Key Facts
- Dates
- 19–25 September 1918
- Part of
- Battle of Megiddo, Sinai and Palestine campaign
- Key British formation
- XX Corps, XXI Corps, Chaytor's Force
- Ottoman forces engaged
- Seventh Army, Fourth Army (Yildirim Army Group)
- Amman captured
- 25 September 1918
- Campaign ended
- Armistice of Mudros, 26 October 1918
Strategic Narrative Overview
XX Corps attacked the Ottoman front line on the afternoon of 19 September 1918, supported by artillery. Progress was slow against well-prepared defences until the flanking breakthrough at Sharon forced the Seventh Army to retreat down the Wadi el Fara road. Aerial bombing devastated the withdrawing column. Chaytor's Force seized Jordan River crossings, then advanced to capture Es Salt on 23 September and Amman on 25 September, enveloping and taking thousands of Ottoman prisoners.
01 / The Origins
By mid-1918 the Ottoman Empire's hold on the Levant was deteriorating under sustained British Empire pressure in the Sinai and Palestine campaign. British commander General Allenby planned a decisive offensive, the Battle of Megiddo, to shatter the Ottoman Yildirim Army Group. The Battle of Nablus formed the eastern component of this assault, tasked with destroying the Seventh Army defending the Judean Hills while the coastal Battle of Sharon struck simultaneously.
03 / The Outcome
The Ottoman Seventh and Fourth Armies were effectively destroyed as fighting formations. Nablus fell to XX Corps and the 5th Light Horse Brigade. The Final Offensive then rolled northward: Damascus fell on 1 October, Homs was occupied, and operations reached Aleppo before the Armistice of Mudros on 26 October 1918 ended hostilities between the Allied Powers and the Ottoman Empire, concluding the Sinai and Palestine campaign.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
General Edmund Allenby, Chaytor (Chaytor's Force commander), Meldrum (Meldrum's Force commander).
Side B
1 belligerent
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.