17 April 1915, occupied Allepo, Ottoman Empire
General Malcolm Smith pondered the events of the last two days. The city of Allepowas had been defended by lines of trenches on its western, southern and to a lesser extent northern outskirts, supported by shallower trenches and small fortified redoubts, in reality little more than earthen mounds. Defensive preparations had been hasty, with the area thought secure as little as a month ago.
High points, such as the top of small hills were also used and this covered all approaches to the town. There were however, little or no wire defences for the attackers to deal with. From the vantage of hindsight, Allepo seemed poorly defended for a location of such strategic importance. Ottoman forces garrisoned at Allepo were numerous, as to be expected for the third largest city in the empire, but well under strength. Not only was Allepo the strong point of the eastern end of the Ottoman defensive line, the town also contained a major railway station, with connections back to Bagdad, even though the line back to Anatolia was, as yet, incomplete.
The Australasian plan was simple enough, to invest the town from both the North and South, however, it was also intended to use the Light Horse and the French cavalry to sweep around and approach the town from the East. Critical to its success would be to execute the attack in a day, to avoid the destruction of the infrastructure in the town, including the railway. Mindful of this, the plan called for a concerted artillery and infantry attack on the town's Northern side by Monash’s 1st and 3rd Divisions, with the Light Horse Division sweeping around and attacking from the East Northeast, where it was anticipated defences would be weaker. At the same time, James McKay’s 2nd and 4th Divisions would attack from the South, with French cavalry attacking from the SouthEast.
Three under-strength divisions of the Ottoman 8th Corps awaited them, distributed to the west, south and east of the town. Very little remained in reserve to deal with unexpected attacking forces and this was to prove crucial to the success of the operation.
Just before 0600 of April 16, 1915, General Smith ordered the artillery to begin a bombardment of the main Ottoman trench line in front of 8th Corps, southwest and northwest outskirts of Allepo. Around one hundred field guns and howitzers fired on the Turkish positions, about twenty specifically targeting the enemy's artillery batteries, while the others sent high explosives and shrapnel over the advanced, Ottoman trench lines. With dust and smoke filling the air and obscuring targets, units of the 1st Division attacked a small ridge line, directly ahead of the main Ottoman front line. Meanwhile, 3rd Division edged forward, and by noon had captured their objectives, suffering 900 casualties in the process, but gradually grinding forward.
From 0500, in the north-east of Allepo, units of the Light Horse Division moved forward to block the Eastern Road and rail line and take the small hill there. They would then advance on the city from the East. This manoeuvre would block both an enemy retreat as well as any enemy reinforcements. The momentum of the Allied assault continued as the 2nd Australian Light Horse Brigade took ridge, before faltering, as Ottoman forces from Allepo itself successfully resisted attempts to take the last high ground outside the city. Ottoman artillery began targeting the new threat.
Monash ordered all three Divisions to close in on the town and press the assault. It would take them a little over 2 hours to breach and capture the first line of Ottoman trenches, with nearly 3,000 casualties.
To the South, 2nd and 4th Divisions suffered similar experiences. However, the French Orient Corps, with Foreign Legion units and cavalry leading the way, rapidly penetrated against light opposition to the Southeast and were able to enter the city by 1330, overrunning Turkish artillery as they did so. The Ottoman garrison commander, Miralay Bey, recognising impending defeat, ordered a general retirement of the garrison, then, when he realised that this was impossible, gave a series of conflicting orders. In many cases, men left fortified positions and then retreated to a city that was already partially occupied.
By 1700, Ottoman 8th Corps commander concluded that, Allepo was untenable, and unknown to the attackers, a withdrawal was ordered. Yet, there was no where to go and units were left to fight their way out of the trap that they found themselves in. Many fought doggedly, yet less than 3,800 men were to fight their way to freedom of the 20,000 men of 8th Corps and the 2,000 supporting local militia, the later of which were quite happy to lay down there arms.
By 1900 that evening, with dusk setting in, the town of Allepo was under control of the Australasian and French forces. By midnight, Allepo was declared clear of the enemy and further pursuit of the retreating Ottoman forces was discontinued.
After the battle, it left the Ottoman forces in southern Palestine, consisting of the 10th and 25th Divisions, along with irregular troops, in an impossible position, completely cut off from any supporting forces. Of the 4th Army, with it’s seven divisions, only the 35th Division at Damascus and the 36th at Mosul were not destroyed or cut off. With the railway from Anatolia not completed and the mountain passes blocked, these forces remained isolated from further assistance. Combined with the recent disasters in the Caucusus, the Ottoman’s started to the war was less than spectacular. Aside from the newly forming 5th Army, of the four field armies in 1914, the 4th had been dealt and fatal blow, with the 3rd destroyed in the Caucasus.
For Smith’s forces, it had been a hard fought victory, with 2,036 dead and 4,116 wounded. However, Ottoman losses had been 3,616 dead, 3,919 wounded and 12,715 captured, with no heavy weapons saved by the 3,000 or more that had escaped the attacking forces.