Abstract

The appointment of Edmund Allenby to command Allied forces on the Mediterranean front in June 1917 resulted in a series of brilliant military victories in Palestine and Syria, culminating with the dramatic occupation of Jerusalem in December 1917. Thus ended four centuries of Ottoman Turkish rule over the Holy City. General Allenby's campaign came to an abrupt halt, however, when large number of his troops were transferred to the European front to counter a major German offensive in the spring of 1918. Only with the arrival of reinforcements in late summer and early fall, including units of the French Foreign Legion and the Eastern/Armenian Legion, was the Allied offensive in Palestine resumed. Pictured: Armenian battalion waiting to leave for Ismailia from Port Said, Egypt, 1918. Images courtesy of Hoover Institution Archives, Shishmanian Collection.

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Last modified on: December 14, 2009