Charge at Irbid
Charge at Irbid | |||||||
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Part of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I | |||||||
Aerial photograph of the road and wadi east of Irbid | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Ottoman Empire German Empire | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Edmund Allenby Harry Chauvel George Barrow |
Otto Liman von Sanders Mohammed Jemal Pasha | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
Remnants of the Fourth Army Yildirim Army Group |
The Charge at Irbid occurred on 26 September 1918 as a consequence of the victory at the
Remnants of the
The 4th Cavalry Division at Jisr el Mejamie and Beisan was ordered to march east to intercept this remnant of the Fourth Army. At Irbid the 2nd Lancers charged Ottoman rearguard units but were strongly counter-attacked and defeated. By the next morning the Ottoman force had withdrawn from the town.
Background
Liman von Sanders and Fourth Army withdraws
By 26 September the Fourth Army's Amman garrison (less the
Sherifial Army
Three quarters of
4th Cavalry Division
During the cavalry phase of the
On 25 September the
Prelude
The 4th Cavalry Division,
Battle
Late in the afternoon of 26 September, the 10th Cavalry Brigade was attacked by the Fourth Army's flank guard which held the country round Irbid in force.[7] With the 2nd Lancers leading, the EEF's 10th Cavalry Brigade, 4th Cavalry Division, left Jisr el Mejamie at 08:00 on 26 September. As the regiment negotiated a "difficult defile in the gorge of the Wadi el Ghafr,"[16] 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Irbid they came under rifle fire from the plateau above. As a consequence the regimental commander ordered an immediate attack.[16] The 2nd Lancers attempted a mounted attack; the charge failing when they suffered severe losses.[6]
The 2nd Lancers' "C" Squadron was ordered to advance through the village of Bariha 1 mile (1.6 km) north-west of Irbid and get into position to attack Irbid from the east, "B" Squadron was to follow and attack mounted from the north while a third squadron (probably D Squadron), simultaneously attacked Irbid from the south with "A" Squadron in reserve. The machine gun squadron was to target attacking machine guns. (See Falls Sketch Map 40 for movements of "A" and "D" Squadrons)[1]
"C" Squadron became lost, mistaking Bariha for Irbid and played no part in the attack. "B" Squadron was held up by machine gun fire and failed to get into position; instead taking up a position 1,200 yards (1,100 m) north of Irbid, from which they fired Hotchkiss light machine guns in support of "D" Squadron's attack. After dismounting its Hotchkiss troop to provide covering fire, the approach of the, by now 48 strong "D" squadron, without its Hotchkiss troop, was heavily fired on by machine guns from the northern edge of Irbid. The ground was too rough for a charge, the squadron swinging west to attack the north-western corner of the town, but the leading troop continued straight on, to be annihilated. Only eight NCOs and men of "D" Squadron managed to retreat.[1]
The Berkshire Battery Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) did not get into position until 17:00; too late to help "D" Squadron, 2nd Lancers. However, hearing heavy firing the Central India Horse reached the plateau but its "C" Squadron, following the 2nd Lancers' "C" Squadron to Bariha also became useless, while "D" Squadron Central India Horse' advance towards Irbid was forced to move to the south. They reached a hill due south of Irbid with "B" Squadron Central India Horse in the same area, "A" Squadron 2nd Lancers had taken cover in a wadi on the western side of Irbid, when darkness ended the engagement. The 2nd Lancers and the Central India Horse suffered 46 killed and wounded, mainly from "D" Squadron 2nd Lancers.[17]
Aftermath
After holding its ground until dark, the Fourth Army remnant withdrew from Irbid during the night of 26 September, to Er Remte.[6][7]
During the night the scattered squadrons of the 2nd Lancers and Central India Horse established contact and at dawn on 27 September, patrols found Irbid "clear of the enemy."[18]
The 10th Cavalry Brigade had now moved on Deraa, but we saw the dead horses of the fight that had taken place at Irbid the day previously. In this [a] squadron of the 2nd Lancers had struck a snag and had lost over half its strength.
— E. B. Maunsell with the 36th Jacob's Horse, 11th Cavalry Brigade 4th Cavalry Division[12]
This was the first failed attack by the 4th Cavalry Division since 19 September.
Between 6,000 and 7,000 German and Ottoman soldiers remaining from the Ottoman Fourth, Seventh and Eighth Armies had managed to retreat via Tiberias or Deraa towards Damascus, before these places were captured by Desert Mounted Corps on 25 and 27 September respectively, and were at or north of Muzeirib.[20][21]
Notes
- ^ This is the 38th King George's Own Central India Horse not to be confused with the 39th King George's Own Central India Horse which had remained in India [Preston 1921, p.335, Falls 1930 Vol. 2, p. 667]
- ^ These advances have been characterised as a "race for Damascus". [Gullett 1919 pp. 39–40, Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 567]
Citations
- ^ a b c Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 578
- ^ Falls 1930 Vol. 2 pp. 511, 545
- ^ Keogh 1955 p. 251
- ^ Wavell 1968 p. 223
- ^ a b Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 545
- ^ a b c Wavell 1968 pp. 224–5
- ^ a b c Bruce 2002 p. 241
- ^ a b Falls 1930 Vol. 2 pp. 566–7
- ^ Wavell 1968 p. 221
- ^ Woodward 2006 p. 201
- ^ Falls 1930 Vol. 2 pp. 513–522, 533, 539–42
- ^ a b Maunsell 1926 p. 231
- ^ Preston 1921 p. 252
- ^ Gullett 1919 p. 39
- ^ Keogh 1955 pp. 252–3
- ^ a b Falls 1930 Vol. 2 pp. 577–8
- ^ a b Falls 1930 Vol. 2 pp. 579–80
- ^ Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 579
- ^ Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 580
- ^ Cutlack 1941 pp. 167–8
- ^ Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 567
References
- Bruce, Anthony (2002). The Last Crusade: The Palestine Campaign in the First World War. London: John Murray Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7195-5432-2.
- Falls, Cyril (1930). Military Operations Egypt & Palestine from June 1917 to the End of the War. Official History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. Vol. 2 Part II. A. F. Becke (maps). London: H.M. Stationery Office. OCLC 256950972.
- Henry S. Gullett; Charles Barnet; David Baker, eds. (1919). Australia in Palestine. Sydney: Angus & Robertson Ltd. OCLC 224023558.
- Keogh, E. G.; Joan Graham (1955). Suez to Aleppo. Melbourne: Directorate of Military Training by Wilkie & Co. OCLC 220029983.
- Maunsell, E. B. (1926). Prince of Wales' Own, the Seinde Horse, 1839-1922. Regimental Committee. OCLC 221077029.
- Preston, R. M. P. (1921). The Desert Mounted Corps: An Account of the Cavalry Operations in Palestine and Syria 1917–1918. London: Constable & Co. OCLC 3900439.
- OCLC 35621223.
- Woodward, David R. (2006). Hell in the Holy Land World War I in the Middle East. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-2383-7.
External links
- F. M. Cutlack (1941). "The Australian Flying Corps in the Western and Eastern Theatres of War, 1914–1918". Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918 (11th ed.). Canberra: Australian War Memorial. Archived from the original on 9 October 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
- Henry Gullett (1941). "The Australian Imperial Force in Sinai and Palestine, 1914–1918". Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918 (10th ed.). Canberra: Australian War Memorial. Archived from the original on 7 October 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2012.