World War 1, Middle East Egypt Cairo, ALLENBY, 1918

In June 1917, General Edmund Allenby took command of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force. The strength of his personality created a new spirit in his army, and after careful preparation and reorganization he won a decisive victory over the Turks at Gaza (November 1917), which led to the capture of Jerusalem (Dec. 9, 1917). Further advances were checked by calls from France for his troops, but after receiving reinforcements he won a decisive victory at Megiddo (Sept. 19, 1918), which, followed by his capture of Damascus and Aleppo, ended Ottoman power in Syria. Allenby’s success in these campaigns was attributable partly to his skillful and innovative use of cavalry and other mobile forces in positional warfare. As High Commissioner for Egypt (1919–25) Allenby steered that country firmly but impartially through political disturbances and saw it recognized as a sovereign state in 1922.