The Explorers' Club, № DCLIII

Operation AXIOM: The World War
30 October-4 November 1918: On 31 October, the Armistice of Mudros, signed aboard the British battleship H.M.S. Agamemnon, took effect, ending the war between the Ottoman Empire & the Arabs & the Entente; on 4 November, the Armistice of Villa Giusti took effect, ending the war between the Austro-Hungarian Empire & Italy; of the Central Powers, the German Empire alone continued to fight.

Lest we forget.

The Explorers' Club, № DCXLIX

Operation AXIOM: The World War
26 September-27 October 1918: The Capture of Damascus (26 September-1 October), the Pursuit to Haritan (3-27 October), & the Battle of Aleppo (25 October)—Entente forces pursued the retreating Ottomans to & then beyond Damascus, while Prince Faisal's Arab army captured Aleppo; the last remaining Turkish army, under Mustafa Kemal, prepared to defend the Ottoman heartland of Anatolia.

Lest we forget.

The Explorers' Club, № DCXLIII

Operation AXIOM: The World War
19-25 September 1918: The Battle of Megiddo—Arab forces cut the Ottoman lines of communication & the Entente (British, Imperial, A.N.Z.A.C., & French) broke through the Ottoman defenses at Sharon & Nalbus, encircled the Judean Hills, crossed the Jordan River, & extirpated the Turks & Germans from Palestine—killing, capturing, or scattering all but six thousand, who escaped to Damascus.

Lest we forget.

Commentary: The fighting took place all throughout Palestine, not just near Tel Megiddo, but the symbolically-minded General Allenby, the liberator of Jerusalem, chose the name "Battle of Megiddo" to reflect the historical Battles of Megiddo (1457 B.C.: Egypt versus Canaanite rebels & 609 B.C.: Egypt versus Judea) & the prophesied Battle of Armageddon from the Book of Revelation.

The Explorers' Club, № DCII

Operation AXIOM: The World War
19-21 February 1918: The Capture of Jericho—British & A.N.Z.A.C. forces, having consolidated their hold on Jerusalem & the Gaza-Beersheba line, advanced into the Jordan River Valley, to secure their eastern flank in order to advance north of Jerusalem & into Transjordan & Syria; Enver Pasha fired his German theater commander, Erich von Falkenhayn, replacing him with Otto Liman von Sanders.

Lest we forget.

The Explorers' Club, № DLXXXIX

Operation AXIOM: The World War
20-21 December 1917: The Battle of Jaffa—At night, in the dark, amid heavy rainfall, British forces forded the Auju River (A.K.A. the Yarkon River), established a bridgehead, & at bayonet point forced an Ottoman withdrawal; the mud foiled any British pursuit; Jaffa itself had been taken the month before (16 November), but Ottoman artillery had remained within range to render the port unusable.

Lest we forget.

The Explorers' Club, № DLXXXVII

Operation AXIOM: The World War
16 November-30 December 1917: The Battle of Jerusalem—British & Imperial forces defeated the Ottoman defenses & withstood numerous, determined counterattacks to secure a stout defensive line from Jaffa on the coast to the Judean Mountains; General Allenby entered the Old City on foot (11 December) as a gesture of respect for Jerusalem's sacredness to Jews, Christians, & Muslims alike.

Lest we forget.

Commentary: The Entente's conquest of the city marked the first time Christians had ruled the Holy City since the demise of the Crusader States in the thirteenth century. In some quarters, the response was downright hyperbolic, as in the image below comparing Allenby to Judah Maccabee.

The Explorers' Club, № DLXXVIII

Operation AXIOM: The World War—The Arab Revolt, Part III
9 November 1917: The Balfour Declaration—In a carefully worded letter from Arthur Balfour, British Foreign Secretary, to influential Zionist leader Walter Rothschild, the Entente Powers came out in favor of "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people;" the Sharif of Mecca regarded it as a betrayal of promises made in the 1915-1916 McMahan-Hussein correspondence.

Lest we forget.

Commentary: The letter from Balfour to Rothschild was dated 2 November 1917, but published in the press on this date, 9 November, one hundred years ago.

The Explorers' Club, № DLXXVI

Operation AXIOM: The World War
31 October-7 November 1917: The Battles o' Beersheba (31 October), Tel el Khuweilfe (1 November), Third Gaza (1-2 November), & Hareira & Sheria (6-7 November)—British & A.N.Z.A.C. forces, under General Edmund Allenby, used everything from naval guns in the east to a cavalry charge in the west to smash the Ottoman defenses in southern Palestine, breaking a six-month stalemate.

Lest we forget.

Commentary: I know well that I am not the only soul commemorating the centenary of the Great War, yet it still warms my heart to see reminds that I am not alone, such as this:

The Explorers' Club, № DLVII

Operation AXIOM: The World War—The Arab Revolt, Part II
6 July 1917: The Battle of Aqaba—With Emir Faisal's Hashemite Arab forces unable to seize Medina, still fiercely defended by the Ottomans, Lawrence convinced the Arabs to assault Aqaba, the Turks' last port on the Red Sea, both relieving a threat to the flank of the Desert Column besieging Gaza & allowing the British to supply & equip the Arabs as the latter advanced northward toward Damascus.

Lest we forget.

Commentary: Like so much else in the acclaimed film Lawrence of Arabia, the depiction of the assault on Aqaba is essentially inaccurate, though undeniably entertaining.

The Explorers' Club, № DXLVI

Operation AXIOM: The World War
17-19 April 1917: The Second Battle of Gaza—The British & Imperial Desert Column was defeated by Gaza's Ottoman defenders far more decisively than in the First Battle of Gaza (26 March); the Entente campaign to capture Palestine ground to a halt, resulting in a six-month stalemate of trench warfare, cavalry patrols to identify enemy weak spots, & aerial dogfights above the trenches.

Lest we forget.

Commentary: The Palestine campaign so far: the Battles of Rafa, 9 January 1917 (№ DXXXI) & First Gaza (№ DXLII).

The Explorers' Club, № DXLII

Operation AXIOM: The World War
26 March 1917: The First Battle of Gaza—The Desert Column, a British & Imperial force that included A.N.Z.A.C. mounted infantry & the Imperial Camel Corps, assaulted the Turkish stronghold at Gaza, breaching the defenses but withdrawing due to fears of Ottoman reinforcements; British propaganda declared victory, to which the Turks replied, "You beat us at communiqués, but we beat you at Gaza."

Lest we forget.

The Explorers' Club, № DXXXI

Operation AXIOM: The World War
9 January 1917: The Battle of Rafa—The newly-formed Desert Column (British & A.N.Z.A.C. troops) encircled & subsequently overran the Ottoman fortifications near Rafa, on the frontier between the Sultanate of Egypt & the Ottoman Empire, expelling the Central Powers from the Sinai Peninsula & opening the way for the Entente Powers' advance into Ottoman Palestine.

Lest we forget.