Key Facts
- Dates
- 19–20 September 1918
- Attacking divisions
- 3rd (Lahore), 7th (Meerut), 75th Divisions
- Ottoman divisions destroyed
- Ottoman 7th Division ceased to exist by end of day 1
- Part of
- Battle of Megiddo, Sinai and Palestine Campaign
- Armistice signed
- Armistice of Mudros, ~5 weeks after offensive began
Strategic Narrative Overview
On 19 September 1918, three XXI Corps divisions—3rd (Lahore), 7th (Meerut), and 75th—attacked Tabsor defences under an intense creeping artillery barrage supported by naval gunfire. The 60th Division protected the left flank advancing up the coast, while the 54th Division secured the right. By the end of the first day, the Ottoman 7th Division had ceased to exist, the front line was driven from an east-west to a north-south orientation, and the Seventh Army was forced to withdraw to avoid encirclement.
01 / The Origins
By September 1918, the Sinai and Palestine Campaign had ground on for years, with British Empire forces of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) facing entrenched Ottoman armies in Palestine. The Allied high command planned a major set-piece offensive, the Battle of Megiddo, to break Ottoman lines. The Battle of Tabsor was designed as the opening infantry thrust, targeting the only continuous trench-and-redoubt system on the Ottoman front, defended by the Eighth Army composed of German and Ottoman troops.
03 / The Outcome
The Tabsor breakthrough initiated the broader Battle of Megiddo, which destroyed the equivalent of one Ottoman army and routed two others. The Desert Mounted Corps pursued retreating forces to Damascus, captured six days after Megiddo ended. Five weeks into the Final Offensive, Aleppo fell, and the Armistice of Mudros was signed between the Allies and the Ottoman Empire, ending hostilities in the Palestine theatre.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Side B
1 belligerent
Otto Liman von Sanders.
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.