New-York tribune., 1921-06-12

ALLENBY'S FINAL TRIUMPH BY w r.
Massey, official correspondent OF the
London newspapers with the Egyptian
Expeditionary Force. Published by E. P.
Dutton & Co. SS
r HIS volume is the third of a
series which Mr.. Massey has
D written on the Egyptian,
Palestine and Syrian cam
paigns. The first two covered the
operations on the Suez Canal, the ad-
vance across the Sinai Desert, the Brit
ish repulse at GAIA under Murray,
and Allenby's subsequent offensive,
ending late in 1917 in the occupation
of Jaffa and Jerusalem. The last deals
with Allenby's 1918 offensive-the best
conceived, most brilliantly conducted
and, in a military sense, the most
spectacular of all the Allied campaigns.
Allenby's work was relentlessly
thorough. In less than six weeks he
destroyed three Turkish armies, cap
turing $4,000 prisoners, $50 guns and
all the Turkish transport. He ad-
vanced his front more than 800 miles
from Jerusalem to Damascus and
from Damascus to Aleppo, clearing
Central and Northern Palestine and
most of Syria and the whole line of
the Hedjaz Railroad to the east of
the Jordan. He broke down Turkeys
resistance in Asia at the time that
Franchet d'Esperey's Macedonian cam
paign was making Turkeys situation in
Europe impossible. And these extraor-
dinary results were achieved with al
most negligible losses. The battle
casualties were only 5,000-less than
those Of many an obscure operation on
the Western front.
Mr.. Massey discloses that the Su-
preme War Council counted on a
Palestine campaign as the chief Allied
offensive operation for 1918. In this
he corroborates Captain Peter Wright.
But the council wanted Allenby TO
tight his way north from Jerusalem to
Nablus, over most difficult terrain.
Moreover, it declined to furnish him
any new troops.
Fortunately, the first Ludendorff Of
tenslve in Picardy came along late in
March and upset the councils Eastern
program. Allenby's army was drawn
en- heavily for European reinforce
ments' He had to send two British
divisions, the 52d and 74th, back to
france, and three-fourths of the Brit
lsh battallons serving with various
other divisions. Only one complete
British division was left behind the
East Anglians. The transfers from
the 6oth, the 10th, the SD and the
Io1h divisions were made good by
drafts of secondline Indian infantry.
and two regular Indian divisions (the
Lahore and the Meerut) were shipped
from Mesopotamia to Palestine. AL
lenoy, therefore, had to fight in the
TALL when he was roady to fight, with
practically new army, so far as in
1antry was concerned. But he had re-
ta1ned powerful cavalry force, the
Desert Mounted Corps, composed Of
one Australian and one Anzac division
and two divisions of mixed British .,d
Indian troops.
The author doesn't clearly ;rd,..+.
the British superiority over the Turk,
IL was pronounced in every arm. Allen
pys o1hclai report credited the enemy
with 100000 men of all services and
with $4,000 in the fighting line. He
hlmself had a total strength of 10000
men with $4,000 in the fighting line.
he had $40 guns to the enemy's 400.
The British advantage in the air was
overwhelming. Mr.. Massey saws that
ny the end of August the enemy flyers
mostly Germans-were afraid TO com
out OF their dugouts. By that time,
| also, Turkish morale had run very low.
What distinguished Allenby's opera
tlon was the extreme caution taken
TO give it the character of an absolute
surprise and the minute planning for
a swift and complete development. Two
raids were made during the spring, one
IN March and one in April, to the east
OF the Jordan, for the purpose of cut
ting the Hedjaz Railroad and getting
IN touch with the forces of Emir Feizal
Neither was highly successful. But
these efforts and the maintenance of
considerable force during the sum-
mer in the pestilential Jordan Valley,
convinced the Turks that the British
advance, when it came, would be up the
line of the Hedjaz Railroad.
Allenby had, on the contrary,
planned to make his main attack at
the other end of the line in the coastal
section just north of Jaffa. By the
most painstaking camoufage, moving
over by night west, while others moved
east by day. building dummy camps,
ostentatiously engaging officers quar-
ters in Jaffa and Jerusalem for the