Capture of Samakh broke the Ottoman rearguard line, concluding the Battle of Sharon and opening the cavalry pursuit that led to the fall of Damascus.
Key Facts
- Date
- 25 September 1918
- Attacking force
- 4th Light Horse Brigade, Australian Mounted Division
- Duration of assault
- Approximately two hours
- Distance behind front line
- 40–50 miles (64–80 km)
- Damascus captured
- 1 October 1918
- Parent operation
- Battle of Megiddo, 19–25 September 1918
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Following British Empire infantry victories at Tulkarm and Tabsor during the Battle of Sharon, the Ottoman Yildirim Army Group commander Otto Liman von Sanders ordered Samakh's German and Ottoman garrison to hold a rearguard line from Tiberias through Samakh to Deraa on 20 September 1918, aiming to cover the northward retreat of three Ottoman armies toward Damascus.
At dawn on 25 September 1918, a regiment and two squadrons of the Australian 4th Light Horse Brigade launched a mounted cavalry charge against the strongly entrenched garrison at Samakh on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. After approximately two hours of intense close-quarter fighting with bayonets and swords through the village and railway buildings, the town was captured from the Ottoman and German defenders who had been ordered to fight to the last man.
The fall of Samakh broke the centre of the Ottoman rearguard line, concluding the Battle of Sharon phase of the Battle of Megiddo. This opened the path for the Desert Mounted Corps cavalry pursuit northward; Damascus fell on 1 October 1918, and Aleppo was captured before the Armistice of Mudros ended hostilities between the Allies and the Ottoman Empire at the end of October 1918.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Harry Chauvel.
Side B
1 belligerent
Otto Liman von Sanders.