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Charge at Haritan
The Charge at Haritan, named after a town north of Aleppo, occurred on 26 October 1918 at the end of the Pursuit to Haritan during the final stages of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War. Two regiments of the 15th (Imperial Service) Cavalry Brigade, 5th Cavalry Division, charged into the retreating remnant column of the Ottoman Army's Yildirim Army Group. Subsequently, six squadrons of the same brigade charged into an Ottoman rearguard position but were counterattacked and forced to retreat.
After the British Empire's victory at the Battle of Megiddo, the remnants of the Ottoman Turkish Empire's Yildirim Army Group from Amman were pursued by Prince Faisal's Sherifial Force which captured Deraa on 27 September, on the right flank of the 4th Cavalry Division. Meanwhile, the pursuit by the Australian Mounted Division followed by the 5th Cavalry Division of Yildirim Army Group remnants retreating from the Judean Hills, captured Damascus on 1 October 1918, many thousands of German and Turkish prisoners and many miles of Ottoman Empire territory. A remnant force of Yildirim Army Group managed to escape Damascus, to concentrate at Rayak before retreating through Homs and Hama towards Aleppo. Huge losses in Desert Mounted Corps from sickness delayed and depleted their pursuit from Damascus which was continued by twenty-four cars in three batteries of armored cars, and three light car patrols armed with machine guns. They were supported by the 15th (Imperial Service) Cavalry Brigade with the remainder of the division following with the Australian Mounted Division moving north to reinforce them. Prince Faisal's Sherifial Force successfully attacked Aleppo on the night of 25 October.
Following the comprehensive success of the Battle of Megiddo, Sir Henry Wilson, Chief of the Imperial General Staff at the War Office encouraged General Allenby, commanding the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) with the idea that the EEF could do anything and asked him to consider a cavalry raid to Aleppo. Wilson added that the War Cabinet was prepared to take full responsibility for any unsuccessful outcomes.
About nineteen thousand Turkish soldiers had retreated northwards by 1 October, no more than four thousand of whom were equipped and able to fight. Otto Liman von Sanders transferred his headquarters to Baalbek and ordered the remnants of Yildirim Army Group from Haifa and Deraa to concentrate at Rayak. The 146th Regiment was the last formation to leave Damascus on 30 September. After hearing the Barada Gorge was closed von Hammerstein left Damascus by the Homs road, following the III Corps, the 24th Division and the 3rd Cavalry Division to Rayak where even remnants of the 43rd Division of the Second Army which had not been involved in fighting, were "infected with panic." Only the remnants of von Oppen's Asia Corps and the 146th Regiment marching to Homs remained "disciplined formations" by 2 October.
Lieutenant-General Harry Chauvel's Desert Mounted Corps at Damascus was already 150 miles (240 km) away from its main supply base while Aleppo was a further two hundred miles (320 km) away. Allenby was prepared to advance only in stages as supply and geography dictated. He estimated on 25 September that there were twenty-five thousand Turkish troops in the Aleppo and Alexandretta area.
Remnants of the Seventh Army commanded by Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk) which had escaped Megiddo, Damascus and Aleppo, were now deployed to the north and north-west of that city. The Second Army of about sixteen thousand armed troops commanded by Nihat Pasha (Anılmış) was located to the west in Cilicia and the Sixth Army with another sixteen thousand armed troops commanded by Ali İhsan (Sâbis) which had withdrawn from Mesopotamia was to the north-east around Nusaybin. These Turkish forces grossly outnumbered the 5th Cavalry Division and attached armoured cars.
This force which conducted the pursuit was made up of Prince Faisal's Sherifial Force; one column of fifteen hundred commanded by Colonel Nuri Bey and a second column of fifteen hundred commanded by Sherif Nasir, the 2nd, 11th and 12th Light Armoured Motor Batteries and the 1st (Australian), 2nd and 7th Light Car Patrols consisting of 24 armoured cars, and the 5th Cavalry Division's 15th (Imperial Service) Cavalry Brigade which accompanied the armoured cars to Hamma on 21 October, while the 13th and 14th Cavalry Brigades followed in support.
The 5th Cavalry Division and the armoured cars were organised into two columns. Column "A" consisted of Major-General Henry Macandrew's division headquarters, all the armoured cars and the 15th (Imperial Service) Cavalry Brigade. The 13th and 14th Cavalry Brigades formed Column "B."
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Charge at Haritan
The Charge at Haritan, named after a town north of Aleppo, occurred on 26 October 1918 at the end of the Pursuit to Haritan during the final stages of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War. Two regiments of the 15th (Imperial Service) Cavalry Brigade, 5th Cavalry Division, charged into the retreating remnant column of the Ottoman Army's Yildirim Army Group. Subsequently, six squadrons of the same brigade charged into an Ottoman rearguard position but were counterattacked and forced to retreat.
After the British Empire's victory at the Battle of Megiddo, the remnants of the Ottoman Turkish Empire's Yildirim Army Group from Amman were pursued by Prince Faisal's Sherifial Force which captured Deraa on 27 September, on the right flank of the 4th Cavalry Division. Meanwhile, the pursuit by the Australian Mounted Division followed by the 5th Cavalry Division of Yildirim Army Group remnants retreating from the Judean Hills, captured Damascus on 1 October 1918, many thousands of German and Turkish prisoners and many miles of Ottoman Empire territory. A remnant force of Yildirim Army Group managed to escape Damascus, to concentrate at Rayak before retreating through Homs and Hama towards Aleppo. Huge losses in Desert Mounted Corps from sickness delayed and depleted their pursuit from Damascus which was continued by twenty-four cars in three batteries of armored cars, and three light car patrols armed with machine guns. They were supported by the 15th (Imperial Service) Cavalry Brigade with the remainder of the division following with the Australian Mounted Division moving north to reinforce them. Prince Faisal's Sherifial Force successfully attacked Aleppo on the night of 25 October.
Following the comprehensive success of the Battle of Megiddo, Sir Henry Wilson, Chief of the Imperial General Staff at the War Office encouraged General Allenby, commanding the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) with the idea that the EEF could do anything and asked him to consider a cavalry raid to Aleppo. Wilson added that the War Cabinet was prepared to take full responsibility for any unsuccessful outcomes.
About nineteen thousand Turkish soldiers had retreated northwards by 1 October, no more than four thousand of whom were equipped and able to fight. Otto Liman von Sanders transferred his headquarters to Baalbek and ordered the remnants of Yildirim Army Group from Haifa and Deraa to concentrate at Rayak. The 146th Regiment was the last formation to leave Damascus on 30 September. After hearing the Barada Gorge was closed von Hammerstein left Damascus by the Homs road, following the III Corps, the 24th Division and the 3rd Cavalry Division to Rayak where even remnants of the 43rd Division of the Second Army which had not been involved in fighting, were "infected with panic." Only the remnants of von Oppen's Asia Corps and the 146th Regiment marching to Homs remained "disciplined formations" by 2 October.
Lieutenant-General Harry Chauvel's Desert Mounted Corps at Damascus was already 150 miles (240 km) away from its main supply base while Aleppo was a further two hundred miles (320 km) away. Allenby was prepared to advance only in stages as supply and geography dictated. He estimated on 25 September that there were twenty-five thousand Turkish troops in the Aleppo and Alexandretta area.
Remnants of the Seventh Army commanded by Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk) which had escaped Megiddo, Damascus and Aleppo, were now deployed to the north and north-west of that city. The Second Army of about sixteen thousand armed troops commanded by Nihat Pasha (Anılmış) was located to the west in Cilicia and the Sixth Army with another sixteen thousand armed troops commanded by Ali İhsan (Sâbis) which had withdrawn from Mesopotamia was to the north-east around Nusaybin. These Turkish forces grossly outnumbered the 5th Cavalry Division and attached armoured cars.
This force which conducted the pursuit was made up of Prince Faisal's Sherifial Force; one column of fifteen hundred commanded by Colonel Nuri Bey and a second column of fifteen hundred commanded by Sherif Nasir, the 2nd, 11th and 12th Light Armoured Motor Batteries and the 1st (Australian), 2nd and 7th Light Car Patrols consisting of 24 armoured cars, and the 5th Cavalry Division's 15th (Imperial Service) Cavalry Brigade which accompanied the armoured cars to Hamma on 21 October, while the 13th and 14th Cavalry Brigades followed in support.
The 5th Cavalry Division and the armoured cars were organised into two columns. Column "A" consisted of Major-General Henry Macandrew's division headquarters, all the armoured cars and the 15th (Imperial Service) Cavalry Brigade. The 13th and 14th Cavalry Brigades formed Column "B."