Sinai and Palestine campaign

The Sinai and Palestine campaign was part of the <a href="/facts/Middle_Eastern_theatre_of_World_War_I/HE1bVv57">Middle Eastern theatre of World War I</a>, taking place between January 1915 and October 1918. The <a href="/facts/British_Empire/hrsz0j7A">British Empire</a>, the <a href="/facts/French_Third_Republic/I2nlEmcn">French Third Republic</a>, and the <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Italy/X5hxYBvF">Kingdom of Italy</a> fought alongside the <a href="/facts/Arab_Revolt/vbE1APx6">Arab Revolt</a> in opposition to the <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Empire/6QvfTRsg">Ottoman Empire</a>, the <a href="/facts/German_Empire/lwQutJyN">German Empire</a>, and the <a href="/facts/Austria-Hungary/9WPUPj0W">Austro-Hungarian Empire</a>. It started with an Ottoman attempt at raiding the <a href="/facts/Suez_Canal/1zYoNryp">Suez Canal</a> in 1915 and ended with the <a href="/facts/Armistice_of_Mudros/jnwzDYwU">Armistice of Mudros</a> in 1918, leading to the cession of <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Syria/rFP3TE2N">Ottoman Syria</a>.
Fighting began in January 1915, when a German-led Ottoman force invaded the <a href="/facts/Sinai_Peninsula/SEyERdHm">Sinai Peninsula</a>, then occupied by the British as part of a <a href="/facts/Sultanate_of_Egypt/ILg3jcls">Protectorate of Egypt</a>, to unsuccessfully <a href="/facts/Raid_on_the_Suez_Canal/FMhL6S83">raid the Suez Canal</a>. After the <a href="/facts/Gallipoli_campaign/EDePckSo">Gallipoli campaign</a>, British Empire veterans formed the <a href="/facts/Egyptian_Expeditionary_Force/oSUBfMBR">Egyptian Expeditionary Force</a> (EEF) and Ottoman Empire veterans formed the <a href="/facts/Fourth_Army_(Ottoman_Empire)/8YCRyB2P">Fourth Army</a>, to fight for the Sinai Peninsula in 1916. In January 1917 the newly formed <a href="/facts/Desert_Column/4btKG8Qo">Desert Column</a> completed the recapture of the Sinai at the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Rafa/4Cg6hEkr">Battle of Rafa</a>. This recapture of substantial Egyptian territory was followed in March and April by two EEF defeats on Ottoman territory, at the <a href="/facts/First_Battle_of_Gaza/S9uDNCaj">First</a> and <a href="/facts/Second_Battle_of_Gaza/jVaqLax6">Second Battles of Gaza</a> in southern <a href="/facts/Palestine_(region)/HxMSPazK">Palestine</a>.
After a period of <a href="/facts/Stalemate_in_Southern_Palestine/XBbN9IKk">stalemate in Southern Palestine</a> from April to October 1917, General <a href="/facts/Edmund_Allenby/WTaRQ94M">Edmund Allenby</a> captured <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Beersheba_(1917)/bd7J7FcJ">Beersheba</a> from the III Corps. The Ottoman defences were captured by 8 November, and the pursuit began. EEF victories followed, at the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Mughar_Ridge/FBR9YrIQ">Battle of Mughar Ridge</a>, 10 to 14 November, and the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Jerusalem/84AkTVhk">Battle of Jerusalem</a>, 17 November to 30 December. Serious losses on the <a href="/facts/Western_Front_(World_War_I)/RrhMPVQP">Western Front</a> in March 1918, during <a href="/facts/Erich_Ludendorff/a6PqoHpu">Erich Ludendorff</a>'s <a href="/facts/German_spring_offensive/fShURo0M">German spring offensive</a>, forced the British Empire to send reinforcements from the EEF. The advance stalled until Allenby's force resumed the offensive during the <a href="/facts/Manoeuvre_warfare/JAgeqnGn">manoeuvre warfare</a> of the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Megiddo_(1918)/pUopA9NE">Battle of Megiddo</a> in September. The successful infantry battles at <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Tulkarm/6btsdNGM">Tulkarm</a> and <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Tabsor/03r2qkcq">Tabsor</a> created gaps in the Ottoman front line, allowing the pursuing <a href="/facts/Desert_Mounted_Corps/Ugv2tFGy">Desert Mounted Corps</a> to <a href="/facts/Encirclement/qS3fbETj">encircle</a> the infantry fighting in the <a href="/facts/Judean_Hills/C6zQH7D2">Judean Hills</a> and fight the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Nazareth/bmNw0pn6">Battle of Nazareth</a> and <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Samakh/yB6PbPHt">Battle of Samakh</a>, capturing <a href="/facts/Capture_of_Afulah_and_Beisan/qQXIRN03">Afulah, Beisan</a>, <a href="/facts/Capture_of_Jenin/JUDEcakN">Jenin</a> and <a href="/facts/Capture_of_Tiberias/gEC5MFxK">Tiberias</a>. In the process the EEF destroyed three Ottoman armies during the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Sharon/D3FJ35sx">Battle of Sharon</a>, the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Nablus_(1918)/Lg548hjy">Battle of Nablus</a> and the <a href="/facts/Third_Transjordan_attack/7Hqv95NP">Third Transjordan attack</a>, capturing thousands of prisoners and large quantities of equipment. <a href="/facts/Capture_of_Damascus_(1918)/PUy8NnFb">Damascus</a> and <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Aleppo_(1918)/hopAYWJP">Aleppo</a> were captured during the subsequent pursuit, before the Ottoman Empire agreed to the Armistice of Mudros on 30 October 1918, ending the Sinai and Palestine campaign. The <a href="/facts/Mandate_for_Palestine/rTD4dAqo">British Mandate of Palestine</a> (1920-1948) and the <a href="/facts/Mandate_for_Syria_and_the_Lebanon/cgLelKNn">Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon</a> were created to administer the captured territories.
The campaign was generally not well known or understood during the war. In Britain, the public thought of it as a minor operation, a waste of precious resources which would be better spent on the Western Front, while the peoples of India were more interested in the <a href="/facts/Mesopotamian_campaign/SCS32E4B">Mesopotamian campaign</a> and the occupation of <a href="/facts/Baghdad/RbtLzzHe">Baghdad</a>. Australia did not have a war correspondent in the area until Captain <a href="/facts/Frank_Hurley/uSMkbV9b">Frank Hurley</a>, the first Australian Official Photographer, arrived in August 1917 after visiting the Western Front. <a href="/facts/Henry_Gullett/R3lRnDS8">Henry Gullett</a>, the first Official War Correspondent, arrived in November 1917.
The long-lasting effect of this campaign was the <a href="/facts/Partitioning_of_the_Ottoman_Empire/UCtlDbQw">Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire</a>, when France won the <a href="/facts/League_of_Nations_mandate/CXCj7gno">mandate</a> for <a href="/facts/French_Mandate_for_Syria_and_the_Lebanon/cgLelKNn">Syria and Lebanon</a>, while the British Empire won the mandates for <a href="/facts/British_Mandate_of_Mesopotamia/MCnMM0T9">Mesopotamia</a> and Palestine. The <a href="/facts/Turkey/KIYAWAs0">Republic of Turkey</a> came into existence in 1923 after the <a href="/facts/Turkish_War_of_Independence/GtV8LuII">Turkish War of Independence</a> ended the Ottoman Empire. The European mandates ended with the formation of the <a href="/facts/Iraq/pqYSFJw8">Kingdom of Iraq</a> in 1932, the <a href="/facts/Lebanon/2dReTXyp">Lebanese Republic</a> in 1943, the <a href="/facts/Jordan/JC5sS1oJ">Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan</a> and <a href="/facts/Syria/7pDXGzq8">Syrian Arab Republic</a> in 1946, and the <a href="/facts/Israel/dEe3IcaY">State of Israel</a> in 1948.

Sinai and Palestine campaign open-in-new

Sinai and Palestine campaign