First Transjordan attack on Amman (1918)
Encyclopedia
The First Transjordan attack on Amman (known to the British as the First Attack on Amman and to the Central Powers
as the First Battle of the Jordan) was part of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign
of World War I
. Between 21 and 30 March 1918, three separate engagements occurred which together form the First Transjordan attack. The first of these was the Passage of the Jordan River, which occurred from 21 to 23 March. The second engagement, the First Action of Es Salt
, took place in the hills of Moab
from 24 to 25 March. The final engagement, which occurred from 27 to 30 March 1918, was the First Attack on Amman
. These engagements were followed by the retreat by the British Empire
force to the Jordan Valley between 31 March and 2 April 1918.
During the winter of 1917/1918, the considerable territorial gains by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force
as a consequence of victories at the Battle of Mughar Ridge
in November and the Battle of Jerusalem in December; from the Gaza
– Beersheba
line to the Jaffa
– Jerusalem line, were consolidated. The front line was adjusted in February 1918 when the right flank of the Jaffa to Jerusalem line was secured by the capture of land to the east of Jerusalem and down into the Jordan Valley
to Jericho and the Dead Sea
. The Capture of Jericho
was also a necessary precursor, along with the Action of Tell 'Asur
, to advances by Allenby
's force across the Jordan River and into the hills of Moab towards Es Salt
and Amman
.
In March, after several unsuccessful attempts by a British Empire
force of Australia
n, British
and New Zealand
swimmers, the first Transjordan attack began with the passage of the Jordan River. The swimmers eventually got lines across the fast-flowing river while under fire from Ottoman
forces on the east bank, and pontoon bridges were quickly constructed so that infantry and New Zealand mounted troops could cross the river to attack Ottoman defenders on the east bank where a bridgehead
eventually establish. Subsequently, Shea's force of infantry and mounted troops crossed the river and advanced eastwards across the high country; the central column of infantry moving along the main road quickly captured the Ottoman position at Shunet Nimrin on rising ground from the Jordan Valley and the town of Es Salt high in the hills. Meanwhile, the mounted columns continued marching to the north and south of the infantry column on to Amman 30 miles (48.3 km) east of Jericho on the high plateau. Their objective was to effectively cut the main supply line to the north and south of Amman by destroying long sections of the Hedjaz Railway, including tunnels and a viaduct
over which the railway travelled near the town. Amman was strongly defended by the Ottoman Army and the blown up sections of the railway were quickly replaced to allow reinforcements to continue to arrive and strengthen the defenders. British Empire infantry and artillery reinforcements were also sent forward from Es Salt, both of which took considerable time to cover the difficult and unfriendly terrain. Although the combined force of infantry and mounted troops made a determined attack on Amman, Shea was forced to retreat to the Jordan Valley from both Amman and Es Salt when it became clear the defenders were too strong making it extremely difficult, if not impossible to achieve the operation's objective. The only territorial gains following the offensive were the establishment of bridgeheads on the eastern side of the river.
promised General Edmund Allenby, Commander in Chief of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF), substantial reinforcement
s after his successful capture of Jerusalem. The Imperial War Cabinet
was keen to know when Allenby would be ready to make further advances; they wished operations against the Ottomans to continue as forcefully as possible within the means at Allenby's disposal and they attached importance to the cutting the Hedjaz Railway. The French, however, imposed an important qualification to Joint Note 12 which gave qualified approval for a decisive offensive against the Ottoman armies; no British troops in France could be deployed to the EEF. It was therefore decided to reinforce the EEF with one or possibly two Indian cavalry divisions from France and three divisions from Mesopotamia, which were to be supported by more artillery and aircraft.
On 7 March 1918, the promised reinforcements were reduced to just one Indian
division and four batteries of 6-inch howitzer
s from Mesopotamia
due to arrive by the end of May. Further, Indian battalion
s and cavalry
based in France
were, during March and April, to be substituted for British infantry
and mounted formations which had had long experience serving in Palestine; they would go to the Western Front
. Four additional aircraft squadrons
were, however, promised for the coming summer, in addition to squadrons then being formed and a Canadian construction battalion was to be sent from France as soon as its replacement, in the process of formation in Canada
, arrived on the Western Front. Also promised were enough railway track to complete the doubling of the railway to Rafa
and a single line beyond Haifa
. By July it was hoped that 152 locomotive
s and 3,245 wagons would be available, with a promise of more if required; railway personnel and labour to run this railway were to come from Mesopotamia.
Jan Christiaan Smuts, a member of the War Cabinet, had been sent to Palestine
in early February to confer with Allenby regarding the implementation of Joint Note No. 12. At that time he encouraged Allenby in the view that if 10–15 mi (16.1–24.1 km) of the Hedjaz Railway near Amman could be destroyed, the Ottoman Army garrison
s along the railway south from Amman to Medina
would be isolated and weakened, which could result in further Arab uprisings. Allenby had written to Robertson CIGS
in late January regarding his wish to cut the Hedjaz Railway at Amman – an important Ottoman line of communication
to the garrisons to the south of Amman, which would considerably weaken their positions. Without reliable supplies and reinforcements Bedouin
and Arab
forces in the region could be encouraged to attack and rebel against these weakened Ottoman Empire forces and lengthen Allenby's right.It has been suggested the capture of the town of Amman was the objective of the first Transjordan attack; that it was to be developed into a base from which to mount an attack on the Maan
station to the south as this was considered to be the most important Hedjaz railway station between Deraa and Medina. [Bruce 2002, pp. 191-2] Allenby continues: "If I could destroy 10 or 15 miles of rail and some bridges and get touch with the Arabs under Feisal – even temporarily – the effect would be great."He may have had in mind a similar attack carried out by the Anzac Mounted Division on 23 May 1917 when 15 miles (24.1 km) of railway including bridges were destroyed on the Ottoman railway from Beersheba to Auja. [Wavell 1968, p. 90, Powles 1922, pp. 110, 113] For a description of the procedure used to destroy the rails see Powles 1922, p. 112. The success of this earlier operation may have influenced Allenby to chose the Anzac Mounted Division for the attack on Amman.
A necessary prerequisite to the first Transjordan attack was a broadening of the EEF' base to better support the proposed attack on the Hedjaz Railway at Amman. During the Action of Tell 'Asur between 8 and 12 March 1918, the front line in the Judean Hills was pushed further north giving a substantially stronger base for attacks eastwards. A general advance on a front of between 14–26 mi (22.5–41.8 km) and up to a maximum of depth of between 5–7 mi (8–11.3 km) by the XX and the XXI Corps, pushed Ottoman forces north from the River Auja on the Mediterranean coast, north on both sides of the road from Jerusalem to Nablus, capturing Ras el Ain and Tell 'Asur and from Abu Tellul and Mussallabeh on the edge of the Jordan Valley.
at the time, the Balfour Declaration was published in London
in November 1917 and became widely known. The declaration, which established the idea of a Jewish
national homeland in Palestine, contained a proviso that such a homeland would not be at the expense of the rights of the Palestinians
already living there.Bruce claims the contents of the declaration were soon known to Arab leaders. [Bruce 2002 p. 192]
The establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine depended on a compliant Palestinian population and the British were eager to conciliate wherever possible. Orders were issued to be "carefully friendly to the Arab tribes" from east of the Jordan River, as they fought with the Sharif of Mecca
against the Ottomans. These Arabs were to be treated with the greatest consideration, all payments to them were made in cash and all friction was to be avoided. Politically, Britain needed Feisal
's support and Feisal needed British military support and the British encouraged the people to look to Feisal and the Hashemite
s as their new rulers.
Military cooperation between the Arabs and the British Empire forces was expected during these Transjordan operations although it was to be fairly limited. T. E. Lawrence
and the forces of the Arab Revolt
based on Akaba
had blown up lengths of rail track, bridges and Ottoman supply trains with explosives. In early March Sherifian
Arabs led by the Emir Feisal and guided by Lawrence were raiding Ottoman units south of El Kutrani and were in some force about Et Tafile
on 11 March but withdrew a week later. In response the Ottoman Army sent a strong force including a German infantry battalion south from Amman to defend the railway and the important town of Ma'an. The Bedouin near Madeba
were inclined to be hostile to the Ottoman Army and it was hoped that the planned attack on Amman might attract their support.
The establishment of a bridgehead on the east bank of the Jordan River and the advance to Es Salt and Amman was to be preceded by diversionary attacks across the entire front and coordinated with an Arab raid led by T. E. Lawrence on the Deraa Hedjaz railway station.
Allenby ordered Major General John Shea (commander of the 60th (London) Infantry Division) to cross the Jordan River and attack Es Salt and Amman. The aim of these attacks was to destroy or damage a long viaduct and tunnel near Amman on one of the Ottoman Empire's strategically-important lines of communication
– the Hedjaz Railway. This rail line ran from Damascus southwards through eastern Syria 60 miles (96.6 km) east of Jerusalem all the way to Medina. By destroying the tunnel and viaduct which would be difficult to repair, the rail line could be cut for a considerable period of time and the Ottoman forces to the south would be isolated. Ottoman Army pressure on the Arab forces operating in the Maan area would be reduced and Allenby hoped Shea's attack would encourage the recall of a large Ottoman force which had occupied Tafila in March. Despite the extended front Shea's force would be operating on far from reinforcements, resistance to the attack was expected to be light.
RGA
, the Hong Kong and Singapore Mountain Battery (four 12-pounder guns), a Light Armoured Car Brigade, the Army Bridging Train, Desert Mounted Corps Bridging Train and pontoon units.Blenkinsop refers to the 60th Indian Division but the Londoners did not leave for the Western Front until after the second Transjordan attack. On several occasions during the concentration of Shea's force before the attack, German and Ottoman aircraft had bombed their camps while British Empire aircraft had been absent.
During these operations the remainder of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force continued to hold the front line, garrison the captured territories and supply the troops.
German and Ottoman sources describe the passage of the Jordan being opposed by about 1,000 rifles and six guns with some squadrons of cavalry. Defending Amman on 27 March the garrison consisted of 2,150 rifles, 70 machine guns and ten guns, and in the three days to 30 March, 2,000 reinforcements arrived with many more to follow. Jemal Kuchuk, commander of the 4th Army, arrived in Amman on 28 March.
The Ottoman 48th Infantry Division was defending the Jordan River and, on 21 March, was reinforced by 600 Ottoman infantry at the Ghoraniyeh crossing and by two squadrons of cavalry at Makhadet Hajlah ford.It has been claimed that some time before 21 March Ottoman troops had been withdrawn from the eastern bank of the river.[Keogh 1955, p. 210] Defending Shunet Nimrin, Es Salt and Amman, Lieutenant Colonel Asim commanded a force, which included the 3rd Assault Company (three infantry battalions), the German 703rd Infantry Battalion (with some machine guns) and held in reserve at the Amman railway station, cavalry and artillery units with the 46th Assault Company (46th Infantry Division). On the seventh day of battle this assault company formed Asim's right wing and led the final push. Concentrated at Amman were about 4,000 Ottoman troops with fifteen guns and a large number of machine guns in fortified defences. A further 2,000 reinforcements moved towards Es Salt from the north.
German and Ottoman squadrons of aircraft in the area included single-seater Albatros D.5.a scouts and A.E.G. two-seaters, Rumplers (260-h.p. Mercedes), L.V.G's (260-h.p. Benz) and Halberstadts all with similar flying-speeds to the British Bristol Fighters.
during the month they patrolled the Jordan Valley after the capture of Jericho. These were at Ghoraniyeh and at Makhadet Hajlah (also known as Joshua's Crossing and the site of the baptism of Christ); these crossings were thought to be the only places bridges could be constructed at the time of year. Nevertheless, on 6 and 7 March a company of the London and Scottish, 179th Brigade (60th (London) Infantry Division) attempted unsuccessfully to ford the river at El Mandesi 3 miles (4.8 km) north of the site of the old stone bridge at Ghoraniyeh, which had been blown up by the retiring Ottoman Army.
Several days of heavy rain caused the river to rise and become many feet deep, filling from bank to bank in a swiftly flowing torrent with strong currents. Lieutenant General Philip Chetwode
, commander of XX Corps, expressed his concerns regarding the state of the Jordan River in a letter to Allenby on 18 March 1918, when he described the heavy rain and the resulting rise in the river's height and his concerns that these may threaten the viability of Transjordan operations.
At midnight on 21 March, the day the Spring Offensive
was launched on the Western Front
, another attempt to cross the Jordan began. Two battalions from the of the 180th Brigade, 60th (London) Infantry Division; the 2/17th and 2/19th Battalions London Regiment
attempted to ford the river at Ghoraniyeh and Makhadet Hajlah. Two swimmers were lost and at Ghoraniyeh the 2/17th (Poplar and Stepney) Battalion suffered severe casualties trying to get a line across the river. Later, repeated unsuccessful attempts were made to cross the river in punts and rafts. Many were drowned when Asim's German and Ottoman defenders opened fire on barges made of wood and tarpaulins stretched over framework which became waterlogged after being holed by gunfire. While all attempts to put rafts across at Ghoraniyeh were defeated, at Makhadet Hajlah a few men from the London units and Australian engineers swam the river with a rope and pulled the first raft across. While attempting to bridge the river at Makhadet Hajlah, at least eight swimmers of the 2/19th (St. Pancras) Battalion were shot by Ottoman defenders on the east bank. Swimmers from the same battalion eventually successfully crossed the river unobserved and secured a rope to a tree trunk on the opposite bank. At 01:20 on 22 March, the first raft holding 27 men got across the Jordan River safely, but they became casualties as Ottoman artillery scored a direct hit. Steel chains were eventually attached to trees and a temporary bridge constructed. Working under Ottoman fire, this first bridge was established by sappers from an Australian and New Zealand engineer unit which had been training for three weeks. By 01:30 a second pontoon bridge at Makhadet Hajlah had been finished by the Anzac Bridging Train.
At 04:00 on 23 March the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment began to cross the river at Makhadet Hajlah. Two squadrons pushed Ottoman units back out of the country on the eastern bank as far north as Ghoraniyeh while one squadron was sent eastwards. This squadron, charged into the Ottoman cavalry and overran it. Lieutenant K. J. Tait and his lead troop of 20 men (armed with rifles) intercepted 60 sabre-carrying Ottoman cavalry on a track near Qabr Mujahid. Remaining mounted the New Zealanders galloped and shot as many as 20 Ottoman soldiers with their rifles but Tait was killed in a duel with the Ottoman cavalry officer.Kinloch quotes from the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment's War Diary which describes these New Zealanders "using their rifles at the gallop" aiming and firing their .303s at the same time as they maintained control of their horses. The war diary notes the New Zealanders' lack of swords; "This was one of the few occasions on which a weapon for shock action would have been useful."[Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment March War Diary AWM4-35-2-34]
Meanwhile the two squadrons which rode north towards Ghoraniyeh encountered a strongly-held crossing; here the Ottoman infantry stood their ground while a troop of the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment's 3rd Squadron galloped into them capturing a machine gun and turning it on the escaping Ottoman soldiers. This bold attack on Ghoraniyeh coincided with a successful attempt by the 60th (London) Infantry Division to cross the river; they soon had their pontoon bridge across and by nightfall were beginning to cross the river in numbers. During these engagements the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment galloped down detachments of Ottoman infantry and cavalry capturing 68 prisoners and four machine guns.The Regiment less the 11th Squadron moved to attack Ghoraniyeh at the gallop; at Butmet Halhul at 07:45 they charged mounted capturing 17 prisoners without casualty. Meanwhile the troop of 11th Squadron sent north had driven in and captured an Ottoman post of 18 soldiers with two machine guns on a position overlooking Kasr el Yehud. An attempt was made by the 4th Squadron to capture Shunet Nimrin while the 3rd Squadron succeeded in capturing the high ground overlooking Ghoraniyeh aided by Lieutenant Collins' troop which attacked mounted and captured two guns and 10 prisoners. The remainder of the Squadron routed the Ottoman soldiers allowing the Royal Engineers to start work on a bridge. By nightfall artillery and supplies were crossing the river at Ghoraniyeh while the remainder of the Anzac Mounted Division crossed the river at Makhadet Hajleh. The 3rd Squadron later joined the 4th attacking Shunet Nimrin but the position was too strongly held and they were forced to retire under artillery fire in lines of troop columns at irregular internals. [Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment's War Diary March 1918 Report on Operations AWM4-35-2-34]
The infantry division followed the sealed metal road from the Ghoraniyeh crossing 6 miles (9.7 km) across the Jordan Valley before reaching the Shunet Nimrin defile at the foot of the hills of Moab. By 05:30 on 24 March the 60th (London) Infantry Division's 181st Brigade on the main road with the 179th Brigade on a track a little to the north, had reached the Tel el Musta to El Haud line with advanced guards ahead and the 1st Light Horse Brigade was near Wadi Abu Turra (Wadi Arseniyat).
Aircraft (including an Australian Martinsyde) had bombed Shunet Nimrin ahead of the infantry attack; the position and the hills overlooking it were captured shortly after.
Although the advance was opposed by Ottoman and German forces in terrain which favoured defence, the 22nd Battalion London Regiment successfully captured a whole battery of four guns, after Lewis guns had shot their horses. During the day 40 prisoners were captured including 35 Germans, three of whom were officers and two machine guns as well as the four field guns. This action opened up a fourth road which led up to the plateau past the Circassian village of Ain es Sir at the head of the Wadi Sir and on to Amman.
By nightfall on 24 March the 60th (London) Infantry Division with the 6th Squadron, Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiment
attached, was 4 miles (6.4 km) beyond Shunet Nimrin, marching up the motor road from Ghoraniyeh bridge to Es Salt. From Shunet Nimrin the road winds along the side of the desolate hills bordering the Wady Shaib to begin an 11 miles (17.7 km) climb in a north easterly direction towards Es Salt 2050 feet (624.8 m) above sea level.
The 3rd Light Horse Regiment (1st Light Horse Brigade) occupied Es Salt in the evening of 25 March and a brigade of the 60th (London) Infantry Division entered the town at midnight. When the town was occupied by the light horsemen and infantry, it housed about 15,000 Arab, Christian, Ottoman and Circassians in stone buildings. The 6th Squadron of the Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiment (New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade) remained with the infantry to garrison and defend the town.
The Anzac divisional headquarters and the 2nd Light Horse Brigade with the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade marched towards Amman on the number three road, a track well to the south of the main road which passed through the village of Naaur some 3 miles (4.8 km) to the south of Shunet Nimrin. From the Jordan River at 1200 feet (365.8 m) below sea level, the road to Naaur 16 miles (25.7 km) away rises 4300 feet (1,310.6 m); the country was a maze of rocky hills intersected by deep ravines. The head of the mounted force reached the top at about 02:00 on 25 March but was stretched out in single file for about 8 miles (12.9 km) along the side of the mountains.
This southern route via Naaur was the most difficult with a steep grade and the track was narrow, rocky and slippery being only wide enough for horses to move in single file and many camels, their hoofs better suited to sand, frequently slipped and fell. They continued marching through the night along roads marked on maps which were soon discovered to be little more than the beds of wadys in which the heavy rain quickly made into muddy streams. After trekking 10 miles (16.1 km) in 24 hours, they reached Ain el Hekr on the edge of the plateau.
As the road to Naaur dwindled away to a track all wheels had to be left behind including most of the reserve ammunition. All but four small pack mountain guns, a little reserve ammunition (two boxes of SAA to a camel) and the explosives required to demolish the viaduct and tunnels were put on camels and pack-horses to make the trek.
Meanwhile the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade took a path half a mile beyond Shunet Nimrin towards Rujm el Oshir, along the Wadi es Sir through Ain es Sir direct to Amman. This track was about midway between the divisional headquarters column on the Naaur track and the main road to Es Salt. The New Zealanders reached Air es Sir at noon capturing two Ottoman officers and 48 other ranks and at 13:30 the brigade concentrated at the cross roads above the town. There, they remained close to the village, for 24 hours while the column closed up; the last camel arriving at 19:30 on 26 March.The remainder of the Anzac Mounted Division joined the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade at Ain es Sir at 08:00 on 26 March. [New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade War Diary 26 March 1918 AWM 4-35-1-35]
By this stage the advance had been on the march continuously for three days and nights and owing to the exhaustion of the men and horses, Chaytor, commander of the mounted division, postponed the attack on Amman until the next morning. During the day a patrol of six German infantry was captured, another German approaching the lines was shot and a cavalry patrol of three men were "accounted for." The 2nd Light Horse Brigade advanced to the north of the Es Salt to Amman road capturing prisoners in the village of Suweileh and 30 German lorries were found bogged on the road from Es Salt, 21 of the derelict lorries were destroyed. As soon as it was dark a special patrol of a troop of the Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiment set out to cut the railway line to the south of Amman. They rode 10 miles (16.1 km) there and back in darkness and pouring rain, successfully blowing up a section of railway line south of Amman. A similar group from the 2nd Light Horse Brigade attempted to wreck the line north of Amman but was unsuccessful although a two-arched bridge on the railway north of Amman was destroyed.
The attack on Amman began on 27 March and continued until 30 March while German and Ottoman reinforcements continued to steadily arrive along the unharmed Hedjaz Railway from the north. About 4,000 to 5,000 German and Ottoman soldiers with rifles and 15 guns were in position covering the railway viaduct and tunnel while another 2,000 Ottoman soldiers moved towards Es Salt from the north. An additional 15,000 German and Ottoman troops with 15 guns reinforced Amman, while at dawn on 27 March two British infantry battalions of the 181st Brigade, left Es Salt to reinforce the two brigades of the Anzac Mounted Division (commanded by Chaytor) and the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade with three mountain gun batteries, in their attack on Amman. The British infantry reinforcements were delayed near Suweileh by local fighting between Circassians and Arabs, while a RHA
Battery also moved from Es Salt towards Amman with great difficulty, arriving on the last day of battle.
By daylight on 27 March Chaytor's force was advancing across the undulating plateau on roads and tracks in a landscape which restricted movement; all off road movement was virtually impossible because the wet and boggy terrain had recently been ploughed and planted; first shoots were just appearing. Stones which had been gathered from the fields and piled up in heaps or laid out in lines provided good cover for concealed enemy riflemen and machine guns and the wadis were steep sided; the Wadi Amman could not be crossed except in one or two places.
By 15:00 a demolition group including No. 16 New Zealand Company of the 4th Battalion Imperial Camel Corps Brigade had blown up some 5 miles (8 km) of railway line and a number of culverts. On their return, Brigadier General Meldrum (commander of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade), ordered the unit into the attack on the extreme right of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade.
At about 18:00 German and Ottoman units made a strong attack on a ridge between the 1st and 8th Squadrons of the Canterbury Mounted Rifles Regiment
, but a counterattack by the 10th Squadron drove the attacking units back and as darkness closely followed, the light horse and mounted rifles brigades dug in on the lines they held. During the night a patrol of 2nd Light Horse Brigade reached the railway line about 7 miles (11.3 km) north of Amman and blew up a two-arched bridge spanning a wadi, causing a 25 feet (7.6 m) break in the line and isolating Amman from the north.
camp had trebbled and camps along the Wady Fara had also increased. Ottoman cavalry and infantry were observed marching north with other forces on the road from Nablus and three German and Ottoman troop trains were seen to enter Amman from the north and one from the south on the same day.
Strong bodies of troops were seen by the aerial patrols, holding hilly positions about Amman and the station. At noon enemy cavalry at El Kutrani and Kerak were seen preparing to march north when aircraft dropped a bomb in the middle of a cavalry group and then machine gunned the horsemen.
Aircraft from the British No. 142 Squadron bombed Amman station and Australian aircraft bombed El Kastal station. The German and Ottoman concentration near Nahr ez Zerka, north of the Es Salt to Amman road was reported and bombed and during that afternoon and all next day (28 March) every air patrol reported enemy cavalry, infantry and transport marching along the Wady Fara road towards Jisr ed Damieh from Nablus on the road to Es Salt.
A general attack was ordered but before it could begin a strong German and Ottoman attack fell on the junction between the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade and the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade. After getting close enough to throw bombs, the attackers were driven off.These were probably stick hand grenades which had been used by the Ottoman 19th Division during their attack at Beit Ur el Tahta on 1 December 1917. See Battle of Jerusalem#Counterattack on 2 December at Beit Ur el Tahta
The delayed general attack by the mounted troops and the fresh infantry began at 13:30 but was met by very heavy machine gun fire from all sides. The ground in front of the 181st Infantry Brigade and the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade was convex in shape, giving no cover and no forward observation points, while the ground from front and flank was swept by well-placed German and Ottoman machine guns and several field batteries. The New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade was held up by Asim's German and Ottoman defenders on Hill 3039 which dominated the mounted rifles' position and made it difficult to advance, but by 16:00, the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment and the 4th Battalion Imperial Camel Corps Brigade had, managed to advance their line for a distance of 500 yards (457.2 m), to the low ridges at the foot of Hill 3039. Rain was still falling and it was bitterly cold; supply of rations and forage caused some concerns and darkness found most of the attacking force in much the same positions they had held that morning.
Shunet Nimrin was bombed by 13 German aircraft.
Fresh German and Ottoman reinforcements arrived during the day at the Amman railway station, but only the equivalent of one infantry brigade could be spared to reinforce the Anzac Mounted Division at Amman. The two remaining battalions of the 181st Brigade and two battalions of the 180th Brigade 60th (London) Infantry Division, arrived to reinforce the attackers during the day, bringing with them two mountain gun batteries. No more troops could be spared because the threat posed to the northern flank of the attacking forces at Amman, by a detachment from the Ottoman 7th Army, was so serious that the defenders in the Jordan Valley; the 1st and 2nd Light Horse Regiments, had to be reinforced by an infantry battalion.
As darkness fell a British infantry unit was alerted by a shot from the company's listening post to an enemy attack; "every rifle and machine gun burst out as hard as they could go all along the line supported by dozens of machine guns tucked away on advantageous slopes behind us, and I pitied 'Jacko' out in that storm, as I banged away with my trusty old rifle I could see the flashes in the long grass of the Turkish weapons and aimed low accordingly. I fired until my rifle was almost red–hot, I had to drop it after about fifty rounds."
At 02:00 on 30 March, the first line consisting of the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment and the 4th Battalion Imperial Camel Corps Brigade under the command of Lieutenant Colonel McCarroll began the advance on Hill 3039. The second line of the attack was formed by the Canterbury Mounted Rifles Regiment (less one squadron) with two troops of the Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Acton-Adams. All machine guns were under the command of the OC
Machine Gun Squadron; two subsections of which, went forward with the attacking force leaving three subsections (in telephone communication with the OC Squadron), in position to cover a retirement if necessary.
The first Ottoman trenches were silently attacked and, except for 23 enemy soldiers who surrendered, the garrison was bayoneted; five machine guns were captured. The Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment and the unit of the Imperial Camel Corps Battalion immediately worked to alter the Ottoman trenches and sangers to face the other way while the Canterbury and Wellington Mounted riflemen advanced through the Aucklanders on their way to attack the second position 300 yards (274.3 m) further on. This second position was captured although the defenders were alerted and opened fire with rifles and machine guns when the attackers were only half way. However, they succeeded in capturing the position, a machine gun and 14 Ottoman soldiers after which the position was consolidated. Meanwhile the 16th Company (the New Zealand Company of the 4th Battalion of the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade) moved up and joined the second line, and with the 8th Squadron Canterbury Mounted Rifles Regiment, they advanced to capture position "A" overlooking Amman and positions "B" and "C". The defenders of position "A" were forced to withdraw and soon after position "B" fell; one officer, 28 other ranks and four machine guns were captured, while position "C" surrendered without firing a shot. Here 12 other ranks and one machine gun were captured.
Allenby reported that at 02:00 the 181st Infantry Brigade and the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade and the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade attacked Amman, capturing Hill 3039 and two lines of trenches south–east of the village, but strong defensive positions covering Amman railway station continued to be held in force, making further progress towards the station impossible.
At 03:00 a British infantry advance in extended order began: "Several shots rang out slightly to our left and then instantaneously the ground in front became alive with flashing rifles and machine guns, and hoarse shouts in guttural German and Turkish Arabic added to the increasing excitement." Overrunning the first line of enemy trenches, "orders now came to rally, and in a downpour of rain the first and second waves joined up and advanced in the face of a brisk fire from snipers and isolated enemy machine guns across the top of the redoubt. In the distance on all sides could be heard the shouts of the other attacking parties."
After withdrawing from the most exposed positions on the hill, the new front line ran across the top of the hill from east to west and was held by the 4th Battalion Imperial Camel Corps Brigade, the Wellington, Canterbury and Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiments.
By daylight the advance units on Hill 3039 were being heavily counterattacked by German and Ottoman forces and between these attacks the hill was shelled by German and Ottoman guns situated to the east of Amman and out of range of the British guns. At about 09:00 a large number of German and Ottoman soldiers could be seen from divisional headquarters (immediately to the west of the town) massing on the northern slopes. News of this was immediately sent to General Meldrum but no British artillery was available to fire on the excellent target. At this time the section of Hong Kong & Singapore Mountain Battery with the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade had only four rounds.
At 09:30 a determined German and Ottoman attack was countered by effective fire from New Zealand machine guns; Nos. 1 and 3 sub–sections were in position on the right front of the Canterbury Mounted Rifles Regiment in sangers with a good field of fire covering the centre of the position. No. 5 sub-section was on the right flank of the Canterbury Regiment protecting the front of the New Zealand Camel Company. No. 2 sub-section was on the left flank of the Auckland Regiment and No. 6 on its right flank crossing the fire of Nos. 1 and 3 sub-sections; five captured machine guns were also in action in the line. However, an unauthorised order to retire was passed along the line held by the 4th Battalion of Imperial Camel Corps Brigade which caused that battalion along with the Canterbury and Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiments to start to withdraw. This withdrawal allowed the German and Ottoman attackers to reach the crest, but were held up by rifle and machine gun fire from the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment. Officers on the right quickly saw the seriousness of the situation and succeeded in rallying their men. Captain Hinson (Adjutant Canterbury Mounted Rifles Regiment) and Lieutenants Thorby and Crawford of the New Zealand 16th Camel Company, each in his own part of the line, swept their men back in a charge up on to the crest. The opposing lines briefly faced each other at a bare 15 yards (13.7 m), before the 400 to 500 Germans and Ottomans were forced back suffering many casualties.
The part played by the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade is described in Rex Hall's "The Desert Hath Pearls" 1975, pp. 104–5
During the morning the extreme left of the old New Zealand line held by a squadron of the Canterbury Mounted Rifles Regiment got into the town of Amman, but the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade on their left were forced to retire to their former position. At this time the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade's Somerset Battery arrived, having overcome all the difficulties in climbing and moving the guns through the adverse terrain, and began firing shell among the enemy but the battery's arrival was too late to influence the battle.
One German or Ottoman battery was put out of action during the operations by the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment's machine guns on top of Hill 3039 which forced this forward battery to withdrawal from its position near the Citadel in front of the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade. But by 14:00 three German or Ottoman batteries opened a heavy fire on Hill 3039 which continued for the rest of the day causing many casualties. Great difficulty was experienced in getting the wounded away from the front line, owing to their exposed position and the impossibility of digging communication trenches. At 16:00 another very heavy counterattack was made on the New Zealand line; the main force falling on the Camel Battalion causing them heavy casualties. This attack was repulsed with the help of a troop from the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade reserve which prolonged the 4th Battalion Imperial Camel Corps Brigade's right to outflank the enemy. The German and Ottoman forces made another attack under cover of an intense bombardment at 17:00, but they were again driven back.
road between Lubban
and Nablus, while the Jisr ed Damieh was bombed and machine gunned several times without causing damage to the bridge but the garrison in the area was hit; between 19 and 24 March seven more attempts were made to damage the bridge without success.
During this Transjordan operation, aircraft continuously flew over and reported progress; on 22 and 24 March Ottoman units in the Wady Fara region were seen to be active, as wass the Nablus base camp, and infantry and transport were seen marching towards Khurbet Ferweh and the Jisr ed Damieh. On 24 March a large troop-train at Lubin station on the Hedjaz Railway south of Amman was attacked by aircraft with machine-guns; 700 rounds were fired into the enemy troops.
With their equipment carried on pack-horses and pack-camels, the mobile sections of the field ambulances along with 35 cacolet camels for each ambulance, followed the attacking force to Es Salt and Amman. Their motor ambulances, ambulance wagons and sand carts remained near Jericho ready to transport wounded from the receiving station at Ghoraniyeh to the main dressing station west of Jericho. Here the Desert Mounted Corps Operating Unit and consulting surgeon were attached. Wounded were then sent back to the two casualty clearing stations in Jerusalem.
From the Jordan Valley it was a 50 miles (80.5 km) ride in a motor ambulance over the mountains of Judea to the hospital railway train, followed by 200 miles (321.9 km) train ride to hospital in Cairo, though some of the worst cases were accommodated in the hospitals in Jerusalem.
transported supplies on camels and pack horses, mules or donkeys. They covered 24 miles (38.6 km) a day from the foot of the mountains to the troops at Amman with the severe weather and slippery mountain tracks causing many casualties to camels and drivers. The total distance covered by lorries, horses and camels, from railhead to Jerusalem and on to the men in the firing line, was 86 miles (138.4 km).
Of the 2,000 camels used on convoy duties 100 were killed in action and 92 had to be destroyed because of injuries received during the operations. During the retreat from Amman many of the camels had been overloaded.
It was considered that any further attempts to capture the Amman Railway Station would incur unacceptable losses and the decision to withdraw was therefore made. Allenby reported to the War Office on 31 March that 5 miles (8 km) of railway track and culverts had been destroyed south of Amman Station and a bridge blown up, and that the object of the raid had been achieved by cutting the Hedjaz Railway. He took this decision despite the principal objective of destroying the large viaduct at Amman, had not been achieved. But it was increasingly less likely that it could be as Chaytor's force began to have difficulty defending itself from strong German and Ottoman counterattacks. Chaytor's force was therefore ordered to withdraw to Es Salt.
When darkness fell on 30 March, the front line troops received the order to retreat and an infantryman concluded: "none of us sorry to leave behind forever, we hope, a nightmare of a most terrible nature."It has been suggests the reasons why the British units decided to withdraw from Amman on 31 March were unclear; that the reason given, that substantial Ottoman reserves had been brought up was, "not at all true" and that the abandonment of this important objective is "not easily explained." [Erickson 2001, p. 195 and Erickson 2007, pp. 130-1]
By 31 March there were over 240 wounded in the divisional collecting stations such as Birket umm Amud 10.5 miles (16.9 km) from the front line. All available means including sand carts sent by the 60th (London) Infantry Division were employed and these wounded were on their way by the evening; about 50 of them walking. The last convoy of wounded which left Amman at 23:00 found 20 camels carrying wounded which had begun their journey six hours earlier, bogged and exhausted at Suweileh. Nine of them were unable to move and ambulance personnel were left to attend to the wounded throughout the night. By daylight, light horse troopers warned them that the Ottoman cavalry was close. Five camels managed to continue but the remaining four were too exhausted. Of the eight wounded, six were placed on horses, but two who appeared to be mortally wounded were left behind when Ottoman cavalry got between the covering party and the ambulance men and began firing on the group. All escaped but the two seriously wounded and three men of the 2nd Light Horse Field Ambulance mounted on donkeys who were taken prisoner. Only one of these men survived to the end of the war; the other two dying in captivity.
An outpost line was set up across the country between Ain es Sir and Amman and the whole day was spent in concentrating Chaytor's and Shea's force – mounted troops, infantry, camels and camel transport; and in getting all camels, both camel brigade and Egyptian Camel Transport Corps down the mountains. The 2nd Light Horse Brigade and the Somerset Battery took the Es Salt road while the remainder of the force, including the infantry, withdrew by the Wadi Es Sir track, up which the New Zealand Brigade had advanced.
All day long and all the next night a long line of weary camels, horses and men slowly stumbled, slipped and fell, down the mountain track which descends some 4000 feet (1,219.2 m) in 8 miles (12.9 km). It was well after daylight on the morning of 1 April, before the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade; the rearguard was able to start retiring again, while being fully occupied in holding off advanced German and Ottoman troops.
The Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiment had regained its 6th Squadron which had been detached to the 60th (London) Infantry Division and was ordered to cover the rear of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade. German and Ottomans attacks on this rearguard were held off until the regiment filed down through the village of Ain es Sir.
At 07:45 on 1 April as the rearguard of Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiment passed through the village the 2nd (Wellington West Coast) Squadron was attacked by Circassians who suddenly opened fire from a mill and adjacent caves, from houses and from behind rocks on the nearby hills. Firing at very close range with a variety of firearms they wounded men and horses; horses rearing up, bolted, screaming joined the numerous riderless horses galloping across the hillsides. Remnants of the 2nd Squadron galloped clear of the village, dismounted and counterattacked with the other two squadrons attacking from the ridges above the village.While fighting on foot, one quarter of the riflemen were holding the horses; a brigade would then be equivalent in rifle strength to an infantry battalion. [Preston 1921 p.168] They rushed the mill and its occupants were killed. No prisoners were taken; the 2nd Squadron suffered 18 casualties.
About 13:00 the Jordan Valley came into sight and a halt was made to distribute rations and forage which had been brought forward to meet the New Zealanders. The sun came out and the wind died away and an hour later they were riding down through flowers up to the horses' knees. All was peace and warmth and quiet, making it difficult to think that a few short hours before, the winds were raging, rain falling, and a bitter battle in progress.
Asim launched a pursuit of the British by the 24th Assault Company with the 8th and 9th Cavalry Regiment (3rd Cavalry Division) and on 4 April German and Ottoman counterattacks by the 24th Assault Company, the 24th Infantry Division's 3rd Battalion and 145th Infantry Regiment, began. After another unsuccessful counterattack by the Ottoman Army on 11 April they began to consolidate their positions. About this time the Ottoman 7th Army formed a provisional cavalry regiment by combining the cavalry companies from 11th, 24th, 48th and 53rd Infantry Divisions.
Designed to be a surprise raid by mounted troops, the movements of Shea's force in the difficult terrain and weather, had proved to be too slow and restricted and the element of surprise was lost. The attack did, however, force the recall of a German and Ottoman expedition to Tafileh; attempts to maintain a permanent garrison there, were abandoned.
The strong incursion by Shea's and Chaytor's forces materially helped Feisal's force; the Ottoman 4th Army withdrew part of its garrison from Maan to help defend Amman just as Feisal began his attack there. These major troop movements; the recall of the Tafileh expedition and the partial withdrawal from Maan, helped strengthen the operations of Feisal's Arabs and the threat to the Ottoman lines of communication east of the Jordan, compelling the Ottoman army to make a permanent increase to their forces in this area.These increased numbers of troops stationed east of the Jordan were made at the expense of Ottoman forces on the Mediterranean coastal plain. [Bruce 2002 p. 196]
Large new Ottoman camps were established to support the growing lower Jordan defences which included a large garrison at Shunet Nimrin. These troops moved from Nablus by the Jenin railway and then by road down the Wady Fara to the Jisr ed Damieh, where the ford was replaced by a pontoon bridge. It remained an important line of communication between the 7th Army at Nablus in the west and the 4th Army in the eastern sector.
For the first time since the Second Battle of Gaza
in April 1917, the Egyptian Expeditionary Force had been defeated; both Shea and Chetwode had opposed the attack on Amman at that time of year, believing the attacking force to be too small. Nevertheless, a second unsuccessful assault by one infantry and two mounted divisions, into the hills of Moab to Es Salt
followed just a few weeks later at the end of April. It has been suggested that these two unsuccessful operations convinced the Ottoman Army to expect more attacks to be made in the same area by the same troops, while the critical attack
in September 1918 occurred on the Mediterranean coast.The third Transjordan attack by Chaytor's force succeeded in capturing Amman a few days after Allenby launched Megiddo.
Central Powers
The Central Powers were one of the two warring factions in World War I , composed of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria...
as the First Battle of the Jordan) was part of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign
Sinai and Palestine Campaign
The Sinai and Palestine Campaigns took place in the Middle Eastern Theatre of World War I. A series of battles were fought between British Empire, German Empire and Ottoman Empire forces from 26 January 1915 to 31 October 1918, when the Armistice of Mudros was signed between the Ottoman Empire and...
of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Between 21 and 30 March 1918, three separate engagements occurred which together form the First Transjordan attack. The first of these was the Passage of the Jordan River, which occurred from 21 to 23 March. The second engagement, the First Action of Es Salt
Salt, Jordan
Salt is an ancient agricultural town and administrative centre in west-central Jordan. It is on the old main highway leading from Amman to Jerusalem. Situated in the Balqa highland, about 790–1100 metres above sea level, the town is built in the crook of three hills, close to the Jordan River...
, took place in the hills of Moab
Moab
Moab is the historical name for a mountainous strip of land in Jordan. The land lies alongside much of the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. The existence of the Kingdom of Moab is attested to by numerous archeological findings, most notably the Mesha Stele, which describes the Moabite victory over...
from 24 to 25 March. The final engagement, which occurred from 27 to 30 March 1918, was the First Attack on Amman
Amman
Amman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost...
. These engagements were followed by the retreat by the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
force to the Jordan Valley between 31 March and 2 April 1918.
During the winter of 1917/1918, the considerable territorial gains by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force
Egyptian Expeditionary Force
The Egyptian Expeditionary Force was formed in March 1916 to command the British and British Empire military forces in Egypt during World War I. Originally known as the 'Force in Egypt' it had been commanded by General Maxwell who was recalled to England...
as a consequence of victories at the Battle of Mughar Ridge
Battle of Mughar Ridge
The Battle of El Mughar Ridge , took place on 13 November 1917 during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War...
in November and the Battle of Jerusalem in December; from the Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
– Beersheba
Beersheba
Beersheba is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the seventh-largest city in Israel with a population of 194,300....
line to the Jaffa
Jaffa
Jaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.-Etymology:...
– Jerusalem line, were consolidated. The front line was adjusted in February 1918 when the right flank of the Jaffa to Jerusalem line was secured by the capture of land to the east of Jerusalem and down into the Jordan Valley
Jordan Valley (Middle East)
The Jordan Valley forms part of the larger Jordan Rift Valley. It is 120 kilometers long and 15 kilometers wide, where it runs from Lake Tiberias in the north to northern Dead Sea in the south. It runs for an additional 155 kilometer south of the Dead Sea to Aqaba, an area also known as Wadi...
to Jericho and the Dead Sea
Dead Sea
The Dead Sea , also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. Its surface and shores are below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface. The Dead Sea is deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world...
. The Capture of Jericho
Capture of Jericho (1918)
The Capture of Jericho occurred between 19–21 February 1918 to the east of Jerusalem during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of World War I. Fighting took place in an area bordered by the Bethlehem to Nablus road in the west and the Jordan River in the east and north of a line from Jerusalem to the...
was also a necessary precursor, along with the Action of Tell 'Asur
Action of Tell 'Asur
The Action of Tell 'Asur, also known as the Battle of Turmus 'Aya, took place between 8 and 12 March 1918, during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of World War I...
, to advances by Allenby
Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby
Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby GCB, GCMG, GCVO was a British soldier and administrator most famous for his role during the First World War, in which he led the Egyptian Expeditionary Force in the conquest of Palestine and Syria in 1917 and 1918.Allenby, nicknamed...
's force across the Jordan River and into the hills of Moab towards Es Salt
Salt, Jordan
Salt is an ancient agricultural town and administrative centre in west-central Jordan. It is on the old main highway leading from Amman to Jerusalem. Situated in the Balqa highland, about 790–1100 metres above sea level, the town is built in the crook of three hills, close to the Jordan River...
and Amman
Amman
Amman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost...
.
In March, after several unsuccessful attempts by a British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
force of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n, British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
swimmers, the first Transjordan attack began with the passage of the Jordan River. The swimmers eventually got lines across the fast-flowing river while under fire from Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
forces on the east bank, and pontoon bridges were quickly constructed so that infantry and New Zealand mounted troops could cross the river to attack Ottoman defenders on the east bank where a bridgehead
Bridgehead
A bridgehead is a High Middle Ages military term, which antedating the invention of cannons was in the original meaning expressly a referent term to the military fortification that protects the end of a bridge...
eventually establish. Subsequently, Shea's force of infantry and mounted troops crossed the river and advanced eastwards across the high country; the central column of infantry moving along the main road quickly captured the Ottoman position at Shunet Nimrin on rising ground from the Jordan Valley and the town of Es Salt high in the hills. Meanwhile, the mounted columns continued marching to the north and south of the infantry column on to Amman 30 miles (48.3 km) east of Jericho on the high plateau. Their objective was to effectively cut the main supply line to the north and south of Amman by destroying long sections of the Hedjaz Railway, including tunnels and a viaduct
Viaduct
A viaduct is a bridge composed of several small spans. The term viaduct is derived from the Latin via for road and ducere to lead something. However, the Ancient Romans did not use that term per se; it is a modern derivation from an analogy with aqueduct. Like the Roman aqueducts, many early...
over which the railway travelled near the town. Amman was strongly defended by the Ottoman Army and the blown up sections of the railway were quickly replaced to allow reinforcements to continue to arrive and strengthen the defenders. British Empire infantry and artillery reinforcements were also sent forward from Es Salt, both of which took considerable time to cover the difficult and unfriendly terrain. Although the combined force of infantry and mounted troops made a determined attack on Amman, Shea was forced to retreat to the Jordan Valley from both Amman and Es Salt when it became clear the defenders were too strong making it extremely difficult, if not impossible to achieve the operation's objective. The only territorial gains following the offensive were the establishment of bridgeheads on the eastern side of the river.
Background
The War OfficeWar Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
promised General Edmund Allenby, Commander in Chief of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF), substantial reinforcement
Reinforcement
Reinforcement is a term in operant conditioning and behavior analysis for the process of increasing the rate or probability of a behavior in the form of a "response" by the delivery or emergence of a stimulus Reinforcement is a term in operant conditioning and behavior analysis for the process of...
s after his successful capture of Jerusalem. The Imperial War Cabinet
Imperial War Cabinet
The Imperial War Cabinet was created by British Prime Minister David Lloyd George in the spring of 1917 as a means of co-ordinating the British Empire's military policy during the First World War...
was keen to know when Allenby would be ready to make further advances; they wished operations against the Ottomans to continue as forcefully as possible within the means at Allenby's disposal and they attached importance to the cutting the Hedjaz Railway. The French, however, imposed an important qualification to Joint Note 12 which gave qualified approval for a decisive offensive against the Ottoman armies; no British troops in France could be deployed to the EEF. It was therefore decided to reinforce the EEF with one or possibly two Indian cavalry divisions from France and three divisions from Mesopotamia, which were to be supported by more artillery and aircraft.
On 7 March 1918, the promised reinforcements were reduced to just one Indian
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...
division and four batteries of 6-inch howitzer
Howitzer
A howitzer is a type of artillery piece characterized by a relatively short barrel and the use of comparatively small propellant charges to propel projectiles at relatively high trajectories, with a steep angle of descent...
s from Mesopotamia
Mesopotamian Campaign
The Mesopotamian campaign was a campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I fought between the Allies represented by the British Empire, mostly troops from the Indian Empire, and the Central Powers, mostly of the Ottoman Empire.- Background :...
due to arrive by the end of May. Further, Indian battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
s and cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
based in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
were, during March and April, to be substituted for British infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
and mounted formations which had had long experience serving in Palestine; they would go to the Western Front
Western Front
Western Front was a term used during the First and Second World Wars to describe the contested armed frontier between lands controlled by Germany to the east and the Allies to the west...
. Four additional aircraft squadrons
Squadron (aviation)
A squadron in air force, army aviation or naval aviation is mainly a unit comprising a number of military aircraft, usually of the same type, typically with 12 to 24 aircraft, sometimes divided into three or four flights, depending on aircraft type and air force...
were, however, promised for the coming summer, in addition to squadrons then being formed and a Canadian construction battalion was to be sent from France as soon as its replacement, in the process of formation in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, arrived on the Western Front. Also promised were enough railway track to complete the doubling of the railway to Rafa
Rafah
Rafah , also known as Rafiah, is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. Located south of Gaza, Rafah's population of 71,003 is overwhelmingly made up of Palestinian refugees. Rafah camp and Tall as-Sultan form separate localities. Rafah is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate...
and a single line beyond Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
. By July it was hoped that 152 locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
s and 3,245 wagons would be available, with a promise of more if required; railway personnel and labour to run this railway were to come from Mesopotamia.
Jan Christiaan Smuts, a member of the War Cabinet, had been sent to Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
in early February to confer with Allenby regarding the implementation of Joint Note No. 12. At that time he encouraged Allenby in the view that if 10–15 mi (16.1–24.1 km) of the Hedjaz Railway near Amman could be destroyed, the Ottoman Army garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
s along the railway south from Amman to Medina
Medina
Medina , or ; also transliterated as Madinah, or madinat al-nabi "the city of the prophet") is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province. It is the second holiest city in Islam, and the burial place of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and...
would be isolated and weakened, which could result in further Arab uprisings. Allenby had written to Robertson CIGS
Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom)
Chief of the General Staff has been the title of the professional head of the British Army since 1964. The CGS is a member of both the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Army Board...
in late January regarding his wish to cut the Hedjaz Railway at Amman – an important Ottoman line of communication
Line of communication
A line of communication is the route that connects an operating military unit with its supply base. Supplies and reinforcements are transported along the line of communication. Therefore, a secure and open line of communication is vital for any military force to continue to operate effectively...
to the garrisons to the south of Amman, which would considerably weaken their positions. Without reliable supplies and reinforcements Bedouin
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
and Arab
Arab world
The Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the...
forces in the region could be encouraged to attack and rebel against these weakened Ottoman Empire forces and lengthen Allenby's right.It has been suggested the capture of the town of Amman was the objective of the first Transjordan attack; that it was to be developed into a base from which to mount an attack on the Maan
Ma'an
Ma'an is a town in southern Jordan 218 km away from the capital Amman. It is the capital of Ma'an Governorate. Ma'an has a population of around 50,000. The city had a population of 22,989 in the 1992 census and is estimated as being about 50,000 as of 2007 according to the Ma'an Municipality...
station to the south as this was considered to be the most important Hedjaz railway station between Deraa and Medina. [Bruce 2002, pp. 191-2] Allenby continues: "If I could destroy 10 or 15 miles of rail and some bridges and get touch with the Arabs under Feisal – even temporarily – the effect would be great."He may have had in mind a similar attack carried out by the Anzac Mounted Division on 23 May 1917 when 15 miles (24.1 km) of railway including bridges were destroyed on the Ottoman railway from Beersheba to Auja. [Wavell 1968, p. 90, Powles 1922, pp. 110, 113] For a description of the procedure used to destroy the rails see Powles 1922, p. 112. The success of this earlier operation may have influenced Allenby to chose the Anzac Mounted Division for the attack on Amman.
A necessary prerequisite to the first Transjordan attack was a broadening of the EEF' base to better support the proposed attack on the Hedjaz Railway at Amman. During the Action of Tell 'Asur between 8 and 12 March 1918, the front line in the Judean Hills was pushed further north giving a substantially stronger base for attacks eastwards. A general advance on a front of between 14–26 mi (22.5–41.8 km) and up to a maximum of depth of between 5–7 mi (8–11.3 km) by the XX and the XXI Corps, pushed Ottoman forces north from the River Auja on the Mediterranean coast, north on both sides of the road from Jerusalem to Nablus, capturing Ras el Ain and Tell 'Asur and from Abu Tellul and Mussallabeh on the edge of the Jordan Valley.
The Balfour Declaration
Although it was not published in the Middle EastMiddle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
at the time, the Balfour Declaration was published in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in November 1917 and became widely known. The declaration, which established the idea of a Jewish
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
national homeland in Palestine, contained a proviso that such a homeland would not be at the expense of the rights of the Palestinians
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
already living there.Bruce claims the contents of the declaration were soon known to Arab leaders. [Bruce 2002 p. 192]
The establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine depended on a compliant Palestinian population and the British were eager to conciliate wherever possible. Orders were issued to be "carefully friendly to the Arab tribes" from east of the Jordan River, as they fought with the Sharif of Mecca
Sharif of Mecca
The Sharif of Mecca or Hejaz was the title of the former governors of Hejaz and a traditional steward of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina...
against the Ottomans. These Arabs were to be treated with the greatest consideration, all payments to them were made in cash and all friction was to be avoided. Politically, Britain needed Feisal
Faisal I of Iraq
Faisal bin Hussein bin Ali al-Hashemi, was for a short time King of the Arab Kingdom of Syria or Greater Syria in 1920, and was King of the Kingdom of Iraq from 23 August 1921 to 1933...
's support and Feisal needed British military support and the British encouraged the people to look to Feisal and the Hashemite
Hashemite
Hashemite is the Latinate version of the , transliteration: Hāšimī, and traditionally refers to those belonging to the Banu Hashim, or "clan of Hashim", a clan within the larger Quraish tribe...
s as their new rulers.
Military cooperation between the Arabs and the British Empire forces was expected during these Transjordan operations although it was to be fairly limited. T. E. Lawrence
T. E. Lawrence
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence, CB, DSO , known professionally as T. E. Lawrence, was a British Army officer renowned especially for his liaison role during the Arab Revolt against Ottoman Turkish rule of 1916–18...
and the forces of the Arab Revolt
Arab Revolt
The Arab Revolt was initiated by the Sherif Hussein bin Ali with the aim of securing independence from the ruling Ottoman Turks and creating a single unified Arab state spanning from Aleppo in Syria to Aden in Yemen.- Background :...
based on Akaba
Aqaba
Aqaba is a coastal city in the far south of Jordan, the capital of Aqaba Governorate at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba. Aqaba is strategically important to Jordan as it is the country's only seaport. Aqaba is best known today as a diving and beach resort, but industrial activity remains important...
had blown up lengths of rail track, bridges and Ottoman supply trains with explosives. In early March Sherifian
Sharif
Sharīf or Chérif is a traditional Arab tribal title given to those who serve as the protector of the tribe and all tribal assets, such as property, wells, and land. In origin, the word is an adjective meaning "noble", "highborn". The feminine singular is sharifa...
Arabs led by the Emir Feisal and guided by Lawrence were raiding Ottoman units south of El Kutrani and were in some force about Et Tafile
Tafilah
At-Tafilah is a town with a population of 39,000 people in southern Jordan, located southwest of Amman. It is the capital of Tafilah Governorate. It is well-known for having green gardens which contain olive and fig trees, and grape-vines...
on 11 March but withdrew a week later. In response the Ottoman Army sent a strong force including a German infantry battalion south from Amman to defend the railway and the important town of Ma'an. The Bedouin near Madeba
Madaba
Madaba , is the capital city of Madaba Governorate of Jordan, which has a population of about 60,000. Madaba is the fifth most populous town in Jordan. It is best known for its Byzantine and Umayyad mosaics, especially a large Byzantine-era mosaic map of The Holy Land...
were inclined to be hostile to the Ottoman Army and it was hoped that the planned attack on Amman might attract their support.
Prelude
On 1 March, aircraft of No. 1 Squadron AFC reconnoitred El Kutrani and reported a camp of 150 tents, 14 large dumps, 150 rolling stock including three trains and seven gun positions south-west of the station. Nearby a new aerodrome with six hangars and a number of tents had two large two-seat aircraft on the ground. A combined Australian and British air raid by Nos 1 and 142 Squadrons dropped 45 bombs on this aerodrome on 4 March without much success. During the period the whole area on the Jordan front and the Amman position, including all camps and defence positions, was reconnoitred and mapped. At Shunet Nimrin on 3 March a considerably increased Ottoman presence was noted and successfully bombed on 6 March.The establishment of a bridgehead on the east bank of the Jordan River and the advance to Es Salt and Amman was to be preceded by diversionary attacks across the entire front and coordinated with an Arab raid led by T. E. Lawrence on the Deraa Hedjaz railway station.
Allenby ordered Major General John Shea (commander of the 60th (London) Infantry Division) to cross the Jordan River and attack Es Salt and Amman. The aim of these attacks was to destroy or damage a long viaduct and tunnel near Amman on one of the Ottoman Empire's strategically-important lines of communication
Lines of Communication
"Lines of Communication" is an episode from the fourth season of the science-fiction television series Babylon 5.-Synopsis:Franklin and Marcus attempt to persuade the Mars resistance to assist Sheridan in opposing President Clark...
– the Hedjaz Railway. This rail line ran from Damascus southwards through eastern Syria 60 miles (96.6 km) east of Jerusalem all the way to Medina. By destroying the tunnel and viaduct which would be difficult to repair, the rail line could be cut for a considerable period of time and the Ottoman forces to the south would be isolated. Ottoman Army pressure on the Arab forces operating in the Maan area would be reduced and Allenby hoped Shea's attack would encourage the recall of a large Ottoman force which had occupied Tafila in March. Despite the extended front Shea's force would be operating on far from reinforcements, resistance to the attack was expected to be light.
Shea's force
Shea's force consisted of the 60th (London) Infantry Division, the Anzac Mounted Division, the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade, 10th Heavy BatteryArtillery battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...
RGA
Royal Garrison Artillery
The Royal Garrison Artillery was an arm of the Royal Artillery that was originally tasked with manning the guns of the British Empire's forts and fortresses, including coastal artillery batteries, the heavy gun batteries attached to each infantry division, and the guns of the siege...
, the Hong Kong and Singapore Mountain Battery (four 12-pounder guns), a Light Armoured Car Brigade, the Army Bridging Train, Desert Mounted Corps Bridging Train and pontoon units.Blenkinsop refers to the 60th Indian Division but the Londoners did not leave for the Western Front until after the second Transjordan attack. On several occasions during the concentration of Shea's force before the attack, German and Ottoman aircraft had bombed their camps while British Empire aircraft had been absent.
During these operations the remainder of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force continued to hold the front line, garrison the captured territories and supply the troops.
Ottoman forces
At this time the Ottoman 4th, 7th and 8th Armies' headquarters were located at Amman, Nablus and Tul Keram, respectively, while their commander in chief's headquarters was further back at Nazareth.German and Ottoman sources describe the passage of the Jordan being opposed by about 1,000 rifles and six guns with some squadrons of cavalry. Defending Amman on 27 March the garrison consisted of 2,150 rifles, 70 machine guns and ten guns, and in the three days to 30 March, 2,000 reinforcements arrived with many more to follow. Jemal Kuchuk, commander of the 4th Army, arrived in Amman on 28 March.
The Ottoman 48th Infantry Division was defending the Jordan River and, on 21 March, was reinforced by 600 Ottoman infantry at the Ghoraniyeh crossing and by two squadrons of cavalry at Makhadet Hajlah ford.It has been claimed that some time before 21 March Ottoman troops had been withdrawn from the eastern bank of the river.[Keogh 1955, p. 210] Defending Shunet Nimrin, Es Salt and Amman, Lieutenant Colonel Asim commanded a force, which included the 3rd Assault Company (three infantry battalions), the German 703rd Infantry Battalion (with some machine guns) and held in reserve at the Amman railway station, cavalry and artillery units with the 46th Assault Company (46th Infantry Division). On the seventh day of battle this assault company formed Asim's right wing and led the final push. Concentrated at Amman were about 4,000 Ottoman troops with fifteen guns and a large number of machine guns in fortified defences. A further 2,000 reinforcements moved towards Es Salt from the north.
German and Ottoman squadrons of aircraft in the area included single-seater Albatros D.5.a scouts and A.E.G. two-seaters, Rumplers (260-h.p. Mercedes), L.V.G's (260-h.p. Benz) and Halberstadts all with similar flying-speeds to the British Bristol Fighters.
Passage of the Jordan 21–23 March
Two possible crossing places were identified by the Auckland Mounted Rifles RegimentAuckland Mounted Rifle Regiment
The Auckland Mounted Rifle Regiment was a New Zealand Mounted Regiment formed for service during World War I. It was formed from units of the Territorial Foirce consisting of the 3rd Mounted Rifles the 4th Mounted Rifles and the 11th Mounted Rifles.They served in the Middle Eastern theatre of...
during the month they patrolled the Jordan Valley after the capture of Jericho. These were at Ghoraniyeh and at Makhadet Hajlah (also known as Joshua's Crossing and the site of the baptism of Christ); these crossings were thought to be the only places bridges could be constructed at the time of year. Nevertheless, on 6 and 7 March a company of the London and Scottish, 179th Brigade (60th (London) Infantry Division) attempted unsuccessfully to ford the river at El Mandesi 3 miles (4.8 km) north of the site of the old stone bridge at Ghoraniyeh, which had been blown up by the retiring Ottoman Army.
Several days of heavy rain caused the river to rise and become many feet deep, filling from bank to bank in a swiftly flowing torrent with strong currents. Lieutenant General Philip Chetwode
Philip Chetwode, 1st Baron Chetwode
Field Marshal Philip Walhouse Chetwode, 1st Baron Chetwode, 7th Baronet of Oakley, GCB, OM, GCSI, KCMG, DSO was a British cavalry officer who became Commander in Chief in India.-Early life and education:...
, commander of XX Corps, expressed his concerns regarding the state of the Jordan River in a letter to Allenby on 18 March 1918, when he described the heavy rain and the resulting rise in the river's height and his concerns that these may threaten the viability of Transjordan operations.
At midnight on 21 March, the day the Spring Offensive
Spring Offensive
The 1918 Spring Offensive or Kaiserschlacht , also known as the Ludendorff Offensive, was a series of German attacks along the Western Front during World War I, beginning on 21 March 1918, which marked the deepest advances by either side since 1914...
was launched on the Western Front
Western Front
Western Front was a term used during the First and Second World Wars to describe the contested armed frontier between lands controlled by Germany to the east and the Allies to the west...
, another attempt to cross the Jordan began. Two battalions from the of the 180th Brigade, 60th (London) Infantry Division; the 2/17th and 2/19th Battalions London Regiment
London Regiment
The London Regiment is a Territorial Army regiment in the British Army. It was first formed in 1908 in order to regiment the various Volunteer Force battalions in the newly formed County of London, each battalion having a distinctive uniform. The Volunteer Force was merged with the Yeomanry in 1908...
attempted to ford the river at Ghoraniyeh and Makhadet Hajlah. Two swimmers were lost and at Ghoraniyeh the 2/17th (Poplar and Stepney) Battalion suffered severe casualties trying to get a line across the river. Later, repeated unsuccessful attempts were made to cross the river in punts and rafts. Many were drowned when Asim's German and Ottoman defenders opened fire on barges made of wood and tarpaulins stretched over framework which became waterlogged after being holed by gunfire. While all attempts to put rafts across at Ghoraniyeh were defeated, at Makhadet Hajlah a few men from the London units and Australian engineers swam the river with a rope and pulled the first raft across. While attempting to bridge the river at Makhadet Hajlah, at least eight swimmers of the 2/19th (St. Pancras) Battalion were shot by Ottoman defenders on the east bank. Swimmers from the same battalion eventually successfully crossed the river unobserved and secured a rope to a tree trunk on the opposite bank. At 01:20 on 22 March, the first raft holding 27 men got across the Jordan River safely, but they became casualties as Ottoman artillery scored a direct hit. Steel chains were eventually attached to trees and a temporary bridge constructed. Working under Ottoman fire, this first bridge was established by sappers from an Australian and New Zealand engineer unit which had been training for three weeks. By 01:30 a second pontoon bridge at Makhadet Hajlah had been finished by the Anzac Bridging Train.
Bridgehead established
By nightfall on 22 March an infantry battalion had crossed the Jordan River and established a 1000 yards (914.4 m) bridgehead on the eastern bank. By noon the following day two battalions of the London Regiment were across and attempting to enlarge the bridgehead. Despite being hampered by dense jungle and Ottoman machine gun fire during the day together with artillery which bombarded the slopes, an infantry brigade crossed the river and during the night the bridgehead was pushed out.On the night of 21/22 March a Company of Londoners had forced their way across the Jordan River at Makhadet Hajleh, and by the following night the whole battalion was across and at daybreak on 23 March all was clear to the east and south east for at least 500 yards (457.2 m). [The Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment's War Diary March 1918 Report on Operations AWM4-35-2-34]At 04:00 on 23 March the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment began to cross the river at Makhadet Hajlah. Two squadrons pushed Ottoman units back out of the country on the eastern bank as far north as Ghoraniyeh while one squadron was sent eastwards. This squadron, charged into the Ottoman cavalry and overran it. Lieutenant K. J. Tait and his lead troop of 20 men (armed with rifles) intercepted 60 sabre-carrying Ottoman cavalry on a track near Qabr Mujahid. Remaining mounted the New Zealanders galloped and shot as many as 20 Ottoman soldiers with their rifles but Tait was killed in a duel with the Ottoman cavalry officer.Kinloch quotes from the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment's War Diary which describes these New Zealanders "using their rifles at the gallop" aiming and firing their .303s at the same time as they maintained control of their horses. The war diary notes the New Zealanders' lack of swords; "This was one of the few occasions on which a weapon for shock action would have been useful."[Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment March War Diary AWM4-35-2-34]
Meanwhile the two squadrons which rode north towards Ghoraniyeh encountered a strongly-held crossing; here the Ottoman infantry stood their ground while a troop of the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment's 3rd Squadron galloped into them capturing a machine gun and turning it on the escaping Ottoman soldiers. This bold attack on Ghoraniyeh coincided with a successful attempt by the 60th (London) Infantry Division to cross the river; they soon had their pontoon bridge across and by nightfall were beginning to cross the river in numbers. During these engagements the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment galloped down detachments of Ottoman infantry and cavalry capturing 68 prisoners and four machine guns.The Regiment less the 11th Squadron moved to attack Ghoraniyeh at the gallop; at Butmet Halhul at 07:45 they charged mounted capturing 17 prisoners without casualty. Meanwhile the troop of 11th Squadron sent north had driven in and captured an Ottoman post of 18 soldiers with two machine guns on a position overlooking Kasr el Yehud. An attempt was made by the 4th Squadron to capture Shunet Nimrin while the 3rd Squadron succeeded in capturing the high ground overlooking Ghoraniyeh aided by Lieutenant Collins' troop which attacked mounted and captured two guns and 10 prisoners. The remainder of the Squadron routed the Ottoman soldiers allowing the Royal Engineers to start work on a bridge. By nightfall artillery and supplies were crossing the river at Ghoraniyeh while the remainder of the Anzac Mounted Division crossed the river at Makhadet Hajleh. The 3rd Squadron later joined the 4th attacking Shunet Nimrin but the position was too strongly held and they were forced to retire under artillery fire in lines of troop columns at irregular internals. [Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment's War Diary March 1918 Report on Operations AWM4-35-2-34]
Shea's force crosses the Jordan
At Makhadet Hajlah mounted rifle, light horse and camels crossed by a pontoon bridge while at Ghoraniyeh where a pontoon bridge and a heavy barrel-pier bridge were built the 60th (London) Infantry Division crossed the Jordan River. In a telegram to the War Office of 25 March 1918, Allenby reported, "During the night of 23/24 March, three bridges were thrown across the Jordan and by 08:00 the 60th (London) Infantry Division, Anzac Mounted Division and Imperial Camel Corps Brigade were east of the river." At midnight the Anzac Mounted Division was concentrated near Kasr Hajlah; and at 01:00 on the morning of 24 March, the 1st Light Horse Brigade began to cross the Jordan River by the pontoon bridge at Makhadet Hajlah. The New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade followed to join the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment and by 05:00 the leading brigade of Shea's force was 2 miles (3.2 km) along the Es Salt road moving to the east of Hajlah, and the three brigades of the 60th (London) Infantry Division were between Ghoraniyeh and Shunet Nimrin, the latter dominated by the hill of El Haud.Light horse defend the northern flank in the Jordan Valley
Moving up the eastern bank of the river to the north of the infantry, the 1st Light Horse Brigade got about 1 miles (1.6 km) north of the El Mandesi ford; half way between the Ghoraniyeh crossing and Umm esh Shert. The 1st and 3rd Light Horse Regiments (1st Light Horse Brigade) moved to protect the left or northern flank of the 60th (London) Infantry Division and to cooperate with the infantry in the attack on Es Salt while the 2nd Light Horse Regiment remained in the rear to occupy the Es Salt road from the foothills to the plateau above; here good water was found in Wadi Ralen which was developed by engineers.On 24 March the 3rd Light Horse Regiment pushed Ottoman units back, eventually forcing them to retire over the Umm es Shert crossing. The following day the 2nd Light Horse Regiment pushed north as far as Wady Ishkarara (approximately half way between Umm esh Shert and Mafid Jozele near Red Hill) before being forced by Ottoman units to withdraw back to the Umm esh Shert line covering the entrance to the track to Es Salt, up which the 3rd Light Horse Regiment had advanced to occupy Es Salt. Until 2 April (when they formed part of the rearguard), the 1st and 2nd Light Horse Regiments supported by artillery and a L. A. M. Battery, defended the line covering the Umm esh Shert track from increasingly strong Ottoman forces which crossed the river at Jisr ed Damieh. [1st Light Horse Brigade's War Diary March and April 1918 AWM 4-10-1-44, 45] See Gullett's Map 34 showing positions at sundown on 1 May during the second Transjordan operations, for the locations of these places.Occupation of Es Salt 24–25 March
The 60th (London) Infantry Division, with the 1st Light Horse Brigade covering its left flank, was to push the Ottomans from Shunet Nimrin and climb up to the plateau along the main road from Jericho to Es Salt. While the infantry was to remain at Es Salt two brigades of the Anzac Mounted Division; the New Zealand Mounted Rifles and the 2nd Light Horse Brigades with the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade were to move directly from the Jordan Valley to Amman following tracks further south along the Jordan Valley and climb up to the plateau.The infantry division followed the sealed metal road from the Ghoraniyeh crossing 6 miles (9.7 km) across the Jordan Valley before reaching the Shunet Nimrin defile at the foot of the hills of Moab. By 05:30 on 24 March the 60th (London) Infantry Division's 181st Brigade on the main road with the 179th Brigade on a track a little to the north, had reached the Tel el Musta to El Haud line with advanced guards ahead and the 1st Light Horse Brigade was near Wadi Abu Turra (Wadi Arseniyat).
Aircraft (including an Australian Martinsyde) had bombed Shunet Nimrin ahead of the infantry attack; the position and the hills overlooking it were captured shortly after.
Although the advance was opposed by Ottoman and German forces in terrain which favoured defence, the 22nd Battalion London Regiment successfully captured a whole battery of four guns, after Lewis guns had shot their horses. During the day 40 prisoners were captured including 35 Germans, three of whom were officers and two machine guns as well as the four field guns. This action opened up a fourth road which led up to the plateau past the Circassian village of Ain es Sir at the head of the Wadi Sir and on to Amman.
By nightfall on 24 March the 60th (London) Infantry Division with the 6th Squadron, Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiment
Wellington Mounted Rifle Regiment
The Wellington Mounted Regiment was a New Zealand Mounted Regiment formed for service during the Great War. It was formed from units of the Territorial Force consisting of the Queen Alexandra's 2nd Mounted Rifles the 6th Mounted Rifles and 9th Mounted Rifles.They served in the Middle Eastern...
attached, was 4 miles (6.4 km) beyond Shunet Nimrin, marching up the motor road from Ghoraniyeh bridge to Es Salt. From Shunet Nimrin the road winds along the side of the desolate hills bordering the Wady Shaib to begin an 11 miles (17.7 km) climb in a north easterly direction towards Es Salt 2050 feet (624.8 m) above sea level.
The 3rd Light Horse Regiment (1st Light Horse Brigade) occupied Es Salt in the evening of 25 March and a brigade of the 60th (London) Infantry Division entered the town at midnight. When the town was occupied by the light horsemen and infantry, it housed about 15,000 Arab, Christian, Ottoman and Circassians in stone buildings. The 6th Squadron of the Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiment (New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade) remained with the infantry to garrison and defend the town.
Trek to Amman
Amman, which is a further 18 miles (29 km) to the east southeast across the plateau from Es Salt is 3000 feet (914.4 m) above sea level, 950 feet (289.6 m) higher than Es Salt. The Anzac Mounted Division moved on the right of the infantry advance to Es Salt from Makhadet Hajlah across the Jordan Valley on the road to Naaur; one column moving up the Wadi el Kefrein sent forward a light detachment to secure the bridge at El Howeij. Near the Wadi el Kefrein a group of Arabs joined the light horse units.This column is probably the one which moved along the Naaur track as it included light horsemen, while the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade also moved along the Wade el Kefrein before branching off into the Wadi Sir. See Gullett's Map 35 which shows these tracks and the tangle of wadies.The Anzac divisional headquarters and the 2nd Light Horse Brigade with the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade marched towards Amman on the number three road, a track well to the south of the main road which passed through the village of Naaur some 3 miles (4.8 km) to the south of Shunet Nimrin. From the Jordan River at 1200 feet (365.8 m) below sea level, the road to Naaur 16 miles (25.7 km) away rises 4300 feet (1,310.6 m); the country was a maze of rocky hills intersected by deep ravines. The head of the mounted force reached the top at about 02:00 on 25 March but was stretched out in single file for about 8 miles (12.9 km) along the side of the mountains.
This southern route via Naaur was the most difficult with a steep grade and the track was narrow, rocky and slippery being only wide enough for horses to move in single file and many camels, their hoofs better suited to sand, frequently slipped and fell. They continued marching through the night along roads marked on maps which were soon discovered to be little more than the beds of wadys in which the heavy rain quickly made into muddy streams. After trekking 10 miles (16.1 km) in 24 hours, they reached Ain el Hekr on the edge of the plateau.
As the road to Naaur dwindled away to a track all wheels had to be left behind including most of the reserve ammunition. All but four small pack mountain guns, a little reserve ammunition (two boxes of SAA to a camel) and the explosives required to demolish the viaduct and tunnels were put on camels and pack-horses to make the trek.
Meanwhile the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade took a path half a mile beyond Shunet Nimrin towards Rujm el Oshir, along the Wadi es Sir through Ain es Sir direct to Amman. This track was about midway between the divisional headquarters column on the Naaur track and the main road to Es Salt. The New Zealanders reached Air es Sir at noon capturing two Ottoman officers and 48 other ranks and at 13:30 the brigade concentrated at the cross roads above the town. There, they remained close to the village, for 24 hours while the column closed up; the last camel arriving at 19:30 on 26 March.The remainder of the Anzac Mounted Division joined the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade at Ain es Sir at 08:00 on 26 March. [New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade War Diary 26 March 1918 AWM 4-35-1-35]
Anzac division gathers at Ain es Sir
After a second night's march in the cold and wet conditions moving over both bog and rock, the Anzac Mounted Division concentrated at Ain es Sir on the early morning of 26 March 6 miles (9.7 km) west of Amman. The weather was atrocious; sleet and heavy rain continued for almost the entire operation making the roads and tracks soft and boggy and all supplies of rations and forage had to be sent up to the advancing troops on camels and pack-horses.By this stage the advance had been on the march continuously for three days and nights and owing to the exhaustion of the men and horses, Chaytor, commander of the mounted division, postponed the attack on Amman until the next morning. During the day a patrol of six German infantry was captured, another German approaching the lines was shot and a cavalry patrol of three men were "accounted for." The 2nd Light Horse Brigade advanced to the north of the Es Salt to Amman road capturing prisoners in the village of Suweileh and 30 German lorries were found bogged on the road from Es Salt, 21 of the derelict lorries were destroyed. As soon as it was dark a special patrol of a troop of the Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiment set out to cut the railway line to the south of Amman. They rode 10 miles (16.1 km) there and back in darkness and pouring rain, successfully blowing up a section of railway line south of Amman. A similar group from the 2nd Light Horse Brigade attempted to wreck the line north of Amman but was unsuccessful although a two-arched bridge on the railway north of Amman was destroyed.
Battle for Amman 27–30 March
The delay in the advance of Shea's force on 26 March caused by the terrible conditions gave the Ottoman forces ample warning to consolidate their defences. Nevertheless, during the battle small gains were made which began to make an impact on the strongly entrenched German and Ottoman forces.The attack on Amman began on 27 March and continued until 30 March while German and Ottoman reinforcements continued to steadily arrive along the unharmed Hedjaz Railway from the north. About 4,000 to 5,000 German and Ottoman soldiers with rifles and 15 guns were in position covering the railway viaduct and tunnel while another 2,000 Ottoman soldiers moved towards Es Salt from the north. An additional 15,000 German and Ottoman troops with 15 guns reinforced Amman, while at dawn on 27 March two British infantry battalions of the 181st Brigade, left Es Salt to reinforce the two brigades of the Anzac Mounted Division (commanded by Chaytor) and the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade with three mountain gun batteries, in their attack on Amman. The British infantry reinforcements were delayed near Suweileh by local fighting between Circassians and Arabs, while a RHA
Royal Horse Artillery
The regiments of the Royal Horse Artillery , dating from 1793, are part of the Royal Regiment of Artillery of the British Army...
Battery also moved from Es Salt towards Amman with great difficulty, arriving on the last day of battle.
By daylight on 27 March Chaytor's force was advancing across the undulating plateau on roads and tracks in a landscape which restricted movement; all off road movement was virtually impossible because the wet and boggy terrain had recently been ploughed and planted; first shoots were just appearing. Stones which had been gathered from the fields and piled up in heaps or laid out in lines provided good cover for concealed enemy riflemen and machine guns and the wadis were steep sided; the Wadi Amman could not be crossed except in one or two places.
27 March
The attack on Amman was launched by the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade from the south with its right on the railway and its left on the wadi. On their left the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade advanced astride the Ain es Sir to Amman road with the 2nd Light Horse Brigade on their left. By 11:00 all brigades were engaged and by midday, the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment was advancing across the Wadi Amman, to the railway line near Kissir station about 3 miles (4.8 km) south of the town. Shortly after a train steamed into this railway station from the south and the Wellington Mounted Rifles Regimental Headquarters' troops opened fire from an adjacent hill. The train quickly departed before a force of friendly Arabs and New Zealanders attacked the station. They captured six officers and 42 other ranks, one of whom said the train contained 300 reinforcements for the Amman garrison.By 15:00 a demolition group including No. 16 New Zealand Company of the 4th Battalion Imperial Camel Corps Brigade had blown up some 5 miles (8 km) of railway line and a number of culverts. On their return, Brigadier General Meldrum (commander of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade), ordered the unit into the attack on the extreme right of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade.
At about 18:00 German and Ottoman units made a strong attack on a ridge between the 1st and 8th Squadrons of the Canterbury Mounted Rifles Regiment
Canterbury Mounted Rifle Regiment
The Canterbury Mounted Rifle Regiment was a New Zealand Mounted Regiment formed for service during World War I.It was formed from Units of the Territorial Force consisting of one squadron each from the 1st Mounted Rifles , the 8th Mounted Rifles and the 10th Mounted Rifles.They served in the...
, but a counterattack by the 10th Squadron drove the attacking units back and as darkness closely followed, the light horse and mounted rifles brigades dug in on the lines they held. During the night a patrol of 2nd Light Horse Brigade reached the railway line about 7 miles (11.3 km) north of Amman and blew up a two-arched bridge spanning a wadi, causing a 25 feet (7.6 m) break in the line and isolating Amman from the north.
Aerial support
Bombing raids on Jisr ed Damieh on 26 and 27 March failed to destroy the bridge but hit enemy troops and camps nearby. While reconnaissance on 27 March observed the size of the HuwaraHuwara
Huwara is a Palestinian town located in the Nablus Governorate of the northern West Bank, south of Nablus and forms an enclave between four Israeli settlements. It is approximately from Jacob's Well. As part of the West Bank Closures system, the town contains the main Israel Defense Forces...
camp had trebbled and camps along the Wady Fara had also increased. Ottoman cavalry and infantry were observed marching north with other forces on the road from Nablus and three German and Ottoman troop trains were seen to enter Amman from the north and one from the south on the same day.
Strong bodies of troops were seen by the aerial patrols, holding hilly positions about Amman and the station. At noon enemy cavalry at El Kutrani and Kerak were seen preparing to march north when aircraft dropped a bomb in the middle of a cavalry group and then machine gunned the horsemen.
Aircraft from the British No. 142 Squadron bombed Amman station and Australian aircraft bombed El Kastal station. The German and Ottoman concentration near Nahr ez Zerka, north of the Es Salt to Amman road was reported and bombed and during that afternoon and all next day (28 March) every air patrol reported enemy cavalry, infantry and transport marching along the Wady Fara road towards Jisr ed Damieh from Nablus on the road to Es Salt.
28 March
During the night the German and Ottoman line was strengthened and soon after daybreak on 28 March, German and Ottoman guns opened fired on the Anzac Mounted Division, whose only reply was the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade's four 12-pounder mountain guns of the Hong Kong and Singapore Mountain Battery. Although British reinforcements on their way from Es Salt, were bringing two or three batteries of mountain guns with them, they had been delayed by Circassians and Christian Arabs and the column had been forced to halt a few miles short of Amman. The leading battalion of these reinforcements arrived at 10:30 and was immediately put into a gap in the line, on the left of the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade, between them and the 2nd Light Horse Brigade.A general attack was ordered but before it could begin a strong German and Ottoman attack fell on the junction between the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade and the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade. After getting close enough to throw bombs, the attackers were driven off.These were probably stick hand grenades which had been used by the Ottoman 19th Division during their attack at Beit Ur el Tahta on 1 December 1917. See Battle of Jerusalem#Counterattack on 2 December at Beit Ur el Tahta
The delayed general attack by the mounted troops and the fresh infantry began at 13:30 but was met by very heavy machine gun fire from all sides. The ground in front of the 181st Infantry Brigade and the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade was convex in shape, giving no cover and no forward observation points, while the ground from front and flank was swept by well-placed German and Ottoman machine guns and several field batteries. The New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade was held up by Asim's German and Ottoman defenders on Hill 3039 which dominated the mounted rifles' position and made it difficult to advance, but by 16:00, the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment and the 4th Battalion Imperial Camel Corps Brigade had, managed to advance their line for a distance of 500 yards (457.2 m), to the low ridges at the foot of Hill 3039. Rain was still falling and it was bitterly cold; supply of rations and forage caused some concerns and darkness found most of the attacking force in much the same positions they had held that morning.
Shunet Nimrin was bombed by 13 German aircraft.
29 March
Soon after dawn German and Ottoman artillery began shelling the entrenched dismounted troopers, British infantry and Arab formations. German and Ottoman forces made several counterattacks, all of which were held and ultimately repulsed, including one on the northern flank between the infantry and the 2nd Light Horse Brigade. However, the overall positions of the opposing forces, only changed slightly, while the harsh weather continued with cold rain and cutting wind.Fresh German and Ottoman reinforcements arrived during the day at the Amman railway station, but only the equivalent of one infantry brigade could be spared to reinforce the Anzac Mounted Division at Amman. The two remaining battalions of the 181st Brigade and two battalions of the 180th Brigade 60th (London) Infantry Division, arrived to reinforce the attackers during the day, bringing with them two mountain gun batteries. No more troops could be spared because the threat posed to the northern flank of the attacking forces at Amman, by a detachment from the Ottoman 7th Army, was so serious that the defenders in the Jordan Valley; the 1st and 2nd Light Horse Regiments, had to be reinforced by an infantry battalion.
As darkness fell a British infantry unit was alerted by a shot from the company's listening post to an enemy attack; "every rifle and machine gun burst out as hard as they could go all along the line supported by dozens of machine guns tucked away on advantageous slopes behind us, and I pitied 'Jacko' out in that storm, as I banged away with my trusty old rifle I could see the flashes in the long grass of the Turkish weapons and aimed low accordingly. I fired until my rifle was almost red–hot, I had to drop it after about fifty rounds."
Attack in the Jordan Valley
During the afternoon of 29 March, 1,800 rifles and sabres of the 145th Regiment (46th Division) from the Ottoman 7th Army based at Nablus, crossed the Jordan River at Jisr ed Damieh and attacked the left (northern) flank which was defended by the 1st and 2nd Light Horse Regiments (1st Light Horse Brigade). This attack represented a very serious threat to the British lines of communication and supply to Es Salt and Amman and an infantry battalion was sent to reinforce the light horsemen.A similar attack took place during the second Transjordan operations when the 4th Light Horse Brigade had the job of the two regiments of the 1st Light Horse Brigade and was similarly attacked by reinforcements which crossed on 1 May at the Jisr ed Damieh on the main road from the Ottoman 7th Army at Nablus to the Ottoman 4th Army at Amman. The Ottoman regiment eventually advanced up the road towards Es Salt capturing the heights at Kufr Huda north of Es Salt.30 March
Chaytor, the commander of the Anzac Mounted Division ordered the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade and the 4th Battalion Imperial Camel Corps Brigade to take Hill 3039, while the remainder of the Imperial Camel Corps and the 181st Infantry Brigade (60th London Infantry Division) were ordered to make the main attack on Amman, covered on the left by the 2nd Light Horse Brigade which was ordered to attract as much attention to themselves as possible.Night attack on Hill 3039
Without artillery support Chaytor's plan was for an all out swift and silent night attack on the main objective; position "A". The attacking force would pass along a ridge between "B" and "C" positions leaving sufficient troops to contain these. Once position "A" was captured "B" and "C" positions would be overlooked and become untenable. Preparations for the attack included officers' patrols from the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment which reconnoitred the enemy positions and all units along the front line familiarised themselves with the ground in front of them over which they would advance in the dark.At 02:00 on 30 March, the first line consisting of the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment and the 4th Battalion Imperial Camel Corps Brigade under the command of Lieutenant Colonel McCarroll began the advance on Hill 3039. The second line of the attack was formed by the Canterbury Mounted Rifles Regiment (less one squadron) with two troops of the Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Acton-Adams. All machine guns were under the command of the OC
Officer Commanding
The Officer Commanding is the commander of a sub-unit or minor unit , principally used in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. In other countries, the term Commanding Officer is applied to commanders of minor as well as major units.Normally an Officer Commanding is a company, squadron or battery...
Machine Gun Squadron; two subsections of which, went forward with the attacking force leaving three subsections (in telephone communication with the OC Squadron), in position to cover a retirement if necessary.
The first Ottoman trenches were silently attacked and, except for 23 enemy soldiers who surrendered, the garrison was bayoneted; five machine guns were captured. The Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment and the unit of the Imperial Camel Corps Battalion immediately worked to alter the Ottoman trenches and sangers to face the other way while the Canterbury and Wellington Mounted riflemen advanced through the Aucklanders on their way to attack the second position 300 yards (274.3 m) further on. This second position was captured although the defenders were alerted and opened fire with rifles and machine guns when the attackers were only half way. However, they succeeded in capturing the position, a machine gun and 14 Ottoman soldiers after which the position was consolidated. Meanwhile the 16th Company (the New Zealand Company of the 4th Battalion of the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade) moved up and joined the second line, and with the 8th Squadron Canterbury Mounted Rifles Regiment, they advanced to capture position "A" overlooking Amman and positions "B" and "C". The defenders of position "A" were forced to withdraw and soon after position "B" fell; one officer, 28 other ranks and four machine guns were captured, while position "C" surrendered without firing a shot. Here 12 other ranks and one machine gun were captured.
Attacks before dawn on Amman
The Imperial Camel Corps Brigade captured two lines of trenches and 12 prisoners and the infantry captured 135 prisoners and four machine guns, before 04:00, but afterwards little progress was made and on the left the 2nd Light Horse Brigade had difficulty holding their line.Allenby reported that at 02:00 the 181st Infantry Brigade and the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade and the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade attacked Amman, capturing Hill 3039 and two lines of trenches south–east of the village, but strong defensive positions covering Amman railway station continued to be held in force, making further progress towards the station impossible.
At 03:00 a British infantry advance in extended order began: "Several shots rang out slightly to our left and then instantaneously the ground in front became alive with flashing rifles and machine guns, and hoarse shouts in guttural German and Turkish Arabic added to the increasing excitement." Overrunning the first line of enemy trenches, "orders now came to rally, and in a downpour of rain the first and second waves joined up and advanced in the face of a brisk fire from snipers and isolated enemy machine guns across the top of the redoubt. In the distance on all sides could be heard the shouts of the other attacking parties."
Daylight fighting
Before daybreak every effort was made to strengthen the positions won on Hill 3039; trenches could not be dug in the solid rock but sangers were built up as high as possible. The New Zealand 16th Company of the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade occupied the exposed third position but after daybreak this proved untenable. Ottoman artillery fire had begun at 05:00 and the lack of deep trenches on Hill 3039 was at once felt. The stone sangers, effective enough against rifle and machine gun fire, intensified the shell fire; shrapnel ricocheting in all directions and high explosive shells hurled and broadcast the rocky material. The one-hour bombardment caused many casualties; as soon as it was over the surviving New Zealand Camel Company troops in the forward position were withdrawn to join their battalion on the right leaving a post of ten men with two Lewis guns.After withdrawing from the most exposed positions on the hill, the new front line ran across the top of the hill from east to west and was held by the 4th Battalion Imperial Camel Corps Brigade, the Wellington, Canterbury and Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiments.
By daylight the advance units on Hill 3039 were being heavily counterattacked by German and Ottoman forces and between these attacks the hill was shelled by German and Ottoman guns situated to the east of Amman and out of range of the British guns. At about 09:00 a large number of German and Ottoman soldiers could be seen from divisional headquarters (immediately to the west of the town) massing on the northern slopes. News of this was immediately sent to General Meldrum but no British artillery was available to fire on the excellent target. At this time the section of Hong Kong & Singapore Mountain Battery with the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade had only four rounds.
At 09:30 a determined German and Ottoman attack was countered by effective fire from New Zealand machine guns; Nos. 1 and 3 sub–sections were in position on the right front of the Canterbury Mounted Rifles Regiment in sangers with a good field of fire covering the centre of the position. No. 5 sub-section was on the right flank of the Canterbury Regiment protecting the front of the New Zealand Camel Company. No. 2 sub-section was on the left flank of the Auckland Regiment and No. 6 on its right flank crossing the fire of Nos. 1 and 3 sub-sections; five captured machine guns were also in action in the line. However, an unauthorised order to retire was passed along the line held by the 4th Battalion of Imperial Camel Corps Brigade which caused that battalion along with the Canterbury and Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiments to start to withdraw. This withdrawal allowed the German and Ottoman attackers to reach the crest, but were held up by rifle and machine gun fire from the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment. Officers on the right quickly saw the seriousness of the situation and succeeded in rallying their men. Captain Hinson (Adjutant Canterbury Mounted Rifles Regiment) and Lieutenants Thorby and Crawford of the New Zealand 16th Camel Company, each in his own part of the line, swept their men back in a charge up on to the crest. The opposing lines briefly faced each other at a bare 15 yards (13.7 m), before the 400 to 500 Germans and Ottomans were forced back suffering many casualties.
The part played by the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade is described in Rex Hall's "The Desert Hath Pearls" 1975, pp. 104–5
During the morning the extreme left of the old New Zealand line held by a squadron of the Canterbury Mounted Rifles Regiment got into the town of Amman, but the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade on their left were forced to retire to their former position. At this time the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade's Somerset Battery arrived, having overcome all the difficulties in climbing and moving the guns through the adverse terrain, and began firing shell among the enemy but the battery's arrival was too late to influence the battle.
One German or Ottoman battery was put out of action during the operations by the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment's machine guns on top of Hill 3039 which forced this forward battery to withdrawal from its position near the Citadel in front of the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade. But by 14:00 three German or Ottoman batteries opened a heavy fire on Hill 3039 which continued for the rest of the day causing many casualties. Great difficulty was experienced in getting the wounded away from the front line, owing to their exposed position and the impossibility of digging communication trenches. At 16:00 another very heavy counterattack was made on the New Zealand line; the main force falling on the Camel Battalion causing them heavy casualties. This attack was repulsed with the help of a troop from the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade reserve which prolonged the 4th Battalion Imperial Camel Corps Brigade's right to outflank the enemy. The German and Ottoman forces made another attack under cover of an intense bombardment at 17:00, but they were again driven back.
Attack on Es Salt
By 30 March the 1,800 rifles and sabres of the 145th Regiment (46th Division) from the Ottoman 7th Army based at Nablus, which had crossed the Jordan River at Jisr ed Damieh to attack Kufr Huda the day before, were arriving near Es Salt and threatening the occupation of the town by Shea's force. During the night of 30/31 March, these Ottoman reinforcements continued to push in on Es Salt.Attack in the Jordan Valley
The counterattack by German and Ottoman forces from the direction of Nahr ez Zerka to the north of Jisr ed Damieh on the eastern side of the Jordan Valley continued to threaten Shea's and Chaytor's northern flank. This flank, held by the 1st and 2nd Light Horse Regiments was reinforced, at the expense of the Amman attack.Aerial support
Bombing raids were carried out on camps on the Jerusalem to NablusNablus
Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...
road between Lubban
Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya
al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya is a Palestinian village in the northern West Bank, located 20 kilometers south of Nablus, in the Nablus Governorate. The town has a total land area of 12,075 dunams of which 200 dunams is built-up area...
and Nablus, while the Jisr ed Damieh was bombed and machine gunned several times without causing damage to the bridge but the garrison in the area was hit; between 19 and 24 March seven more attempts were made to damage the bridge without success.
During this Transjordan operation, aircraft continuously flew over and reported progress; on 22 and 24 March Ottoman units in the Wady Fara region were seen to be active, as wass the Nablus base camp, and infantry and transport were seen marching towards Khurbet Ferweh and the Jisr ed Damieh. On 24 March a large troop-train at Lubin station on the Hedjaz Railway south of Amman was attacked by aircraft with machine-guns; 700 rounds were fired into the enemy troops.
Medical support
The total time taken to evacuate to Jericho from the front line was about 24 hours and the distance 45 miles (72.4 km) with a further three hours on to Jerusalem. Wounded were carried on light stretchers or blankets from the front line to regimental aid posts which were established about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) in the rear. Advanced dressing stations were established about 3 miles (4.8 km) behind these aid posts; sand carts making the journey in three to six hours. Between some dressing stations and the nearest clearing station on the Es Salt to Amman road, wounded had to be transported 10 miles (16.1 km) on cacolet camels or strapped to their horses. A divisional collecting station was established 6 miles (9.7 km) further back at Birket umm Amud to which wounded were carried in cacolet camels; the journey taking between six and seven hours. Horse drawn ambulances then took wounded back to the Jordan Valley. In the rear of these divisional collecting station, the road through Suweileh and Es Salt to El Howeij 5 miles (8 km) was passable by wheeled transport and the remainder of the journey to Jericho was in motor ambulances.With their equipment carried on pack-horses and pack-camels, the mobile sections of the field ambulances along with 35 cacolet camels for each ambulance, followed the attacking force to Es Salt and Amman. Their motor ambulances, ambulance wagons and sand carts remained near Jericho ready to transport wounded from the receiving station at Ghoraniyeh to the main dressing station west of Jericho. Here the Desert Mounted Corps Operating Unit and consulting surgeon were attached. Wounded were then sent back to the two casualty clearing stations in Jerusalem.
From the Jordan Valley it was a 50 miles (80.5 km) ride in a motor ambulance over the mountains of Judea to the hospital railway train, followed by 200 miles (321.9 km) train ride to hospital in Cairo, though some of the worst cases were accommodated in the hospitals in Jerusalem.
Supplies
Motor lorries supplied Jericho from Jerusalem but from Jericho to Amman the Anzac Mounted Divisional Train and Egyptian Camel Transport CorpsEgyptian Camel Transport Corps
The Egyptian Camel Transport Corps were a group of Egyptian camel drivers who supported the British Army in Egypt during the First World War's Sinai and Palestine Campaign...
transported supplies on camels and pack horses, mules or donkeys. They covered 24 miles (38.6 km) a day from the foot of the mountains to the troops at Amman with the severe weather and slippery mountain tracks causing many casualties to camels and drivers. The total distance covered by lorries, horses and camels, from railhead to Jerusalem and on to the men in the firing line, was 86 miles (138.4 km).
Of the 2,000 camels used on convoy duties 100 were killed in action and 92 had to be destroyed because of injuries received during the operations. During the retreat from Amman many of the camels had been overloaded.
Retreat 31 March – 2 April
By 30 March Chaytor's force had pushed the Ottoman 48th Infantry Division back into Amman and after desperate fighting the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade had entered the town 2 miles (3.2 km) west of the station, but German and Ottoman machine guns positioned on the hills beyond were too strong and all efforts to dislodge enemy forces from the Hedjaz Railway's Amman station failed.It was considered that any further attempts to capture the Amman Railway Station would incur unacceptable losses and the decision to withdraw was therefore made. Allenby reported to the War Office on 31 March that 5 miles (8 km) of railway track and culverts had been destroyed south of Amman Station and a bridge blown up, and that the object of the raid had been achieved by cutting the Hedjaz Railway. He took this decision despite the principal objective of destroying the large viaduct at Amman, had not been achieved. But it was increasingly less likely that it could be as Chaytor's force began to have difficulty defending itself from strong German and Ottoman counterattacks. Chaytor's force was therefore ordered to withdraw to Es Salt.
When darkness fell on 30 March, the front line troops received the order to retreat and an infantryman concluded: "none of us sorry to leave behind forever, we hope, a nightmare of a most terrible nature."It has been suggests the reasons why the British units decided to withdraw from Amman on 31 March were unclear; that the reason given, that substantial Ottoman reserves had been brought up was, "not at all true" and that the abandonment of this important objective is "not easily explained." [Erickson 2001, p. 195 and Erickson 2007, pp. 130-1]
Evacuation of wounded
The retirement from Amman started on 30 March with the wounded beginning to be sent back to the Jordan Valley. The wounded moved along the main road via Es Salt, but Es Salt was under attack from German and Ottoman units from the north west (the direction of the road from Nablus via Jisr ed Damieh) and the only bridge across the Jordan River not destroyed by a 9 feet (2.7 m) flood was at Ghoraniyeh.By 31 March there were over 240 wounded in the divisional collecting stations such as Birket umm Amud 10.5 miles (16.9 km) from the front line. All available means including sand carts sent by the 60th (London) Infantry Division were employed and these wounded were on their way by the evening; about 50 of them walking. The last convoy of wounded which left Amman at 23:00 found 20 camels carrying wounded which had begun their journey six hours earlier, bogged and exhausted at Suweileh. Nine of them were unable to move and ambulance personnel were left to attend to the wounded throughout the night. By daylight, light horse troopers warned them that the Ottoman cavalry was close. Five camels managed to continue but the remaining four were too exhausted. Of the eight wounded, six were placed on horses, but two who appeared to be mortally wounded were left behind when Ottoman cavalry got between the covering party and the ambulance men and began firing on the group. All escaped but the two seriously wounded and three men of the 2nd Light Horse Field Ambulance mounted on donkeys who were taken prisoner. Only one of these men survived to the end of the war; the other two dying in captivity.
Withdrawal
Then the most difficult of military operations, a withdrawal while in contact with the enemy, began. On the front line, the first thing to be done was to move the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade back from Hill 3039 across the Wadi Amman. They received their orders at 18:00 to withdraw to the cross road at the western end of the plateau just above the village of Ain es Sir. By 23:00 all wounded had been started on their journey back to the Jordan Valley and the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade commenced to recross the Wadi Amman at midnight; reaching the cross roads at 04:00 on 31 March.An outpost line was set up across the country between Ain es Sir and Amman and the whole day was spent in concentrating Chaytor's and Shea's force – mounted troops, infantry, camels and camel transport; and in getting all camels, both camel brigade and Egyptian Camel Transport Corps down the mountains. The 2nd Light Horse Brigade and the Somerset Battery took the Es Salt road while the remainder of the force, including the infantry, withdrew by the Wadi Es Sir track, up which the New Zealand Brigade had advanced.
All day long and all the next night a long line of weary camels, horses and men slowly stumbled, slipped and fell, down the mountain track which descends some 4000 feet (1,219.2 m) in 8 miles (12.9 km). It was well after daylight on the morning of 1 April, before the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade; the rearguard was able to start retiring again, while being fully occupied in holding off advanced German and Ottoman troops.
The Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiment had regained its 6th Squadron which had been detached to the 60th (London) Infantry Division and was ordered to cover the rear of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade. German and Ottomans attacks on this rearguard were held off until the regiment filed down through the village of Ain es Sir.
At 07:45 on 1 April as the rearguard of Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiment passed through the village the 2nd (Wellington West Coast) Squadron was attacked by Circassians who suddenly opened fire from a mill and adjacent caves, from houses and from behind rocks on the nearby hills. Firing at very close range with a variety of firearms they wounded men and horses; horses rearing up, bolted, screaming joined the numerous riderless horses galloping across the hillsides. Remnants of the 2nd Squadron galloped clear of the village, dismounted and counterattacked with the other two squadrons attacking from the ridges above the village.While fighting on foot, one quarter of the riflemen were holding the horses; a brigade would then be equivalent in rifle strength to an infantry battalion. [Preston 1921 p.168] They rushed the mill and its occupants were killed. No prisoners were taken; the 2nd Squadron suffered 18 casualties.
About 13:00 the Jordan Valley came into sight and a halt was made to distribute rations and forage which had been brought forward to meet the New Zealanders. The sun came out and the wind died away and an hour later they were riding down through flowers up to the horses' knees. All was peace and warmth and quiet, making it difficult to think that a few short hours before, the winds were raging, rain falling, and a bitter battle in progress.
Casualties
Total casualties of both infantry and mounted divisions were between 1,200 and 1,348. The 60th (London) Infantry Division suffered 476 casualties including 347 wounded and the Anzac Mounted Division suffered 724 casualties including 551 wounded.Refugees
From Es Salt, thousands of Armenian and Bedouin refugees and others joined the withdrawing columns carrying their belongings on their backs or pushing them in carts, some of the aged and footsore given a lift in the horse drawn limber wagons.Aftermath
The withdrawal across the Jordan River was completed by the evening of 2 April leaving bridgeheads at Ghoraniye and Makhadet Hajlah. The infantry and mounted forces had marched and fought almost continuously in the mud and rain for ten days and had suffered almost as much in both the advance and retreat. Shea's force had expended 587,338 rounds of small-arms ammunition (SAA), brought back four field guns, 700 prisoners including 20 officers and 595 other ranks along with 10 machine guns two automatic rifles, 207 rifles and 248,000 rounds of SAA.There may have been as many as 1,000 prisoners captured and brought back to the Jordan Valley. [Wavell 1968 p. 182] The German and Ottoman forces abandoned two travelling field cookers, 26 motor lorries, five motor cars and many horse drawn wagons on the Amman road and an Ottoman aircraft was captured on the Hedjaz railway.Asim launched a pursuit of the British by the 24th Assault Company with the 8th and 9th Cavalry Regiment (3rd Cavalry Division) and on 4 April German and Ottoman counterattacks by the 24th Assault Company, the 24th Infantry Division's 3rd Battalion and 145th Infantry Regiment, began. After another unsuccessful counterattack by the Ottoman Army on 11 April they began to consolidate their positions. About this time the Ottoman 7th Army formed a provisional cavalry regiment by combining the cavalry companies from 11th, 24th, 48th and 53rd Infantry Divisions.
Designed to be a surprise raid by mounted troops, the movements of Shea's force in the difficult terrain and weather, had proved to be too slow and restricted and the element of surprise was lost. The attack did, however, force the recall of a German and Ottoman expedition to Tafileh; attempts to maintain a permanent garrison there, were abandoned.
The strong incursion by Shea's and Chaytor's forces materially helped Feisal's force; the Ottoman 4th Army withdrew part of its garrison from Maan to help defend Amman just as Feisal began his attack there. These major troop movements; the recall of the Tafileh expedition and the partial withdrawal from Maan, helped strengthen the operations of Feisal's Arabs and the threat to the Ottoman lines of communication east of the Jordan, compelling the Ottoman army to make a permanent increase to their forces in this area.These increased numbers of troops stationed east of the Jordan were made at the expense of Ottoman forces on the Mediterranean coastal plain. [Bruce 2002 p. 196]
Large new Ottoman camps were established to support the growing lower Jordan defences which included a large garrison at Shunet Nimrin. These troops moved from Nablus by the Jenin railway and then by road down the Wady Fara to the Jisr ed Damieh, where the ford was replaced by a pontoon bridge. It remained an important line of communication between the 7th Army at Nablus in the west and the 4th Army in the eastern sector.
For the first time since the Second Battle of Gaza
Second Battle of Gaza
The Second Battle of Gaza, fought in southern Palestine during the First World War, was another attempt mounted by British Empire forces to break Ottoman defences along the Gaza-Beersheba line...
in April 1917, the Egyptian Expeditionary Force had been defeated; both Shea and Chetwode had opposed the attack on Amman at that time of year, believing the attacking force to be too small. Nevertheless, a second unsuccessful assault by one infantry and two mounted divisions, into the hills of Moab to Es Salt
Second Transjordan attack on Shunet Nimrin and Es Salt (1918)
Officially known by the British as the Second attack at Es Salt and by the Germans as the Second Battle of the Jordan, the Second Transjordan attack on Shunet Nimrin and Es Salt was fought between 30 April and 4 May 1918 in the Middle East during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of World War I...
followed just a few weeks later at the end of April. It has been suggested that these two unsuccessful operations convinced the Ottoman Army to expect more attacks to be made in the same area by the same troops, while the critical attack
Battle of Megiddo (1918)
The Battle of Megiddo took place between 19 September and 1 October 1918, in what was then the northern part of Ottoman Palestine and parts of present-day Syria and Jordan...
in September 1918 occurred on the Mediterranean coast.The third Transjordan attack by Chaytor's force succeeded in capturing Amman a few days after Allenby launched Megiddo.