The Charge at Kiswe took place on 30 September 1918 about south of
Damascus, during the pursuit by
Desert Mounted Corps
The Desert Mounted Corps was an army corps of the British Army during the First World War, of three mounted divisions renamed in August 1917 by General Edmund Allenby, from Desert Column. These divisions which served in the Sinai and Pales ...
following the decisive
Egyptian Expeditionary Force
The Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) was a British Empire military formation, formed on 10 March 1916 under the command of General Archibald Murray from the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and the Force in Egypt (1914–15), at the beginning ...
victory at the
Battle of Megiddo, the
Battle of Jisr Benat Yakub and the
Charge at Kaukab during the
Sinai and Palestine Campaign in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. As Desert Mounted Corps rode along the main road from
Nablus, units of the
14th Cavalry Brigade,
5th Cavalry Division, were ordered to charge a rearguard north of
Kiswe, protecting columns of the
Ottoman Fourth Army, retreating towards Damascus.
Following the victories at the
Battle of Sharon
The Battle of Sharon fought between 19 and 25 September 1918, began the set piece Battle of Megiddo (1918), Battle of Megiddo half a day before the Battle of Nablus (1918), Battle of Nablus, in which large formations engaged and responded to mov ...
and
Battle of Nablus during the Battle of Megiddo, remnants of the
Yildirim Army Group
The Yildirim Army Group or Thunderbolt Army Group of the Ottoman Empire ( Turkish: ''Yıldırım Ordular Grubu'') or Army Group F (German: ''Heeresgruppe F'') was an Army Group of the Ottoman Army during World War I. While being an Ottoman unit, ...
's Fourth Army retreated from
Amman along the Pilgrim's Road, via
Deraa
Daraa ( ar, دَرْعَا, Darʿā, Levantine Arabic: , also Darʿā, Dara’a, Deraa, Dera'a, Dera, Derʿā and Edrei; means "''fortress''", compare Dura-Europos) is a city in southwestern Syria, located about north of the border with Jorda ...
(captured by Arab forces), while the
Seventh
Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven.
Seventh may refer to:
* Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution
* A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts
Film and television
*"The Seventh", a second-season e ...
and
Eighth Armies retreated in columns towards
Damascus from the
Judean Hills
The Judaean Mountains, or Judaean Hills ( he, הרי יהודה, translit=Harei Yehuda) or the Hebron Mountains ( ar, تلال الخليل, translit=Tilal al-Khalīl, links=, lit=Hebron Mountains), is a mountain range in Palestine and Israel wh ...
. Rearguards established at
Samakh, at
Tiberias
Tiberias ( ; he, טְבֶרְיָה, ; ar, طبريا, Ṭabariyyā) is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's F ...
and at
Jisr Benat Yakub were all captured by the
Australian Mounted Division
The Australian Mounted Division originally formed as the Imperial Mounted Division in January 1917, was a mounted infantry, light horse and yeomanry division. The division was formed in Egypt, and along with the Anzac Mounted Division formed p ...
with the
5th Cavalry Division in reserve. On the way to Deraa from the
Jordan River, the rearguard at
Irbid was attacked by the
4th Cavalry Division.
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
The Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry (SRY) was a British Yeomanry regiment. In 1967 it was amalgamated with other units to form the Royal Yeomanry (RY), a light cavalry regiment of the Army Reserve. Originally raised as the Nottinghamshire Yeomanry Cav ...
), 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
Feisal's Sherifial Force covering the cavalry division's right flank, north to Damascus away. The Australian Mounted Division with the 5th Cavalry Division in reserve, began their pursuit to Damascus on 27 September, around the northern end of the
Sea of Galilee, also known as Lake Tiberias, via Jisr Benat Yakub and
Kuneitra.
[These advances have been characterised as a "race for Damascus". ullett 1919 pp. 39–40See also Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 567]
Liman von Sanders and Yildirim Army Group withdraws
By 26 September the Fourth Army's Amman garrison (less the
rearguard captured at Amman) had not been "heavily engaged,"
[Wavell 1968 pp. 224–5] and "was still intact as a fighting force even though it was in rapid retreat" northwards towards Damascus, along the
Hejaz railway and Pilgrims Road, some miles to the east of the Jordan River.
[Bruce 2002 p. 241]
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.
[Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 567]
The retreating columns which moved via Deraa were at or north of Muzeirib on their way to Damascus by 27 September.
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.
[Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 595]
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 south of Damascus, pursued by the
Egyptian Expeditionary Force
The Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) was a British Empire military formation, formed on 10 March 1916 under the command of General Archibald Murray from the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and the Force in Egypt (1914–15), at the beginning ...
's 4th Cavalry Division behind.
[Wavell 1968 p. 227][Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 574]
5th Cavalry Division
During the cavalry phase of the
Battle of Sharon
The Battle of Sharon fought between 19 and 25 September 1918, began the set piece Battle of Megiddo (1918), Battle of Megiddo half a day before the Battle of Nablus (1918), Battle of Nablus, in which large formations engaged and responded to mov ...
the 5th Cavalry Division had captured
Nazareth and
Haifa
Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...
. The division had followed the Australian Mounted Division's pursuit of the remnant Yildirim Army Group along the Jerusalem to Damascus road, when it was ordered to move to cut the road from Deraa to the south of Damascus.
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
General Sir Henry George Chauvel, (16 April 1865 – 4 March 1945) was a senior officer of the Australian Imperial Force who fought at Gallipoli and during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of the First World W ...
the commander of the
Desert Mounted Corps
The Desert Mounted Corps was an army corps of the British Army during the First World War, of three mounted divisions renamed in August 1917 by General Edmund Allenby, from Desert Column. These divisions which served in the Sinai and Pales ...
, to "intercept a force of 2,000 Turks reported by an aeroplane to be retiring towards Damascus by the Pilgrims' Road."
At this point, the road from Kuneitra to Damascus along which the Australian Mounted and the 5th Cavalry Divisions were advancing, was only from the Pilgrims' Road from Deraa; the two roads converging as they approached Damascus.
The "5th Cavalry Division turned eastwards, to intercept and destroy the remnants of the Turkish Fourth Army before it reached Damascus," with the Essex Battery
Royal Horse Artillery
The Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) was formed in 1793 as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery (commonly termed Royal Artillery) to provide horse artillery support to the cavalry units of the British Army. (Although the cavalry link r ...
(RHA) following in support.
Defence of Damascus
Otto Liman von Sanders
Otto Viktor Karl Liman von Sanders (; 17 February 1855 – 22 August 1929) was an Imperial German Army general who served as a military adviser to the Ottoman Army during the First World War. In 1918 he commanded an Ottoman army during the Sin ...
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. The Tiberias Group commanded by Jemal Pasha (commander of the Fourth Army) was also ordered to defend Damascus.
Battle
As the 5th Cavalry Division's vanguard 14th Cavalry Brigade approached
Kiswe and the Pilgrims Road along the left bank of the Wadi ez Zabirani, with the hills of El Jebel el Aswad on their left, patrols reported the village "strongly held." They reported "the enemy was established also on the hills of El Jebel el Aswad to the north and the road was packed with troops and transport."
[Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 575]
At Kiswe a rearguard of 2,000 Ottoman soldiers armed with machine guns defended the town, stopping the advance by the
20th Deccan Horse
The Deccan Horse or 9 Horse is one of the oldest and most decorated armoured regiments of the Indian Army. The Royal Deccan Horse (9th Horse), which was a regular cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army was formed from the amalgamation of t ...
and the
34th Poona Horse (14th Cavalry Brigade).
[The third brigade of the 14th Cavalry Brigade, the 1/1st ]Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry
The Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry (SRY) was a British Yeomanry regiment. In 1967 it was amalgamated with other units to form the Royal Yeomanry (RY), a light cavalry regiment of the Army Reserve. Originally raised as the Nottinghamshire Yeomanry Cav ...
remained at Haifa on the lines of communication. alls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 574/ref> Macandrews ordered them to bypass Kiswe and at noon concentrated his force for the attack on another enemy rearguard to the north, leaving a squadron of Deccan Horse near Kiswe.
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.
The remainder of the 14th Cavalry Brigade rode 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.
The 34th Poona Horse came into contact with a rearguard in a "large stone sangar." 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," 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."
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.
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.
Aftermath
At 14:00 a troop of the 1/1st Gloucester Hussars, 13th Cavalry Brigade with a Hotchkiss rifle section reconnoitred the Ottoman wireless station at Qadem; both the railway and wireless were found to be burning; they captured some Ottoman soldiers before "entering the close country west of Qadem" when they charged and killed a number before withdrawing back to the headquarters of the Australian Mounted Division
The Australian Mounted Division originally formed as the Imperial Mounted Division in January 1917, was a mounted infantry, light horse and yeomanry division. The division was formed in Egypt, and along with the Anzac Mounted Division formed p ...
.
At 14:30 Macandrew ordered the 13th Cavalry Brigade consisting of the Gloucester Hussars, 9th Hodson's Horse
4th Horse (Hodson's Horse) is a part of the Armoured Corps of the Indian Army, which had its beginnings as an irregular cavalry regiment during the time of the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
Formation
The regiment was raised during the turbulent tim ...
and 18th Lancers, to advance from Kaukab to Kiswe but was withdrawn two hours later back to garrison Kaukab. Meanwhile, the brigade's vanguard; one squadron of 9th Hodson's Horse captured 700 prisoners which were sent to the rear escorted by two troops. The remainder of the squadron then pursued and attempted to capture a retreating column of about 1,500 east of the Pilgrims Road. The attack ceased without support from their brigade.
Position of Desert Mounted Corps
By midnight on 30 September/1 October, the Australian Mounted Division was at El Mezze to the west of Damascus.[Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 586]
The 14th Cavalry Brigade, held "the last ridge south of the city, the others rigades of the 5th Cavalry Division werefurther back near Kaukab."[Hill 1978 p. 176] 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. 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. An Arab force was reported to be camped at Kiswe.[Bruce 2002 p. 244]
Chauvel ordered the 5th Cavalry Division to the east of Damascus while the 4th Cavalry Division continued their advance from the south.
Notes
Citations
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiswe, Charge at
Conflicts in 1918
Battles of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign
Battles of World War I involving the United Kingdom
Battles of World War I involving British India
Battles of World War I involving Australia
Battles of World War I involving the Ottoman Empire
Battles of World War I involving Germany
September 1918 events
Battles of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk