The War Against Turkey
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5. The War Against Turkey
1914 .. return to top
29 October
Turkey declared war on the Entente powers, announced with attacks on the Russian Black Sea ports of Odessa, Sevastopol, and Theodosia; with the Dardanelles closed, the Western powers could not readily aid Russia
[Note: The Turks fought the Russians in the Caucasus Mountains for three years, with no significant gains by either side.]
23 October
An Indian Expeditionary Force, soon to be 6th Indian Division of Kut-al-Amara fame, lands near Basra, Mesopotamia
5 November
Britain annexes Cyprus
23 November
Basra, Mesopotamia, falls to the Indian Army
30 November
Royal Navy vessels shell the Turkish forts in the Dardanelles
18 December
Britain declares Egypt a protectorate and moves troops there to protect the Suez Canal, the
line of communications for the Indian Expeditionary Force fighting in France, and the life-line to Asia, including the Australasian pool of reinforcements, promised but not yet forthcoming
1915 .. return to top
January-June
British, under orders from India, advance up the Tigris-Euphrates valley towards Baghdad, occupying Amara, in Mesopotamia, 3 June
14 January-3 February
Turkish attacks on the Suez Canal force a crossing, which is wrecked by the Indian Army and British defenders; the Canal will not again be attacked, but the threat to it will lead to a major British offensive into Palestine
19 February-18 March
Allied naval attacks on the forts along the Dardanelles, chiefly by the Royal Navy's older battleships; on 18 March 3 old battleships were lost to mines, 3 were put out of action, including one by shore batteries, but unbeknownst to Roebuck the British admiral, the Turks were finished; Roebuck decided upon a withdrawal, and left the Turks to recover
March-April
The British assemble in Egypt an expeditionary force to seize the Dardanelles
25 April
British land on the Gallipoli peninsula, but through gross mismanagement of the action are at once contained by the Turks, followed by three months of heavy, and costly, fighting without movement, which led to further landings in August (see below)
3 June
Amara occupied by Townshend's 6th Indian Division
24 July
British victory in the Euphrates valley over a Turkish garrison at Nasiriya
6-8 August
Landings at Suvla Bay, Gallipoli, by the ANZACs (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) at first go well, but Stopford, the corps commander lacked vigor in his drive, and the Turks contain the landing
August-September
Townshend advances to Kut-al-Amara, Mesopotamia, and
27-28 September
fights and wins the Battle of Kut, whereupon he continues the advance northward
15 October
General Ian Hamilton was relieved for failure in Gallipoli, and his replacement, General Sir Charles Monro, recommends evacuation, which is approved (23 November), and commences at once
11-22 November
Advance to Ctesiphon by Townshend in Mesopotamia
22-26 November
Battle of Ctesiphon is lost by Townshend as Turkish reinforcements arrive and his exhausted force can do no more; forced to retreat, he fights a rearguard action
1 December
at Umm-at-Tubal, and reaches Kut safely on 3 December, where he digs in
10 December
in Gallipoli most of the troops and supplies are already removed, and
1916 .. return to top
8-9 January
the final 35,000 troops are withdrawn from Gallipoli, without the loss of a man, and without detection by the Turks, who "are asleep at the switch"
January-July
the British in Egypt, under Sir Archibald Murray, late Chief of the Imperial General Staff in London, push out towards Palestine to deepen the Canal defensive zone
29 April
Townshend surrenders(2000 British and 6000 Indian POWs)Kut, in Mesopotamia, after nearly 20 weeks of siege, during which time two British commanders, Aylmer and then Gorringe, failed to relieve him, in spite of 21,000 casualties in the relief forces
5 June
Arab revolt in the Hejaz takes the Turks in Arabia by surprise, having been fomented by Franco-British operatives
3 August
Turkish forces strike at the British railhead in Sinai, fighting the losing Battle of Rumani
13 December
the British forces in Mesopotamia, under the able command of General Sir Stanley Maude, 166,000 strong (67% Indian), advanced up the Tigris river once again
1917 .. return to top
8-9 January
Battle of Magruntein clears the Turks out of the Sinai desert in Egypt, and Murray is authorized an advance into Palestine
22-23 February
Second Battle of Kut-al-Amara, in Mesopotamia, won by Maude, who continued his advance on Baghdad
11 March
Baghdad, in the Tigris-Euphrates valley, falls to Maude
26 March
First Battle of Gaza, a British repulse by the Turks, is presented as a victory by Murray's report, and the War Office directs him to advance at once upon Jerusalem
17-19 April
Second Battle of Gaza also a British failure, for which Murray relieved his field commander Dobell, and for which he in turn was relieved, being replaced by General Sir Edmund Allenby, late commander of Third Army, BEF, in France, and a cavalryman of brains as well as courage, with leadership abilities, and tactical skill; he was to "take Jerusalem by Christmas"
27-28 September
Battle of Ramadi led to Maude driving north into central Mesopotamia, towards the oil fields at Mosul, but he succumbed to cholera and was replaced in November by Marshall
31 October
Third Battle of Gaza (Battle of Beersheba) against the Turkish 7th and 8th Armies was a daring surprise, pitted mounted forces against the Turkish flank, leading to a fierce battle for the wells of Beersheba, upon which everything hinged (without the water the horses would die); the Australian Light Horse mounted a twilight charge into the Turkish machine-guns and wire and carried the vital wells
November
The Turkish counterattack forces intended to drive Maude back in Mesopotamia were diverted to Palestine to help put the brakes on Allenby's drive on Jerusalem
6-13 November
Allenby's mounted troops were turned loose, as was his air power, to pummel the retreating Turks, as the 8th Army went back up the coast, and the 7th retired upon Jerusalem
13-14 November
Battle of Junction Station, and the arrival of Turkish reinforcements now commanded by General von Falkenhayn (late of Western Front fame, and the father of the Verdun battles of the previous year), who reestablished a continuous line from Jerusalem to the sea and checked Allenby's advance momentarily
18 November
General Sir William R. Marshall succeeds Maude and the war in Mesopotamia goes on hold at the direction of London
8-9 December
Allenby attacks Jerusalem, which falls on the 9th, thus fulfilling his mandate from London to take the place before Christmas
1918 .. return to top
January-September
The Arab Revolt, led chiefly by T.E. Lawrence, Emir Faisal, and his father Sherif Hussein, "King of the Hejaz," tore up the interior of Arabia behind the Turks, who were virtually besieged in their garrisons throughout the Arabian peninsula
March-August
Allenby's army in Palestine was faced with very heavy drafts against his British divisions to reinforce the Western Front as the German spring drive threatened immediate defeat for the Allied cause; late in the summer he received steady replacements from the Indian Army as his British infantry divisions were "Indianized" and thereby returned to fighting trim for the final drive; all of this took months to accomplish, but on
18 September-30 October
Allenby's final drive opened with complete air supremacy to blind the enemy who was to be struck by a surprise attack, also covered by a deception plan of substantial scale, and utter secrecy
19-21 September
Battle of Meggido opened with a drive along the Mediterranean coast, which tore open the Turkish right, and let Allenby launch his cavalry through the hole into the desert beyond (the model for Second Alamein in 1942)
22 September-30 October
The pursuit was brilliant, ruthless, and conducted by cavalry and air power, the former destroying Turkish 8th Army on the ground, and the latter destroying Turkish 4th and 7th Armies in their retreat towards and along the Jordan River
30 October
Turkey signed an armistice on Mudros and her war was over
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