Charge at Kiswe
Charge at Kiswe | |
---|---|
Part of the Deraa | |
Result | British Empire victory |
German Empire
Harry Chauvel
Henry John Macandrew
Mustafa Kemal Pasha
Jevad Pasha
Desert Mounted Corps
a portion of the 24th, 26th and 53rd Divisions and the 3rd Cavalry Division assigned to the defence of Damascus
Fourth Army Army Troops/rearguard from Yildirim Army Group
The Charge at Kiswe took place on 30 September 1918 about 9 miles (14 km) south of
Following the victories at the
A portion of the surviving German and Ottoman garrisons from Samakh and Tiberias, (formed from remnants of the Seventh and Eighth Armies) which had withdrawn from Jisr Benat Yakub and deployments from the Fourth Army, entrenched themselves on the high ground of the El Jebel el Aswad to protect the columns of retreating Fourth Army on the Pilgrims' Road, which had outrun the pursuit by the 4th Cavalry Division. The charge by the 14th Cavalry Brigade (less the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry), resulted in the capture of part of the rearguard and caused the remnant Fourth Army column to split in two, in disorder.
Background
The pursuit to Damascus began on 26 September when the 4th Cavalry Division advanced east from the Jordan River, via Irbid to Deraa which was captured by Sherifial forces on 27 September. Their pursuit continued with
Liman von Sanders and Yildirim Army Group withdraws
By 26 September the Fourth Army's Amman garrison (less the
Between 6,000 and 7,000 German and Ottoman soldiers remaining from the Ottoman Fourth, Seventh and Eighth Armies of Yildirim Army Group, had managed to retreat via Tiberias or Deraa, before these places were captured on 25 and 27 September, respectively.[5][6]
The retreating columns which moved via Deraa were at or north of Muzeirib on their way to Damascus by 27 September.[6] When Mustafa Kemal Pasha, commander of the Seventh Army arrived at Kiswe, with his army's leading troops on 29 September, Liman von Sanders ordered him to continue on north of Damascus to Rayak.[7]
By the morning of 30 September, the leading column of the remnant Fourth Army consisting of an Ottoman cavalry division and some infantry, was approaching Kiswe 9 miles (14 km) south of Damascus, pursued by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's 4th Cavalry Division 30 miles (48 km) behind.[8][9]
5th Cavalry Division
During the cavalry phase of the
Prelude
As the vanguard of the 5th Cavalry Division reached Sa'sa at 08:30 on 30 September 1918, Major General Henry John Macandrew, commanding the division, was ordered by Lieutenant General Harry Chauvel the commander of the Desert Mounted Corps, to "intercept a force of 2,000 Turks reported by an aeroplane to be retiring towards Damascus by the Pilgrims' Road."[9] At this point, the road from Kuneitra to Damascus along which the Australian Mounted and the 5th Cavalry Divisions were advancing, was only 9 miles (14 km) from the Pilgrims' Road from Deraa; the two roads converging as they approached Damascus.[9] The "5th Cavalry Division turned eastwards, to intercept and destroy the remnants of the Turkish Fourth Army before it reached Damascus,"[12] with the Essex Battery Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) following in support.[9]
Defence of Damascus
Otto Liman von Sanders commander of Yildirim Army Group ordered the 24th, 26th and 53rd Infantry Divisions, XX Corps Seventh Army and the 3rd Cavalry Division, Army Troops Fourth Army, under the command of Colonel Ismet Bey (commander of the III Corps Seventh Army) to defend Damascus, while the remaining Ottoman formations were ordered to retreat northwards.[13][14] The Tiberias Group commanded by Jemal Pasha (commander of the Fourth Army) was also ordered to defend Damascus.[7]
Battle
As the 5th Cavalry Division's vanguard 14th Cavalry Brigade approached
At Kiswe a rearguard of 2,000 Ottoman soldiers armed with machine guns defended the town, stopping the advance by the
Two squadrons of the 20th Deccan Horse dismounted to attack and capture the nearest point on the El Jebel el Aswad hills above the road and established themselves on the position overlooking the road.[16]
The remainder of the 14th Cavalry Brigade rode .5 miles (0.80 km) further on towards Damascus, to a narrow pass strongly defended on both sides, through which a closely packed mixed column "six or eight abreast" marched towards Damascus. Large numbers of retreating Ottoman soldiers, could also be seen further north, approaching Damascus.[16]
The 34th Poona Horse came into contact with a rearguard in a "large stone sangar."[16] A squadron of the 34th Poona Horse charged the sangar mounted, supported by artillery fire from the Essex Battery RHA. The rearguard immediately "broke and fled at sight of the charge,"[16] while the charge continued into the retreating enemy column, splitting it in two; many attempting to escape eastwards away from the road. "In the neighbouring gardens 40 officers and 150 men, the headquarters and all that remained of one regiment of the 3rd Cavalry Division were rounded up and captured."[16]
The 14th Brigade bivouacked on the El Jebel el Aswad ridge, having captured a total of 594 prisoners but suffering five killed and four wounded.[17]
During the day the retreating Fourth Army columns were bombed by five Australian aircraft south of Kiswe on the Wady Zabirani leaving about 4,000 infantry and cavalry scattered on the north bank of the wadi near El Jebel el Aswad.[18]
Aftermath
At 14:00 a troop of the 1/1st
At 14:30 Macandrew ordered the 13th Cavalry Brigade consisting of the Gloucester Hussars,
Position of Desert Mounted Corps
By midnight on 30 September/1 October, the Australian Mounted Division was at El Mezze 2 miles (3.2 km) to the west of Damascus.[8][21]
The 14th Cavalry Brigade, held "the last ridge south of the city, the others [brigades of the 5th Cavalry Division were] further back near Kaukab."[22] The 4th Cavalry Division and an Arab force were, by the evening of 30 September in action against the remnant Fourth Army around Khan Deinun.[22] The 4th Cavalry Division was also reported at Zeraqiye 34 miles (55 km) from Damascus on the Pilgrims' Road, only the 11th Cavalry Brigade being at Khan Deinun with Arab forces north east of Ashrafiye.[8][21] An Arab force was reported to be camped at Kiswe.[23]
Chauvel ordered the 5th Cavalry Division to the east of Damascus while the 4th Cavalry Division continued their advance from the south.[8][21]
Notes
- ^ These advances have been characterised as a "race for Damascus". [Gullett 1919 pp. 39–40] See also Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 567
- ^ The third brigade of the 14th Cavalry Brigade, the 1/1st Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry remained at Haifa on the lines of communication. [Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 574]
Citations
- ^ Keogh 1955 pp. 252–3
- ^ Falls 1930 Vol. 2 pp. 582–3
- ^ Wavell 1968 pp. 224–5
- ^ Bruce 2002 p. 241
- ^ Cutlack 1941 pp. 167–8
- ^ a b Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 567
- ^ a b Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 595
- ^ a b c d Wavell 1968 p. 227
- ^ a b c d e Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 574
- ^ Falls 1930 Vol. 2 pp. 524–9, 534–8
- ^ Carver 2003 p. 242
- ^ Bou 2009 p. 196
- ^ Erickson 2001 pp. 200–1
- ^ Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 674
- ^ Falls 1930 Vol. 2 pp. 574–5
- ^ a b c d e f g Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 575
- ^ Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 576
- ^ Cutlack 1941 p. 168
- ^ Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 577
- ^ Falls 1930 Vol. 2 pp. 576–7, 667
- ^ a b c Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 586
- ^ a b Hill 1978 p. 176
- ^ Bruce 2002 p. 244
References
- Bou, Jean (2009). Light Horse: A History of Australia's Mounted Arm. Australian Army History. Port Melbourne: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521197083.
- Bruce, Anthony (2002). The Last Crusade: The Palestine Campaign in the First World War. London: John Murray. ISBN 978-0-7195-5432-2.
- Carver, Michael, Field Marshal Lord (2003). The National Army Museum Book of The Turkish Front 1914–1918: The Campaigns at Gallipoli, in Mesopotamia and in Palestine. London: Pan Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-283-07347-2.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - Cutlack, Frederic Morley (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. Vol. VIII (11th ed.). Canberra: Australian War Memorial. OCLC 220900299.
- Erickson, Edward J. (2001). Ordered to Die: A History of the Ottoman Army in the First World War: Foreword by General Hüseyiln Kivrikoglu. No. 201 Contributions in Military Studies. Westport Connecticut: Greenwood Press. OCLC 43481698.
- 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: HM Stationery Office. OCLC 256950972.
- OCLC 5003626.
- OCLC 220029983.
- OCLC 35621223.
33°21′N 36°14′E / 33.350°N 36.233°E