Battle of Nazareth
The Battle of Nazareth began on 20 September 1918, during the Battle of Sharon, which together with the Battle of 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 Desert Mounted Corps rode to the Esdraelon Plain behind the front line in the Judean Hills. At Nazareth on the plain, the 13th Cavalry Brigade of the 5th Cavalry Division attempted to capture the town and the headquarters of the Yildirim Army Group which was eventually captured the following day after the garrison had withdrawn.
The Egyptian Expeditionary Force attack on Nazareth was made possible by the British Empire infantry attack on 19 September which began the Battle of Sharon. The EEF infantry attacked along an almost continuous front from the Mediterranean Sea, across the Plain of Sharon and into the Judean Hills. The XXI Corps's British Indian Army infantry captured Tulkarm and the headquarters of the Ottoman Eighth Army. During the course of this attack, the infantry created a gap in the Ottoman front line defences through which the Desert Mounted Corps rode northwards to begin the cavalry phase of the battle. Subsequently, the infantry also captured Tabsor, Et Tire and Arara to outflank the Eighth Army. Meanwhile, the Desert Mounted Corps advanced to capture the communications hubs of Afulah, Beisan and Jenin on 20 September, cutting the main Ottoman withdrawal routes along their lines of supply and communications.
The 5th Cavalry Division had been assigned the task of capturing Nazareth, which was the site of the General Headquarters of the Central Powers' Yildirim Army Group, on 20 September. However, due to the rough and narrow Shushu Pass over the Mount Carmel Range, they were forced to leave behind one brigade and the divisional artillery. Instead of both the 13th and 14th Cavalry Brigades advancing across the Esdrealon Plain to capture Nazareth, the 14th Cavalry Brigade went directly to Afulah, the objective of the 4th Cavalry Division. By the time the 13th Cavalry Brigade attacked Nazareth, it had been reduced to two squadrons and was not strong enough to capture the Yilderim Army Group headquarters and secure the town. During the attack the German commander of the Yildirim Army Group, Generalleutnant Otto Liman von Sanders and his senior staff officers escaped. The following day, after the Ottoman garrison retreated, Nazareth was occupied by the 13th Cavalry Brigade.
Background
Following the First Transjordan and the Second Transjordan attacks by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force in March/April and April/May 1918, the EEF commanded by General Edmund Allenby occupied the Jordan Valley and the front line, which extended across the Judean Hills to the Mediterranean. Most of the British infantry and yeomanry cavalry regiments were redeployed to the Western Front to counter Ludendorff's German spring offensive and were replaced by British India Army infantry and cavalry. As part of reorganisation and training, these newly arrived soldiers carried out a series of attacks on sections of the Ottoman front line during the summer months. These attacks were aimed at pushing the front line to more advantageous positions in preparation for a major attack and to acclimatise the newly arrived India Army infantry. It was not until the middle of September that the consolidated force was ready for large-scale operations. During this time the Occupation of the Jordan Valley continued.By the afternoon of 19 September, it was clear that the breakthrough attacks in the Battle of Sharon by the XXI Corps commanded by Lieutenant General Edward Bulfin had been successful and the XX Corps commanded by Lieutenant General Philip Chetwode was ordered to begin its attack, supported by an artillery barrage, against the well-defended Ottoman front line. The attacks continued until midday on 21 September, when a successful flanking attack by the XXI Corps, combined with the XX Corps assault, forced the Seventh and Eighth Armies to disengage. The Ottoman Seventh Army retreated from the Nablus area towards the River Jordan crossing at the Jisr ed Damieh bridge before the rearguard at Nablus was captured. The Desert Mounted Corps commanded by Lieutenant General Harry Chauvel advanced through the gap provided by the infantry on 19 September to almost encircle the fighting in the Judean Hills, capturing Nazareth, Haifa, Afulah, Beisan, Jenin and Samakh, before advancing to Tiberias. During this time, Chaytor's Force commanded by Major General Edward Chaytor captured part of the retreating Ottoman and German column at the Jisr ed Damieh bridge to cut this line of retreat across the Jordan River. To the east of this river, as the Fourth Army began its retreat, Chaytor's Force advanced to capture Es Salt on 23 September. Amman was captured on 25 September during the Second Battle of Amman when a strong Fourth Army rearguard was defeated there on 25 September.
Deployment
The Desert Mounted Corps, commanded by Chauvel, consisted of the 4th and 5th Cavalry, the Australian Mounted Divisions, less the 5th Light Horse Brigade temporarily attached to the infantry 60th Division, and less the Anzac Mounted Division assigned to Chaytor's Force. The three cavalry divisions concentrated near Ramleh, Ludd and Jaffa, where they dumped surplus equipment in preparation for their advance, before concentrating behind the XXI Corps' infantry divisions between the Mediterranean coast and the railway line from Ludd to Tulkarm.Each of the three divisions was made up of three brigades, each with three regiments. The 4th and 5th Cavalry Divisions which had transferred from France, consisted of one British yeomanry regiment and two British Indian Army cavalry regiments, one of which was usually lancers. Except the 15th Cavalry Brigade which had three regiments of Indian Imperial Service Troops lancers. Some of the cavalry regiments were armed, in addition to their Lee–Enfield rifles, bayonets and swords, with lances. The 5th Cavalry Division consisted of three lancer regiments while the Australian Mounted Division consisted of three light horse brigades. Each of these brigades had three regiments made up of a headquarters and three squadrons, totalling 522 men and horses in each regiment, who were armed with swords, Lee–Enfield rifles and bayonets. In contrast, the Anzac Mounted Division detached to Chaytor's Force was armed only with rifles and bayonets, and would remain so throughout the war. These divisions were supported by machine guns, three 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.
By 17 September the Desert Mounted Corps's leading division, the 5th Cavalry Division, was deployed north-west of Sarona from the front line. Ready to follow; the 4th Cavalry Division was located in orange groves to the east of Sarona, from the front, and the Australian Mounted Division was in reserve near Ramleh and Ludd from the front line. All movement had been restricted to night time culminating in a general move forwards on the night of 18/19 September when the 4th and 5th Cavalry Divisions moved to a position close behind the infantry, while the Australian Mounted Division moved forward to Sarona. The three cavalry divisions concentrated with their supplies carried in massed horse-drawn transport and on long trains of camels. The divisions carried one iron ration and two days' special emergency rations for each man, and of grain for each horse, all of which were carried on the horses, with an additional day's grain for the horses carried on the first line transport in limbered wagons.
Desert Mounted Corps objectives
The cavalry divisions were to ride northwards up the coastal Plain of Sharon, then eastwards over the Mount Carmel Range and onto the Esdraelon Plain, to block the line of retreat of the Ottoman Seventh and Eighth Armies fighting the XX and XXI Corps in the Judean Hills. If the Esdraelon Plain could be quickly captured, while the two Ottoman armies continued fighting the British Empire infantry, the lines of retreat by railway and road could be cut. The success of this plan depended on a rapid advance to simultaneously almost encircle the Seventh and Eighth Armies in the Judean Hills and capture Liman von Sanders and the Yilderim Army Group general headquarters. Further, in order to consolidate their success, the cavalry would be required to hold these places for some time. Operating many miles from their base, they would be dependent on rations being quickly and efficiently transported forward from base.Esdraelon Plain
The lines of supply for the two Ottoman armies fighting in the Judean Hills depended on the main road and railway networks which crossed the Esdraelon Plain. The plain stretches from Lejjun. in the west, to the white houses of Nazareth in the foothills of the Galilean Hills in the north, to Afulah in the centre of the plain and on to Beisan on its eastern edge close to the Jordan River, and to Jenin on its south edge at the foot of the Judean Hills.The main route from the Plain of Sharon to the Esdrealon Plain was across the Mount Carmel Range via the Musmus Pass which enters the plain near Lejjun. This area is dominated by the site of the ancient fortress of Megiddo on Tell al Mutesellim. A small force on this prominent ground could control the routes to the north and across the plain where Egyptians, Romans, Mongols, Arabs, Crusaders and the army of Napoleon had marched and fought. Yet no defensive works had been identified on the plain, or covering the approaches to it, during aerial reconnaissances, except German troops garrisoning Yildirim Army Group headquarters. Liman von Sanders took steps to correct this failure at 12:30 on 19 September, by ordering the 13th Depot Regiment at Nazareth and the military police, a total of six companies and twelve machine guns to occupy Lejjun and defend the Esdrealon Plains exit of the Musmus Pass.