The Capture of Afula and Beisan occurred on 20 September 1918, during the Battle of Sharon which together with the Nablus, formed the set piece Battle of Megiddo fought during the last months of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War. During the cavalry phase of the Battle of Sharon, the 4th Cavalry Division of the Desert Mounted Corps attacked and captured the main communications hub at Afula, located in the centre of the Esdraelon Plain (also known as the Jezreel Valley and the plain of Armageddon), and Beisan on the plain's eastern edge near the Jordan River, some behind the front line in the Judean Hills.
Infantry attacks by the British Empires XXI Corps had begun the Battle of Sharon on 19 September, along an almost continuous trench line from the Mediterranean across the Plain of Sharon and into the foothills of the Judean Hills. These attacks captured the Ottoman front line at Tulkarm, Tabsor, and Arara, in the process outflanking and decimating the Ottoman Eighth Army on the coast. During the attack on Tulkarm, the infantry created a gap in the Ottoman front line defences, through which cavalry from General Edmund Allenby's Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) rode north. The three cavalry divisions in the Desert Mounted Corps successfully captured the Ottoman Seventh and Eighth Armies' lines of communication across the Esdraelon Plain from their headquarters in the Judean Hills.
The Desert Mounted Corps began the advance riding up the Plain of Sharon to Liktera, on 19 September where they attacked and captured an entrenched line barring their advance. Subsequently, the Corps crossed the Mount Carmel Range by the Musmus Pass and the northern Shushu Pass, during the night of 19/20 September. As the 4th Cavalry Division rode out across the Esdraelon Plain on the morning of 20 September, towards their primary objective; the main communications hub at Afula, they attacked and captured a force sent from Yildirim Army Group headquarters at Nazareth, to hold and bar the Musmus Pass, which had failed to get into position. Afula was captured by units from both the 5th and the 4th Cavalry Divisions shortly after. Leaving the 5th Cavalry Division and one regiments at Afula, the 4th Cavalry Division advanced to capture Beisan and later in the day, the regiment advanced directly from Afula to occupy the railway bridges at Jisr Majami, across the Jordan and Yarmuk Rivers. The capture of Jenin on the southern edge of the Esdraelon Plain, also blocked the main line of retreat to Damascus from the Judean Hills. The General Headquarters of the Yildirim Army Group commanded by General Otto Liman von Sanders at Nazareth was captured the next day, and Haifa two days later.
Several days later while garrisoning Beisan, the 4th Cavalry Division advanced southwards down the Jordan River to close a long gap, through which the retreating remnants of the Seventh and Eighth Armies had been escaping. They successfully attacked and captured several fords during 23 and 24 September, to completely cut off all remaining Ottoman soldiers in the Judean Hills. By the end of the month, one Ottoman army had been destroyed, while the remnants of two others were in retreat to Damascus after the German rearguard at Samakh was captured by Australian Light Horsemen on 25 September. Damascus was captured on 1 October, and by the time the Armistice of Mudros between the Allies and the Ottoman Empire was signed at the end of October, fighting for Aleppo was underway.
Background
Esdraelon Plain The Esdraelon Plain stretches from Lejjun in the west to Nazareth to the north, in the foothills of the Galilean Hills, through Afula in the centre of the plain, to Beisan on its eastern edge and close to the Jordan River, and then to Jenin on the southern edge of the plain, at the foot of the Judean Hills.Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 516
Near Lejjun, the remains of the ancient fortress of Megiddo on Tell al Mutesellim dominate the entry to the plain from the Musmus Pass. Here a relatively small garrison could control the routes across the Esdraelon Plain where the armies of Egyptians, Romans, Mongols, Arabs, and Crusaders who had fought Saladin near Afula during the Battle of Al-Fule, as well as of Napoleon, had marched and fought towards Nazareth, the Galilean Hills, and Damascus.Hill 1978 pp. 162–3
Aerial reconnaissance reported that no defensive works of any kind had been identified on the plain or covering the approaches to it, apart from German troops, garrisoned at the Yildirim Army Group headquarters of Otto Liman von Sanders at Nazareth.Powles 1922 p. 233The only available German and Ottoman sources are Liman von Sanders' memoir and the Asia Corps' war diary. Ottoman army and corps records seem to have disappeared during their retreat. [Falls 1930 Vol. 2 pp. 494–5] At 12:30 on 19 September Liman von Sanders ordered the 13th Depot Regiment at Nazareth and the military police, a total of six companies and 12 machine guns, to occupy Lejjun and defend the Musmus Pass.Falls 1930 Vol. 2 pp. 494–5
Deployment The Desert Mounted Corps, commanded by the Australian Lieutenant General Sir Harry Chauvel, was made up of the 4th, and the 5th Cavalry Divisions, and the Australian Mounted Division.Carver 2003 p. 232The Anzac Mounted Division was temporarily detached to Chaytor's Force.
Each division consisted of three cavalry brigades, with three regiments to each brigade and support troops. The regiments consisted of a headquarters and three squadrons; 522 men and horses in each regiment. Five of the six brigades in the 4th and 5th Cavalry Divisions consisted of one British yeomanry regiment and two British Indian Army cavalry regiments one of which was usually lancers, the sixth brigade being the lancers of the 15th Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade. Some of the yeomanry regiments were also armed with the lance in addition to their swords, rifles, and bayonets, while the Australian Mounted Division was armed with swords, .303 rifles and bayonets.DiMarco 2008 p. 328For an illustration of a Dragoon Guard armed with the sword, lance, rifle and bayonet see Chappell's "Men at Arms Series British Cavalry Equipment 1800–1941", illustration G 1.
The 4th Cavalry Division consisted of the 10th, 11th and 12th Cavalry Brigades, the 5th Cavalry Division was made up of the 13th, 14th and 15th Cavalry Brigades and the Australian Mounted Division was made up of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Light Horse Brigades. The 5th Light Horse Brigade, was temporarily attached to the 60th Division for the Battle of Tulkarm. These mounted units were supported by machine gun squadrons, three artillery batteries from the Royal Horse Artillery or Honourable Artillery Company, and light armoured car units; two Light Armoured Motor Batteries, and two Light Car Patrols.Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 667
The Desert Mounted Corps concentrated near Ramleh, Ludd (Lydda), and Jaffa, where they dumped surplus equipment in preparation for their advance before moving up behind the XXI Corps' infantry divisions, assembled near the Mediterranean coast.Maunsell 1926 p. 213Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 484 By 17 September, the 5th Cavalry Division, which would lead the Desert Mounted Corps' advance, was deployed north-west of Sarona from the front line, with the 4th Cavalry Division in orange groves east of Sarona, from the front, and the Australian Mounted Division in reserve near Ramleh and Ludd from the front line.Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 463Paget 1994 pp. 257
All movement had been restricted to night time, culminating in a general move forwards on the eve of battle. On the night of 18/19 September, the 4th and 5th Cavalry Divisions moved forward behind the infantry, while the Australian Mounted Division moved up to Sarona. Here the three divisions concentrated, with their supplies carried in massed horse-drawn transport and on long camel trains, clogging the roads.Gullett 1919 p. 28Wavell 1968 p. 208 The divisions carried one iron ration and two days' special emergency rations per man, and 21 pounds (9.5 kg) of grain per horse, all carried on the horse, with an additional day's grain per horse carried on the first line transport limbered wagons.Maunsell 1926 p. 238
Desert Mounted Corps objectives The three lowlands of the Plain of Sharon, the Esdraelon Plain behind the Ottoman front line, and the Jordan River Valley formed a semicircle to the north and around the Ottoman positions in the Judean Hills, held by the Seventh and Eighth Armies.Gullett 1919 pp. 25–6 After the successful infantry breakthrough, the three cavalry divisions were to ride through the gap northwards up the coastal Plain of Sharon, then eastwards across the Esdraelon Plain to the Jordan River, to cut off the Ottoman forces in the Judean Hills.Powles 1922 p. 239
During the initial cavalry advance up the coastal Plain of Sharon to Litera on Nahr el Mefjir, the Desert Mounted Corps were to advance while "strictly disregarding any enemy forces that did not directly bar its path."Wavell 1968 p. 199 They were to turn north-east across the Mount Carmel Range through two passes onto the Plain of Esdraelon. The 5th Cavalry Division was to travel by the northern and more difficult track, from Sindiane to Abu Shusheh south-east of Haifa and on to attack Nazareth.Preston 1921 pp. 200–1 Meanwhile, the 4th Cavalry Division was to take the southern pass to Lejjun via the Musmus Pass and on to capture Afula. In reserve, the Australian Mounted Division was to follow the 4th Cavalry Division via the Musmus Pass to Lejjun.Blenkinsop 1925 p. 236
If they could quickly capture the Esdraelon Plain while the two Ottoman armies were fighting in the Judean Hills against the XXI Corps infantry in the Battle of Sharon, and the XX Corps infantry in the Battle of Nablus, the railways could be cut, the roads controlled, and the lines of retreat across the plain for these two Ottoman armies west of the Jordan would be virtually cut. Success depended on the rapid capture of the communications hub at Afula and the Yildirim Army Group's general headquarters at Nazareth which would disrupt communication and simultaneously almost surround the Eighth Army and cut the communications and supply lines to both the Seventh and Eighth Armies in the Judean Hills. (See Falls Map 21 below which shows these cavalry advances.) Success required that the cavalry not only capture but hold Afula, Nazareth, and the Esdraelon Plain for some time. The men and horses of three cavalry divisions would be dependent on rations being quickly and efficiently transported forward many miles from their base.
The 5th Cavalry Division's objectives were to capture Nazareth, Liman von Sanders, and the Yildirim Army Group's headquarters from Asurf, before clearing the plain to Afula. The 4th Cavalry Division's objectives were to capture the town of Afula and then advance eastwards across the Esdraelon Plain to capture Beisan and occupy the railway and/or road bridges over the Jordan River. In particular, they were to hold or destroy the Jisr Mejami bridge, north of Beisan, a distance of from their starting point. The Australian Mounted Division, in reserve, was to enter the Esdraelon Plain and occupy Lejjun while the 3rd Light Horse Brigade advanced to capture Jenin, from their starting point.
Prelude