The conquest of Palestine, Syria, and Mesopotamia by the British armies.
Then again there was a month of inactivity, ominous by its very quietness. And, indeed, before long the storm broke. Soon after the middle of September, 1918, a carefully planned offensive was started by General Allenby, an offensive which was destined to free the Holy Land from Turkish domination.
During the night of September 18, 1918, British troops commenced a general attack on the front between the Jordan and the sea. To the east of the Jerusalem-Shechem road British and Indian troops advanced and successfully intercepted the Turkish road communications leading southeast from Shechem.
Early in the morning of September 19, 1918, the main attack, in which French troops participated, was launched, after a short bombardment, between Rafat and the coast.
The Allied infantry made rapid progress, overrunning the entire hostile defensive system on this frontage by 8 a. m., and penetrating to a maximum depth of five miles before swinging eastward. Tul Keram railway junction was occupied in the course of the afternoon, while a brigade of Australian Light Horse had reached the main Tul Keram-Messudieh railway and road in the vicinity of Anebta, cutting off large bodies of the retreating enemy, with guns and transport. Meantime a strong cavalry force of British, Indian, and Australian troops, moving northward in the coastal plain, seized the road junction of Hudeira, nineteen miles from the point of departure, and twenty-eight miles north of Joppe, by midday.
East of the Jordan, a strong detachment of the Arab troops of the king of the Hedjaz, descending on the Turkish railway junction of Deraa, severed the rail communications leading north, south, and west from that center. Naval units cooperated with the advance of the land troops, clearing the coastal roads with gunfire.
By 8 p. m. on September 19, 1918, over 3,000 prisoners had passed through corps cages, many more being reported, but not yet counted. Large quantities of material had also been taken.
By 8 p. m. on September 20, 1918, the enemy resistance had collapsed everywhere, save on the Turkish left in the Jordan Valley. The British left wing, having swung round to the east, had reached the line Bidieh-Baka-Messudieh Junction, astride the rail and roads converging on Shechem from the west. The right wing, advancing through difficult country against considerable resistance, had reached the line Khan Jibeit-Es Sawieh, facing north astride the Jerusalem-Shechem road. On the north, cavalry, traversing the Field of Armageddon, had occupied Nazareth, Afuleh, and Beisan, and were collecting the disorganized masses of enemy troops and transport as they arrived from the south.