Captain Cyril Falls
A full assembly of all the valuable colour and black-and-white maps that were bound into the celebrated three-volume set of Military Operations Egypt & Palestine - History of the Great War - Other Theatres and are now extracted to form this Atlas.Although attention has understandably focused on the Western Front in the Great War, the conflict was a World War fought across many different theatres. Battles raged from the deserts of the Arabian peninsula and the Holy Land, to the jungles of East Africa and the beaches of Gallipoli.This Atlas covers the British Empire’s struggle against the Turks in Egypt and Palestine that began with a test of endurance and military engineering in the harsh terrain of the Sinai desert. It evolved into a fast-moving mobile campaign, which resulted in a decisive Allied victory and the fall of the Ottoman Empire.Two issues stand out as regards this campaign: one, the contribution of Edmund Allenby in making the transition from defensive to offensive warfare, and second, the decisive role played by the Indian cavalry during the Allied advance across Sinai.Of all ’Other Theatre’ campaigns, this proved perhaps the most successful. All goals - original and extended - had been achieved, efficiently and without having to divert major resources from the Western Front. However, success in war always comes at a price. It is estimated that the Egyptian campaign (Suez, Sinai and Palestine) accounted for over 57,000 British and Dominion casualties killed or missing, died of disease, wounded or captured.
