The Second Battle of Amman was fought on 25 September 1918 during the Third Transjordan attack as part of the Battle of Nablus which together with the main Battle of Sharon form the major set piece offensive known as the Battle of Megiddo of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in World War I. After cutting the road from Nablus to Es Salt on 22 September Chaytor's Force captured the bridge over the Jordan River at Jisr ed Damieh while units of the Seventh Army and remnants of the Eighth Army were still in retreating towards the bridge from the Judean Hills. Having cut this line of retreat, Chaytor's Force proceeded eastwards to attack and capture Es Salt, before riding on to attack and capture the Ottoman rearguard of the Fourth Army defending Amman. These British Empire victories of the Third Transjordan attack over Yildirim Army Group forces, followed two unsuccessful EEF attacks across the Jordan River in March and April 1918.
The Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF), commanded by General Edmund Allenby, began the Battle of Sharon in the early morning on the Mediterranean coast with attacks by the XXI Corps on the Eighth Ottoman Army followed by a breakthrough by the Desert Mounted Corps. Meanwhile, on their right the Battle of Nablus began with an attack by the XX Corps in the Judean Hills against the Asia Corps and sections of the Seventh Army defending Nablus, during the afternoon of 19 September once it became apparent the Battle of Sharon was succeeding, while Chaytor's Force held the extreme right flank in the Jordan Valley against the Fourth Ottoman Army and began their attacks northwards in the Jordan Valley to capture the Jisr ed Damieh bridge.
After leaving a detachment to hold the Jisr ed Damieh bridge and two other fords against any further retreating columns, Chaytor's Force advanced eastwards to attack and capture the garrisons at Shunet Nimrin and Es Salt. With the Fourth Army in retreat, they continued to Amman, where they attacked and captured a strong Ottoman rearguard of the Fourth Army's VIII Corps, which fought a determined action. Subsequently, Chaytor's Force accepted the surrender at Ziza of the Southern Force of the Fourth Army's II Corps, which had garrisoned the Hejaz Railway south from Amman to effectively end military operations in the area. Together these EEF victories during the Battle of Megiddo, resulted in the capture of the equivalent of one Ottoman army and many miles of territory, and forced the remnants of two armies to retreat in disarray.
Background
The front line held by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) commanded by General Edmund Allenby prior to the Battle of Megiddo on 19 September began at a point on the Mediterranean coast about north of Jaffa, to the north of Arsuf, ran about south east across the Plain of Sharon, then east over the Judean Hills for about another , then continuing on for about to the Dead Sea. From the Mediterranean coast, the front line rose from sea level to a height of in the Judean Hills before falling to below sea-level in the Jordan Valley.Gullett 1919 pp. 25–6Wavell 1968 p. 205 Chaytor's Force held the right flank from their junction with the XX Corps in the Judean Hills north west of Jericho, across the Jordan Valley, and then southwards through the Ghoraniye and Auja bridgeheads to the Dead Sea.Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 547 This area garrisoned by Chaytor's Force was overlooked by well sighted Ottoman long range guns.Gullett 1919 p. 32
Amman Also called Rabbath Ammon by the Ammonites and Philadelphia when it was one of the Decapolis's ten cities during Roman rule, Amman, with its fine Roman ruins including an amphitheatre, lies "cupped in hills."Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 329 A citadel on a hill covered the northern and western approaches to the city while east was the Hejaz railway, turntable and railway station from the city along the Wadi Amman. To the south of the station was a ten arched viaduct and long railway tunnel.Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 330
All of the supplies and reinforcements for the Ottoman Fourth Army force which had faced the EEF garrison occupying the Jordan Valley came through Amman. Now the Hejaz railway was the main line of retreat for the Fourth Army, for the Amman and Ma'an garrisons and the southern Hejaz railway garrison.Moore 1920 p. 151Powles 1922 p. 250
Prelude
While the initial attacks by the XXI Corps, the breakthrough by the Desert Mounted Corps, and the subsequent XX Corps attack were under way, it was necessary to deploy a force strong enough to defend their right flank in the Jordan Valley against any attack by the Fourth Army, which covered the EEF occupied Jordan Valley area with long range guns located in the eastern foothills.Powles 1922 pp. 233–4
Ottoman Fourth Army The Fourth Army consisting of 6,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry supported by seventy-four artillery pieces was commanded by General Mohammed Jemal Pasha.The commander has also been referred to as Cemal, [Erickson 2001 p. 196] Cemal Kucjuk Pasha [Kinloch 2007 p. 303] and Djemal the Lesser. [Bruce 2002 p. 236] [Carver 2003 p. 232] The army headquarters was at Amman, and held the line across the Jordan Valley and southwards along the Hejaz railway.The Fourth Army had been based at Es Salt during the Second Transjordan attacks at the end of April, having moved forward from Amman after the First Transjordan attack on Amman in March.[Keogh 1955, p. 219] The Fourth Army was composed of the VIII Corps' 48th Infantry Division, the Composite Division of a German battalion group,This Composite Division of a group of German battalions is not identified in any more detail by any of the sources quoted. the Caucasus Cavalry Brigade, the division sized Serstal Group, the 24th and 62nd Infantry Divisions and a mule-mounted infantry regiment. The 3rd Cavalry Division, German 146th Regiment 63rd Regiment made up the Army Troops. There were 6,000 Ottoman soldiers with 30 guns in the II Corps, known as the Seria Group or Jordan Group, which garrisoned the Hejaz railway line from Ma'an southwards towards Mecca.Erickson 2001 p. 196Keogh 1955 pp. 241–2Wavell 1968 p. 195Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 674
Chaytor's Force
This composite force commanded by Major General Edward ChaytorPowles 1922 p. 231 was "nearly equivalent to two divisions,"Bou 2009 p. 194 being a reinforced mounted infantry division of 11,000 men.Kinloch 2007 p.321
Chaytor's Force consisted of the ANZAC Mounted Division's 1st Light Horse Brigade commanded by Brigadier General C. F. Cox 2nd Light Horse Brigade commanded by Brigadier General G. de L. Ryrieless 1 squadron of 2nd Light Horse Brigade with Desert Mounted Corps. [Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 593] New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade commanded by Brigadier General W. Meldrum
the 20th Indian Brigade commanded by Brigadier General E. R. B. Murray 110th Mahratta Light Infantry Alwar Imperial Service Infantry Patiala Imperial Service Infantry Gwalior Imperial Service Infantry
the 1st and 2nd Battalions British West Indies Regiment, the 38th and 39th Battalions Royal Fusiliers, the 86th/26th Machine Gun Squadron and artillery. Anzac Mounted Division Admin Staff, Headquarters War Diary 30 September 1918 AWM4-1-61-31Powles 1922 p. 236Falls 1930 Vol. 2 pp. 661, 673The two battalions of fusiliers had been recruited from England, America and the Middle East. [Bruce 2002 p. 205]
The ration strength of Chaytor's Force at the end of operations on 30 September was "8,000 British, 3,000 Indian, 500 Egyptian Camel Transport Corps troops."
Jordan Valley deployments Chaytor took command of the Jordan Valley garrison on 5 September 1918. The right sector was held by the 2nd Light Horse Brigade and the 20th Indian Brigade while the left sector held by the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, the 38th Battalion Royal Fusiliers, and the 1st and 2nd Battalions British West Indies Regiment supported by a field artillery battery and an Indian mountain battery. The 39th Royal Fusiliers formed the sector reserve, while the 1st Light Horse Brigade was in Force reserve.Falls 1930 Vol. 2 pp. 548–9Powles 1922 pp. 231, 235
Lieutenant General Harry Chauvel, the Australian commander of the Desert Mounted Corps, instructed Chaytor to hold his ground "for the present", but to closely watch the Ottoman forces during around-the-clock patrolling, and to immediately occupy any abandoned enemy positions.Downes 1938 p. 721Anzac Mounted Division General Staff War Diary AWM4-1-60-31part2 Appendix 38 pp. 0–1 As soon as possible Chaytor's Force was to advance northwards to capture and cut a main line of withdrawal for the Ottoman Seventh and Eighth Armies across the Damieh bridge, also a main line of communication between these two armies west of the River Jordan in the Judean Hills with the Fourth Army in the east. By 21 September, only the Fourth Army remained in position and intact after the successful attacks during the Battle of Sharon by the XXI Corps, the Desert Mounted Corps and the beginning of the Battle of Nablus by XX Corps. The destruction of the Fourth Army, which had begun to withdraw to conform with the two other Ottoman armies in the Judean Hills, became Allenby's next priority. Chaytor's Force was to advance eastwards to capture Es Salt and Amman, and to intercept and capture the 4,600-strong southern Hejaz garrison.Blenkinsop 1925 p. 242Pugsley 2004 p. 143Bruce 2002 p. 235
Advance northwards After the British West Indies Regiment advances towards Bakr Ridge were consolidated and continued at dawn on 20 September, their 2nd Battalion captured Bakr Ridge along with Baghalat and Chalk Ridge. Although the 38th Battalion Royal Fusiliers was opposed at Mellaha the 2nd Light Horse Brigade and Patiala Infantry, advanced eastwards across the Jordan Valley toward the strongly entrenched Shunet Nimrin position, and Derbasi on the Ottoman left flank although positions east of the Jordan River continued to be strongly held.Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 549Anzac Mounted Division General Staff War Diary AWM4-1-60-31part2 Appendix 38 pp. 2–3New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade War Diary AWM4-35-1-41
The Seventh and Fourth Armies had begun to withdraw, and before dawn on 21 September Chaytor ordered the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment to advance and capture Kh Fasail, north of Baghalat and about halfway to Damieh, which they had captured by 23:30.Anzac Mounted Division General Staff War Diary AWM4-1-60-31part2 Appendix 38 p. 3Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 550Powles 1922 p. 245Wavell 1968 p. 221 The Nablus to Damieh road was captured early in the morning of 22 September by Meldrum's Force which included the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade and the British West Indies Regiment.Powles 1922 pp. 245–6This was the second time that a commander of the Ottoman 53rd Division had been captured by the New Zealanders. The first happened during the First Battle of Gaza in March 1917. [Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 551] [Hill 1978 p. 173] Subsequently, an attack on the Ottoman garrison holding the bridge at Damieh by the Auckland and Canterbury Mounted Rifles Regiments supported by a battalion of the British West Indies Regiment forced the defenders to retreat in disorder, when the bridge was captured intact.Moore 1920 pp. 148–50
The 2nd Battalion British West Indies Regiment, reinforced by the 3rd Light Horse Regiment (1st Light Horse Brigade), captured the Ottoman rearguard covering the Mafid Jozele ford, despite having encountered a number of Ottoman soldiers withdrawing across the ford. Mafid Jozele was captured by 05:50 on 23 September, but the bridge had been destroyed at the ford.Anzac Mounted Division General Staff War Diary AWM4-1-60-31part2 Appendix 38 p. 4Falls 1930 Vol. 2 pp. 551–2