Battle of Samakh

Not to be confused with Battles of the Kinarot Valley.

Battle of Samakh
Part of the Battle of Sharon, Battle of Megiddo, during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I
German Headquarters, Samakh
Date 25 September 1918 Location Samakh on the southern shore of the Sea of Galilee (Lake Tiberias) Result Australian light horse victory
Belligerents
British Empire Australia	Ottoman Empire German Empire
Commanders and leaders
Edmund Allenby Henry Chauvel William Grant	Fevsi Pasha Otto Liman von Sanders
Units involved
4th Light Horse Brigade's Headquarters 11th Light Horse Regiment 12th Light Horse Regiment 4th Machine Gun Squadron Australian Mounted Division Desert Mounted Corps Egyptian Expeditionary Force	Yildirim Army Group remnants from the Seventh Army Eighth Army formed into a rearguard
Casualties and losses
17 killed, 60 wounded, 1 missing	28 killed 33 wounded, 331 unwounded prisoners

The Battle of Samakh was fought on 25 September 1918, between attacking Australian light horse and the town's Ottoman garrison reinforced by German machine guns. This victory, which captured the centre of a rearguard line to open the way for a British cavalry advance to Damascus, concluded the three infantry and five cavalry operations which comprised the Battle of Sharon. Together with Battle of Nablus these two battles have become known as the Battle of Megiddo. They were among the final operations of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War.

The Battle of Megiddo began on 19 September 1918 with the breakthrough by Allied infantry in an almost continuous line from the Mediterranean Sea, across the Plain of Sharon and into the foothills of the Judean Hills. They attacked the Ottoman front line at Tulkarm, Tabsor and Arara outflanking the Ottoman Eighth Army on the coast. They created a gap through which Desert Mounted Corps rode northwards, to capture the Ottoman Seventh and Eighth Armies' lines of supply and retreat on 20 September, along with the communications hubs on the Esdrealon Plain (also known as the Jezreel Valley) of Afulah, Beisan and Jenin. The General Headquarters of the Central Powers Yildirim Army Group at Nazareth, was captured the next day, while Haifa was captured on 23 September. By 25 September, one Ottoman army had been virtually destroyed, and the remnants of two others were in retreat northwards leaving a strong rearguard at Samakh.

The town of Samakh was a strategically important site as it was situated on the southern shore of the Sea of Galilee (also known as Lake Tiberias), on the main lines of communication and retreat: the Jezreel Valley Railway and the main road from Nablus to Damascus. On 20 September, Otto Liman von Sanders, the commander of the Yildirim Army Group, ordered the town's German and Ottoman garrison to prepare a strong rearguard defense of the town. Samakh was to be the centre of the Deraa to Lake Huleh rearguard line, set up by Liman von Sanders to stop the approaching Egyptian Expeditionary Force, commanded by Edmund Allenby. A regiment and two squadrons of the Australian 4th Light Horse Brigade commenced the attack on Samakh at dawn on 25 September, with a mounted cavalry charge which ended two hours later, after close quarter fighting from room to room in the railway buildings, with bayonets and swords the town was captured. This victory concluded the Battle of Sharon section of the Battle of Megiddo and opened the way for the continuation of the cavalry advance to Damascus, which was captured on 1 October. By the time the Armistice of Mudros between the Allies and the Ottoman Empire was signed at the end of October, fighting north of Aleppo was in progress.

Background

Falls Map 33 Megiddo Situation at 21:00 21 September 1918 Sea of Galilee shown as Lake Tiberias

Samakh was regarded by both General Edmund Allenby, commander of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, and General Liman von Sanders, commander of the Yildirim Army Group, as a key strategic point, as it controlled the most direct route to Damascus; it was also on the Ottoman lines of communication and the Palestine railway which ran along nearby bridges across the Jordan River.

It was clear, that only one course remained open to me. The Tiberias sector from Lake Hule to Samakh must be held with all the means at our disposal to prevent the pursuit overtaking us, whilst the formations retiring along the River Jordan and east of Jordan to the Yarmuk Valley sector, from Samakh to Der'a, must form [a] front for at least the time being.

— Commander of Yildirim Army Group, Liman von Sanders' "Five years in Turkey"

After escaping from Nazareth, Liman von Sanders, accompanied by General Kiazim, Major Prigge and Rittmeister Hecker, reached Tiberias during the afternoon of 20 September. Liman von Sanders ordered the establishment of a rearguard line running from Deraa down the Yarmuk River Valley, across the Jordan River and west to Samakh, around the shore of the Sea of Galilee to Tiberias and northwards to Lake Huleh. If this line, across the two main roads and the railway lines to Damascus could be held, time could be gained for the development of a strong defence of the city. Liman von Sanders described Samakh "as the essential link between the two main sectors of the line" but "the weak link between the two halves." He reinforced the garrison at Samakh with German machine gunners and ordered the commander, a German officer to hold the town to the last man.

Lieutenant General Harry Chauvel, commander of the Desert Mounted Corps, ordered the capture of the towns of Samakh and Tiberias to complete the strategic and tactical line held by his cavalry. This line stretched north of the Esdraelon Plain from Tiberias to Nazareth and across to Acre north of Haifa on the Mediterranean Sea. On 24 September the Australian Mounted Division commanded by Major General H. W. Hodgson, was ordered to capture Samakh and the railway bridges over the Yarmuk gorge, in preparation for an advance on Damascus. This "led to the most fiercely–fought action of the whole pursuit".

Position of Ottoman forces

By the morning of 21 September, German Colonel Gustav von Oppen's Asia Korps remained intact. It consisted of the 16th and 19th Divisions, the 701st Battalion with its machine gun company of six guns, a troop of cavalry, an infantry-artillery platoon with two mountain guns/howitzers and a trench mortar section with four mortars and a cavalry squadron and a battalion had been formed from remnants of the 702nd and 703rd Battalions to which a rifle company, a machine gun company and a trench mortar detachment had been attached. This force succeeded in retreating towards Beisan via Mount Ebal during 21 September but were forced to leave behind all guns or baggage. They suffered some casualties when fired on by artillery, before bivouacking that night at Tammun with the 16th and 19th Divisions at Tubas, unaware that Desert Mounted Corps had already occupied Beisan.

With about 700 German and 1,300 Ottoman soldiers of the 16th and 19th Divisions, von Oppen was moving northwards from Tubas towards Beisan when he learned it had already been captured. He decided to advance during the night of 22 September to Samakh where he correctly guessed Liman von Sanders would order a strong rearguard action. However, Jevad, the commander of the Eighth Army ordered him to cross the Jordan instead; he successfully got all the Germans and some of the Ottoman soldiers across before the 11th Cavalry Brigade attacked and captured the remainder.

Prelude

Desert Mounted Corps reconnaissance

Turkish 10.5cm Howitzer

While the Central India Horse or the 19th Lancers (Fane's Horse) of the 12th Cavalry Brigade, 4th Cavalry Division, continued to hold the bridge at Jisr el Mejamie, captured at 05:00 on 21 September, (see Capture of Afulah and Beisan) one of their squadrons made a reconnaissance to Samakh to blow up the railway east of the town. The reconnaissance patrol was forced to retire when heavily fired on by two 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns north east of the town, but reported a train had arrived at Samakh and was still there at 11:00 on 24 September.

Deployment

Chauvel ordered Hodgson, the commander of the Australian Mounted Division, to take the town four days after Liman von Sanders had alerted the garrison. Hodgson's only available troops was his reserve; the 11th Light Horse Regiment and one squadron of the 12th Light Horse Regiment, with the 4th Light Horse Brigade's headquarters and Machine Gun Squadron.

Falls Map 21 Cavalry advances 19 to 25 September 1918. Detail shows 5th Cavalry Division advance to Nazareth, 4th Cavalry Division advance to Afulah and Beisan, Australian Mounted Division advance to Lajjun, 3rd Light Horse Brigade advance to Jenin, 19th Lancers advance to Jisr el Mejamie and 4th Light Horse Brigade advance to Samakh. Also shown are the three main lines of retreat bombed by aircraft and the retreat of the Seventh Ottoman Army and Asia Corps across the Jordan River.

At Jenin at 15:10 on 24 September, the 5th Light Horse Brigade had received orders to send a regiment to reinforce the 4th Light Horse Brigade during its approach to Samakh. The 15th Light Horse Regiment reported at Samakh at 07:00 a half hour after the town was captured. Meanwhile, the remainder of the 5th Light Horse Brigade remained at Jenin for most of 25 September before riding in the evening to the railway near Zerin, with "Mount Gilboa on their right," to enjoy the water fountain for a couple of days.

Advance to Jisr el Mejamie

The 4th Light Horse Brigade arrived at Beisan at 13:45 on 24 September. Here they received Order No. 31 from the Australian Mounted Division to attack Samakh. Five minutes after departing Beisan for Jisr el Mejamie, at 16:35 the brigade received a message dropped from an aircraft, which reported that Samakh was defended by 50 rifles and machine guns.

The 4th Light Horse Brigade, less the 4th Light Horse Regiment and two squadrons or five troops of 12th Light Horse Regiment, arrived at Jisr el Mejamie at 21:00. Here, they made contact with the Central India Horse or the 19th Lancers; a regiment of the 4th Cavalry Division, holding the bridge.

A second order to capture Samakh was received by the brigade at 22:10, which included the further objective of reconnoitring towards Tiberias, where they were to cooperate with the 3rd Light Horse Brigade in capturing the town. The orders gave Brigadier General W. Grant, commander of the 4th Light Horse Brigade, the choice of either attacking immediately, or waiting for the return of the 4th Light Horse Regiment and the squadrons of the 12th Light Horse Regiment. Expecting to be reinforced by the 15th Light Horse Regiment, 5th Light Horse Brigade, on its way to Samakh and having been informed the garrison defending Samakh was weak, he decided not to delay the attack. If Grant had waited for reinforcements before attacking Samakh, they would have had to approach the village in daylight, in full view of the defenders in the railway station building, which may have resulted in at least as many casualties, and perhaps many more, during a potentially protracted fight.

Battle

Falls Map 37 Battle of Samakh 25 September 1918

Cavalry charge

No reconnaissance by the light horse had been possible, but the 19th Lancers reported that the village and station buildings lay at the end of a flat plain 2.5 miles (4.0 km) wide, without any cover and no apparent obstacles to a cavalry charge. The 4th Light Horse Brigade crossed the Jordan and Yarmuk Rivers at Jisr el Mejamie at 02:30 on 25 September in order to arrive at Samakh before dawn, advancing along the railway line. Grant ordered the 11th Light Horse Regiment to attack mounted from the southeast at dawn, supported by machine guns which were to be deployed due south, on the railway.

The attack began before dawn, when the two leading light horse squadrons were heavily fired on by rifles and machine guns from several outposts at 04:25, causing nearly 100 horse casualties.

This unexpected fire revealed the garrison was deployed to cover the open plain for some 700 yards (640 m) south of Samakh, and on either side stretching to the mountains. The 11th Light Horse Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel J. W. Parsons, had planned to attack the garrison's flank, but as no flank attack was possible swung the regiment around to attack straight on. 'A' and 'B' squadrons galloped on either side of the railway line, with all 12 machine guns of the brigade's Machine Gun Squadron providing covering fire for the charging squadrons, firing at the flashes from the enemy rifles and machine guns.

This cavalry charge was unique during the whole of the First World War, being the only one carried out in the dark and across country which had not been previously reconnoitred. The ground was found to be scattered with clumps of long spiked thistles, and a number of pitfalls. Nine men were injured from falls during the charge.

Both squadrons succeeded in entering the village, while one squadron of 12th Light Horse Regiment moved forward towards the town from the west, in support. The 11th Light Horse Regiment's reserve 'C' squadron moved forward to occupy Hill 377 on the eastern flank, watching the railway from Deraa and the road on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee. Meanwhile, the 4th Light Horse Brigade Headquarters and the 12th Light Horse Regimental headquarters, forming the brigade reserve, were deployed on the plain south of the town and east of the railway. Here they were heavily fired on by artillery on the right flank near the Sea of Galilee and forced to move to cover.

Dismounted attack

Samakh Railway Station after the battle

As soon as 'A' and 'B' Squadrons of 11th Light Horse Regiment reached the town and dismounted, the 4th Light Horse Brigade Machine Gun Squadron ceased their covering fire, changing their targets to the German or Ottoman machine guns on the right. Having silenced those machine guns, the Machine Gun Squadron galloped forward to take up a position at the western end of the town, while the two attacking squadrons proceeded towards the railway station buildings, on foot.

The station building was a substantial two storied building with solid stone walls, making an effective redoubt for the garrison; the defenders firing automatic rifles and throwing grenades from the windows. Other groups of the German and Ottoman garrison placed themselves in the locomotives, tenders and carriages in the railway sidings, from which they fired on the attackers. Once the Australian light horsemen succeeded in entering the station buildings, hand-to-hand fighting from room-to-room with rifles and bayonets, (and possibly swords) followed. At this time several white flags were reported at the station, but when approached by the light horsemen they were fired on, and it was in this way most of the light horsemen who died during the battle were killed.

The savage hand-to-hand fighting in the railway buildings and sidings lasted for more than an hour before the light horsemen gained the upper hand. Over 20 Ottoman and German soldiers were killed in the station buildings alone during the fighting. During this time, 'C' Squadron, 11th Light Horse Regiment, and/or one squadron of 12th Light Horse Regiment, moved up into Samakh and captured the town in less severe fighting.

Samakh village shows railway track to jetty and Sea of Gallilee

The light horsemen suffered 17 killed and 60 wounded with one man missing and 77 horses killed; the 11th Light Horse Regiment lost two captains, one lieutenant and 11 other ranks killed, while four officers and 25 other ranks were wounded. There were 28 German and Ottoman soldiers killed and 33 wounded while 331 unwounded prisoners were captured. Other captures included one 77mm field gun, seven heavy machine guns, three automatic rifles, a large dump of rifles, bayonets, automatic pistols and ammunition which was subsequently burnt. A motor boat escaped but another was destroyed by fire and its occupants were captured. Two locomotives, eight carriages, 12 goods wagons along with an aircraft and a wireless were also captured.

The 4th Light Horse Brigade buried their dead and the field ambulance treated the wounded before the advance was continued along the western shore of the Sea of Galilee to Tiberias. Here the 3rd and 4th Light Horse Brigades met in the town; the 3rd Light Horse Brigade having advanced direct over the hills from Nazareth.

Aftermath

Strong patrols advanced up the Yarmuk River valley from Samakh, but every bridge was found to be strongly guarded; 30 at one and 60 Germans in a redoubt at another with an engine and tender. The rugged Jebel Ain en Nimr mountain, 1,800 feet (550 m) above the Sea of Galilee and less than 2 miles (3.2 km) from its southern shore was occupied by 500 infantry and one gun.

Column of prisoners captured at Samakh

The capture of Samakh and operations around the Sea of Galilee concluded the Battles of Megiddo. Chauvel's Desert Mounted Corps had captured Haifa, Nazareth and Tiberias, two Ottoman armies had been eliminated from the Judean Hills and the Fourth Army east of the Jordan was in full retreat to Deraa and Damascus. Allenby acknowledged in a cable to the Australian Government that "the completeness of our victory is due to the action of the Desert Mounted Corps under General Chauvel." "The battle had been as brilliant in execution as it had been in conception; it had no parallel in France or on any other front, but rather looked forward in principle and even in detail to the Blitzkrieg of 1939."

I have your HW wire and that from Troopers proposing a Cavalry raid to Aleppo. I don't think Aleppo possible; but am sending 3 Divisions of Cavalry, as soon as I can, to Damascus. Chaytor's Division of Anzac Light Horse is about Amman now, and will deal with enemy coming from the South. Prisoners number well over 40,000 and are still coming in. I have Australian mounted troops at the S. end of Lake Tiberias, and they are pushing to Tiberias. If I get Damascus, Beirut falls to us certainly; and I hope to push troops, Northwards, thither, by the coast–road from Haifa, feeding from the sea, stage by stage.

— Allenby to Wilson CIGS War Office 25 September 1918

Capture of Tiberias

Main article: Capture of Tiberias (1918)

At 15:00 on 25 September, a squadron of 4th Light Horse Brigade which had been ordered to advance along the shore of the Sea of Galilee from Samakh towards Tiberias and a squadron of 3rd Light Horse Brigade which approached the town from Nazareth, combined to capture the town along with 56 prisoners half of which were German.

On 27 September, the 4th Light Horse Brigade left Samakh at 06:00 and arrived at Tiberias at 08:00, where they received two days supplies and one day's iron ration which were to last until after breakfast on 29 September, before moving out at 10:00 towards Damascus. The 15th Light Horse Regiment (5th Light Horse Brigade) remained guarding Samakh until relieved by the 7th (Meerut) Division, XXI Corps.

References

• Bruce, Anthony (2002). The Last Crusade: The Palestine Campaign in the First World War. London: John Murray Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7195-5432-2.
• Carver, Michael, Field Marshal Lord (2003). The National Army Museum Book of The Turkish Front 1914–1918: The Campaigns at Gallipoli, in Mesopotamia and in Palestine. London: Pan Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-283-07347-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Coulthard-Clark, Christopher (2001). The Encyclopaedia of Australia's Battles. Crows Nest, Sydney: Allan & Unwin. OCLC 231965802.
• Falls, Cyril (1930). Military Operations Egypt & Palestine from June 1917 to the End of the War. Official History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. Vol. 2 Part II. London: HM Stationary Office. OCLC 256950972. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Grainger, John D. (2006). The Battle for Palestine, 1917. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. ISBN 978-1-84383-263-8.
• Hill, A. J. (1978). Chauvel of the Light Horse A Biography of General Sir Harry Chauvel, GCMG, KCB. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. OCLC 5003626.
• Keogh, E. G. (1955). Suez to Aleppo. Melbourne: Directorate of Military Training by Wilkie & Co. OCLC 220029983. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Massey, William Thomas (1920). Allenby’s Final Triumph. London: Constable & Co. OCLC 345306.
• Maunsell, E. B. (1926). Prince of Wales’ Own, the Seinde Horse, 1839-1922. Regimental Committee. OCLC 221077029.
• Paget, G.C.H.V Marquess of Anglesey (1994). Egypt, Palestine and Syria 1914 to 1919. A History of the British Cavalry 1816–1919 Volume 5. London: Leo Cooper. ISBN 978-0-85052-395-9.
• Powles, C. Guy (1922). The New Zealanders in Sinai and Palestine. Official History New Zealand's Effort in the Great War, Volume III. Auckland: Whitcombe & Tombs Ltd. OCLC 2959465. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Preston, R. M. P. (1921). The Desert Mounted Corps: An Account of the Cavalry Operations in Palestine and Syria 1917–1918. London: Constable & Co. OCLC 3900439.
• Wavell, Field Marshal Earl (1968). E.W. Sheppard (ed.). The Palestine Campaigns. A Short History of the British Army (3rd ed.). London: Constable & Co.

External links

• "Australian Mounted Division General Staff War Diary". First World War Diaries AWM4, 1-58-15. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. September 1918.
• "4th Light Horse Brigade War Diary". First World War Diaries AWM4, 10-4-21. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. September 1918.
• "11th Light Horse Regiment War Diary". First World War Diaries AWM4, 10-16-36. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. September 1918.
• "4th Light Horse Brigade War Diary". First World War Diaries AWM4, 10-4-21. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. September 1918.
• "5th Light Horse Brigade War Diary". First World War Diaries AWM4, 10-5-2. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. September 1918.
• "15th Light Horse Regiment War Diary". First World War Diaries AWM4, 10-20-2. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. September 1918.