EGYPTIAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE

This British-led Allied army conducted one of the most successful campaigns of World War I by destroying the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East

The EEF was a British Empire formation that was initially formed to push Ottoman forces out of the Sinai Peninsula. Commanded by General Edmund Allenby from June

1917, the EEF was a huge multinational force of British, Imperial, French and even Italian troops that outnumbered Ottoman forces and pushed into Palestine. The campaign was notable for its mobility in an overall static war. The EEF famously captured Jerusalem and won significant victories such as Megiddo.

The EEF captured Damascus in October 1918 after a lightning advance of 560km in a month, with the capture of 75,000 Ottoman prisoners for the loss of 5,000 men. The campaign’s success led to the destruction of the Ottoman Empire but the EEF’S success has largely been forgotten. Johnson explains its importance: “The Arab Revolt would have collapsed if the EEF had been defeated, and Allenby was an extraordinarily successful commander. Lawrence called the capture of Jerusalem the ‘crowning moment’ of his life because he was so enamoured of the EEF’S success. Imagine if there had been no fighting elsewhere during WWI? This was a British-led campaign in the Middle East and dozens of books would have been written because it was so significant. The problem is that the

Western Front was where the war was going to be decided.”

Lawrence described Allenby as “physically large and confident, and morally so great that the comprehension of our littleness came slow to him”