Middle East Visit

[Tim Birch]

I am soon to be visiting the Gulf of Aqaba, and hope to do visits to Cairo and Petra. Are there any Great War relics, memorials, or CWGC cemeteries to look out for in Sinai?

Tim

[Greenwoodman]

Tim

Cairo War Memorial Cemetery is 5 nm SE of Cairo - some 2,057 Great War casualties are buried or commemorated there.

[christine liava'a]

This is really the ANZAC neck of the woods

3rd December 1914- Initial convoy of Australian and New Zealand Forces disembark at Alexandria in Egypt. Troops set up camp at Mena Australian and New Zealand forces combine as Australian New Zealand Army Corps - (ANZAC)

1st February 1915 - Second Australian convoy arrives in Egypt

3rd February 1915- Turks occupy Sinai, 18 German Navy begins blockading Britain.

25 April 1915 ANZAC's land on Gallipoli Peninsula in face of heavy Turkish fire

In January 1916 the Imperial Camel Corps was formed from the infantry brigades of the AIF to defend the Western Frontier of Egypt from the Senussi rebels . Many of the men who volunteered for service with camels, especially in the Western Australian units, had years of experience with them. Four companies were initially formed and demand was so great that five more were formed in June 1916 from surplus light horse reinforcements.

5th June 1916- Grand Sherif Hussein of Mecca launches the Arab revolt in which Lawrence of Arabia would play a leading role

Arabs, with British aid, revolted against Turkish rule in what is now Saudi Arabia, and the British advanced into the Sinai Peninsula and Palestine from Egypt.

23rd December 1916 - Australian Light Horse capture Magdhaba in Sinai

Sinai/Palestine

9th January 1917- ANZAC mounted forces capture Rafa in Palestine

26th March 1917- First battle of Gazza in Palestine

17th April 1917Second Battle of Gaza in Palestine

31st October 1917- Third Battle of Gaza. Australian Light Horse capture Beersheba under the legendary Australian General Harry Chauvel.

9th December 1917- Allies capture Jerusalem

19th September 1918- Allies win offensive in Palestine at Battle of Megiddo. Australian Harry Chauvel and his Light Horse begin great conquering ride around the rear of the enemy at Nablus in Palestine.

1st October 1918 - Lawrence of Arabia, and Australian Light Horse with Allied forces, capture Damascus having cut off the enemy's retreat and taken 4000 prisonersSinai/Palestine

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When the New Zealanders returned from Gallipoli to Egypt, they were reorganised into an infantry division and a mounted rifle brigade. The Mounted Brigade comprised 147 officers and 2897 other ranks. It served as part of the Australian and New Zealand Mounted Division and was deployed in April 1916 to the Sinai Peninsula.

The Mounted Brigade served in the desert until the Turkish capitulation on 31 October 1918.

It was disbanded on 30 June 1919. It took part in the battles such as Romani (28 July 1916), Gaza (16 April 1917), the fall of Jaffa (16 November 1917), and the capture of Jerusalem (9 December 1917) Much of the work carried out in the desert was in the form of long range reconnaissance patrols using camels.

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Take a look at diggerhistory

photo : NZ mounted Rifles in Palestine

[Tim Birch]

Thanks for the responses, I shall report any interesting sites if I see them.

I know Aqaba was captured by TE Lawrence and Arabs. Any Naval actions in the Gulf of Aqaba itself?

Tim

[christine liava'a]

tourist trip

"Just 70 km NE of Aqaba we visited the starkly beautiful Wadi Rum. Inhabited since the Neolithic period and used as a meeting place for caravans plying trade between Syria, Palastine and Arabia, Wadi Rum was also used as a headquarters by T. E. Lawrence during WW1. One of the mountains here, known as the Seven Pillars of Wisdom was the inspiration for his book of the same name. We even visited his house, or what is left of it. It is possible still to explore this area on a camel although we opted for a four wheel drive car using the desert tracks most of the way. However we did stay overnight in a Bedouin camp.

A further 120 km by bus took us to the, once lost, Nabataean city of Petra. Carved out of the pink rock faces and entered via The Siq, a 1.2 km long, narrow gorge hemmed in by 100 m cliffs the first glimpse of this ancient city is breathtaking. Inhabited and added to by other cultures, including the Romans, for 300 years Petra was lost to the west until rediscovered in 1812. The most famous monument, The Treasury, was used in the final sequence of the film “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”. The city is so vast that we needed two days here to do it justice although we still only saw a small part of it. It was worth the aching muscles and all the bottles of water as it is a truly amazing place. "

diving

Red sea

[michaeldr]

Any Naval actions in the Gulf of Aqaba itself?

Tim

Tim,

T. E. Lawrence refers to allied naval activity and describes Aqaba at the time of his conquest as being in ruins since "Repeated bombardments by French and British warships had degraded the place to its original rubbish. The poor houses stood about in a litter, dirty and contemptible, lacking entirely the dignity which the durability of their time-challenging bones conferred on ancient remains."

The Turkish governor of Aqaba in the early months of the war was Hans-Erich von Tzschirner-Tzschirne and he described the place as then consisting of about 100 mud huts with gardens lying between them and the sea. The place had more than ten wells, however only two of them provided sweet water.

Hauptmann Erich Steiner, acting commander of German Squadron 305 based at Der'a [north of Amman, near the junction of the Hejaz railway with the Samakh/Affule/Haifa line] personally led a bombing and strafing raid on Aqaba on 26th August 1918. The distance from Der'a to Aqaba is about 360 kms. Both planes returned safely to Der'a having completed what must have been a nearly 800 km round trip and Steiner received German, Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian decorations for his exploit.

According to Steiner, he also featured in Lawrence's writings: where Lawrence mentions a German plane circled over him and his men near El-Azraq on the morning of 09th Sept. 1918, Steiner scribbled in the margin of his German translation "Ich selbst mit Aufnahmen, Fuhrer Morel" - Myself taking photographs; pilot, Morel.

From Benjamin Z. Kedar's 'The Changing Land between the Jordan and the Sea'

Have a good trip and don't forget to tell us about it when you get back

Regards

Michael D.R.

[Chris Caul]

Tim,

about five years ago when I was a bit fitter and a single man I cycled from Amman to Aqaba and then on down the Sinai coast by myself. It was just for a holiday, but I did have an interest in Lawrence as well so visited some of the places he had been.

If you are looking for memorials etc, then there isn't a great deal to see in Jordan. You can visit the fort at Aqaba and you can travel by camel (or pick-up truck if you're not that way inclined!) through Wadi Rum where Lawrence spent some time.

Going further north at Tafilah you can see where the Arabs beat the Turks in a battle. There isn't a memorial or anything like that - just the semi-desert where it took place (this might be a bit out of your way though).

If you are feeling really adventurous you can go to Azraq which is on the Iraq road and visit the castle where Lawrence lived for a while, which is very nice.

Cycled all the way down the Sinai coast road and don't remember seeing anything to do with WW1.

My own experience of Arabs in the area (and I've been there a couple of times) is that they know very little of Lawrence - in fact most people outside of Amman don't seem to even know who he was.

Have a great time - its a beautiful area and the people are very friendly.

You will need two days to see all of Petra - it can be very hot and tiring there.

Chris