Books by Captain Cyril Falls

Part II of the Official History of The Great War in the Middle East takes the story from May 1918 to the armistice. It begins with a summary of the Arab revolt against the Turks, which involved the exploits of Col. T.E. Lawrence 'of Arabia', and consisted of harassing attacks and sabotage of railways which drew off great numbers of the Turks to the benefit of the EEF. This was important because Allenby was being required to despatch British infantry battalions and Yeomanry regiments to France where the great German spring offensives had been launched in March. Indian battalions were set to replace the British ones, and the ensuing reorganisation of the EEF is described in some detail. The narrative continues with the final offensives - the battles of Megiddo, the operations of the Desert Mounted Corps, Chaytor's Force, the pursuit through Syria and the capture of Damascus. An epilogue discusses the policy of the campaign, the strategy and the tactics. There are numerous appendices which apply to both Parts I and II, beginning with a tabular record of operations from June 1917 and containing orders of battle of the EEF in October 1917 and in September 1918 as well as that of the Turkish forces. There are examples of Force Orders, of corps operation orders and instructions, and finally there is a good index to both parts.

This is the first of two volumes which, after a brief background review of Macedonia and its neighbours, and the conflict between Austria and Serbia which triggered The Great War, picks up the story from the landing of British and French troops at Salonika in northern Greece and takes it up to the abdication of the pro-German King Constantine of Greece and the entry of Greece into the war on the side of the Allies. The last of the military operations covered in this volume is the April/May 1917 allied offensive known as the Battle of Dojran; British divisions in the theatre consisted of 10th (Irish), 22nd, 26th, 27th (reg), 38th (reg) and 60th (2/2nd London, TF); the latter was transferred to the EEF in June 1917 and fought in the Palestine campaign

It was originally planned to complete the Official History of the Egypt and Palestine campaign in two volumes, with this second volume taking the story from the appointment of Allenby to the command of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) in June 1917, to the conclusion of the armistice with Turkey. But it was only after Allenby's arrival that the campaign really took off, with all the major offensives and battles taking place during his period of command. It thus became clear that Volume II would need to be in two parts. This part covers the offensive at Gaza and Beersheba and the subsequent battles in the Judaean Hills for the capture and defence of Jerusalem, which lasted from the end of October to the end of December 1917 without a break. It continues into 1918 with the operations in the Jordan Valley in February 1918; first the capture of Jericho, then the two raids into Trans-Jordan with the important engagements between them, lasting until 4 May. At this point there was a real break in the campaign for the first time and it is here that Part I ends. The contents list includes Parts I and II and all the appendices are at the end of Part II.