at Moascar only had a few beds available. No. 14 Australian General Hospital on the Suez Canal was full of malaria cases from the Jordan Valley with the overflow being treated in the No. 31 British General Hospital at Abbassia, Cairo.
Aircraft
On 18 September, the Royal Air Force's 5th (Corps) Wing, and the 40th (Army) Wing, both headquartered at Ramle, were deployed to the area. They were responsible for cooperation with artillery and contact patrols, tactical and strategic reconnaissance, photography, escorts, offensive patrols and bombing operations. No. 1 Squadron Australian Flying Corps (AFC), No. 111 Squadron RAF and a flight of No. 145 Squadron RAF, were based at Ramle, and No. 144 Squadron RAF was based at Junction Station.
Tactical reconnaissance up to 10,000 yards (9,100 m) in advance of the XXI Corps was provided by corps squadrons. No. 113 Squadron RAF along with No. 21 Balloon Company were also assigned to XXI Corps, operating out of Sarona. No. 142 Squadron RAF (less one flight) assigned to the Desert Mounted Corps was also based at Sarona.
The Bristol F.2 Fighters in No. 1 Squadron (AFC) were to carry out bombing and strategic reconnaissance, as well as providing general oversight of the battlefield and reporting developments. Nos. 111 and 145 Squadrons of S.E.5.a aircraft were to conduct day-long patrols over the main Jenin aerodrome, bombing and machine gunning all targets in the area to prevent any aircraft leaving the aerodrome. No. 144 Squadron, consisting of Airco DH.9 biplane bombers, were to bomb the Afulah telephone exchange and railway station, and the Messudieh Junction railway lines as well as the Ottoman Seventh Army headquarters and telephone exchange at Nablus. The newly arrived Handley–Page O-400 heavy bomber (armed with 16 112-pound (51 kg) bombs) and piloted by Australian Ross Smith was to support No. 144 Squadron's bombing of Afulah.
EEF deployment
On the first quarter of the front line, stretching from the Mediterranean some 15 miles (24 km) inland, 35,000 infantry, 9,000 cavalry and 383 guns were preparing for the attack. The remaining three-quarters of the front line across the Judean Hills to the Dead Sea, was covered by 22,000 infantry, 3,000 cavalry and 157 artillery guns.
The XXI Corps was deployed without a corps reserve. The 60th Division was positioned on the coast with the 7th (Meerut) Division on their right, then the 75th Division with the longest frontage, was followed by the 3rd (Lahore) Division. On their right, at the eastern end of the XXI Corps and the Battle of Sharon's front line in the Judean Hills, the 54th (East Anglian) Division with the Détachement Français de Palestine et de Syrie, held the Rafat salient.
The final deployment by XXI Corps was made during 35 minutes of darkness, between the moon setting and dawn on 19 September, when each division took up a position at right angles to the direction of their frontal attack. They were deployed across a distance of about 10 miles (16 km), leaving stretches of the front line which did not favour a frontal attack, uncovered. Altogether, these stretches amounted to about 5 miles (8.0 km). The sections of the front line which were not part of the initial attack, were to be captured as the attack developed. This would occur during a planned right flanking movement, which aimed to bring all the divisions together and any enemy caught behind would be cut off.