Capture of Jericho

Capture of Jericho
Part of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I
Breakfast meeting of Generals Chaytor, Chauvel and Chetwode on the morning of the capture of Jericho, 21 February 1918
Date 19–21 February 1918 Location East of Jerusalem to Jericho in the Jordan Valley Result Egyptian Expeditionary Force victory
Belligerents
British Empire  United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland  Australia  New Zealand	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Edmund Allenby Philip Chetwode John Shea Edward Chaytor	Otto Liman von Sanders Djemal Pasha Ali Fuad Bey Refet Bey
Units involved
Egyptian Expeditionary Force XX Corps 60th (London) Division 53rd (Welsh) Division and Desert Mounted Corps's 1st Light Horse Brigade New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade	Yildirim Army Group Seventh Army XX Corps 26th Division 53rd Division
Strength
6,800[citation needed][dubious – discuss]	3,000[citation needed]
Casualties and losses
510	144 prisoners, 8 machine guns

The Capture of Jericho occurred between 19 and 21 February 1918 to the east of Jerusalem beginning the Occupation of the Jordan Valley during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War. Fighting took place in an area bordered by the Bethlehem–Nablus road in the west, the Jordan River in the east, and north of a line from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea.^[1] Here a British Empire force attacked Ottoman positions, forcing them back to Jericho and eventually across the Jordan River.

Winter rains put an end to campaigning after the advance from the Gaza–Beersheba line to the capture of Jerusalem in December 1917. This lull in the fighting offered the opportunity for the captured territories to be consolidated. Extensive developments were also required along the lines of communication to ensure that front-line troops were adequately supplied, approximately 150 miles (240 km) from their main bases at Moascar and Kantara on the Suez Canal.

General Edmund Allenby's initial strategic plans focused on his open right flank. If attacked with sufficiently large forces, he could be outflanked by an attack from the east—unlike his left flank which rested securely on the Mediterranean Sea to the west. His aim was to capture the territory east of Jerusalem stretching to the Dead Sea, where his right flank could be more secure. The area was garrisoned by Ottoman troops entrenched on hill-tops which the British infantry, Australian light horse and New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigades attacked. The infantry captured Talat ed Dumm on the main Jerusalem to Jericho road, while the light horse and mounted rifle brigades captured Jericho and the area to the south bordered by the Jordan River and the Dead Sea.