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| General Allenby |
The Battle of Jerusalem (officially named the "Jerusalem Operations" by the British) developed from 17 November with fighting continuing until 30 December 1917, during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of World War I.
In taking Jerusalem General Allenby, the British General in charge of the operation, had unarguably saved the Jewish capital from eventual annihilation and hence it saved the Jewish nation from becoming Islamic under Turkish control. In reality, it is completely unquestionable, that if this event hadn't taken place Israel would almost certainly not be a Jewish nation today.
Before Jerusalem could be secured, two battles were recognised by the British as being fought in the Judean Hills to the north and east of the Hebron–Junction Station line.
These were the Battle of Nebi Samwill from 17 to 24 November and the Defence of Jerusalem from 26 to 30 December 1917. They also recognised within these Jerusalem Operations, the successful second attempt on 21 and 22 December 1917 to advance across the Nahr el Auja, as the Battle of Jaffa, although Jaffa had been occupied as a consequence of the Battle of Mughar Ridge on 16 November.
This series of battles was successfully fought by the British Empire's XX Corps, XXI Corps, and the Desert Mounted Corps against strong opposition from the Yildirim Army Group's Seventh Army in the Judean Hills and the Eighth Army north of Jaffa on the Mediterranean coast.
The loss of Jaffa and Jerusalem, together with the loss of 50 miles (80 km) of territory during the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) advance from Gaza, after the capture of Beersheba, Gaza, Hareira and Sheria, Tel el Khuweilfe and the Battle of Mughar Ridge constituted a grave setback for the Ottoman Army and the Ottoman Empire.
As a result of these victories, British Empire forces captured Jerusalem and established a new strategically strong fortified line. This line ran from well to the north of Jaffa on the maritime plain, across the Judean Hills to Bireh north of Jerusalem, and continued eastwards of the Mount of Olives.
With the capture of the road from Beersheba to Jerusalem via Hebron and Bethlehem, together with substantial Ottoman territory south of Jerusalem, the city was secured. On 11 December, General Edmund Allenby respectfully entered the Old City on foot through the Jaffa Gate instead of horse or vehicles to show respect for the holy city.
Despite being the Jewish capital, Jerusalem is a very important site for both Christianity as well as Judaism and in turn the battle was a great moral victory for both religions.
Reproduced below is General Sir Edmund Allenby's account of events which led to the fall of Jerusalem into Allied hands on 9 December 1917.
Allenby recounts how he formally entered the historic city two days following its fall and noted that "the population received me well".
His account is as follows
The date for the attack on Jerusalem was fixed as December 8th.
British troops from a Welsh Regiment, with a cavalry regiment attached, had advanced from their positions north of Beersheba up the Hebron-Jerusalem road on the 4th. No opposition was met, and by the evening of the 6th the head of this column was ten miles north of Hebron.
The infantry were directed to reach the Bethlehem-Befit Jala area by the 7th, and the line Surbahir-Sherafat (about three miles south of Jerusalem) by dawn on the 8th, and no troops were to enter Jerusalem during this operation.
It was recognized that the troops on the extreme right might be delayed on the 7th and fail to reach the positions assigned to them by dawn on the 8th. Arrangements were therefore made to protect the right flank west of Jerusalem, in case such delay occurred.
On the 7th the weather broke, and for three days rain was almost continuous. The hills were covered with mist at frequent intervals, rendering observation from the air and visual signalling impossible.
A more serious effect of the rain was to jeopardize the supply arrangements by rendering the roads almost impassable - quite impassable, indeed, for mechanical transport and camels in many places.
The troops moved into positions of assembly by night, and, assaulting at dawn on the 8th, soon carried their first objectives. They then pressed steadily forward. T he mere physical difficulty of climbing the steep and rocky hillsides and crossing the deep valleys would have sufficed to render progress slow, and the opposition encountered was considerable.
Artillery support was soon difficult, owing to the length of the advance and the difficulty of moving guns forward. But by about noon London troops had already advanced over two miles, and were swinging northeast to gain the Nablus-Jerusalem road, while the yeomanry had captured the Beit Iksa spur, and were preparing for a further advance.
As the right column had been delayed and was still some distance south of Jerusalem, it was necessary for the London troops to throw back their right and form a defensive flank facing east toward Jerusalem, from the western outskirts of which considerable rifle and artillery fire was being experienced.
This delayed the advance, and early in the afternoon it was decided to consolidate the line gained and resume the advance next day, when the right column would be in a position to exert its pressure.
By nightfall our line ran from Neby Samwil to the east of Beit Iksa, through Lifta to point about one and a half miles west of Jerusalem, whence it was thrown back facing east. All the enemy's prepared defences west and northwest of Jerusalem had been captured, and our troops were within a short distance of the Nablus-Jerusalem road.
The London troops and yeomanry had displayed great endurance in difficult conditions. The London troops especially, after a night march in heavy rain to reach their positions of deployment, had made an advance of three to four miles in difficult hills in the face of stubborn opposition.
During the day about 300 prisoners were taken and many Turks killed. British casualties were thankfully light.
Next morning the advance was resumed. The Turks had withdrawn during the night, and the London troops and yeomanry, driving back rear guards, occupied a line across the Nablus-Jerusalem road four miles north of Jerusalem, while Welsh troops occupied a position east of Jerusalem across the Jericho road.
These operations isolated Jerusalem, and at about noon the enemy sent out a parlementaire and surrendered the city.
In the operations from October 31st to December 9th over 12,000 prisoners were taken. The total captures of material have not yet been fully counted, owing to the large area covered by these operations; but are known to include about 100 guns of various calibres, many machine guns, more than 20,000,000 rounds of rifle ammunition, and 250,000 rounds of gun ammunition.
More than twenty airplanes were destroyed by our airmen or burned by the enemy to avoid capture.
I entered the city officially at noon, December 11th, with a few of my staff, the commanders of the French and Italian detachments, the heads of the political missions, and the Military Attaches of France, Italy, and America.
The procession was all afoot, and at Jaffa gate I was received by the guards representing Britain, notably England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, then also Australia, New Zealand, India, France, and Italy. The population received me well.
Guards have been placed over the holy places. My Military Governor is in contact with the acting custodians and the Latin and Greek representatives. The Governor has detailed an officer to supervise the holy places.
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