The battle launched the final Allied offensive against the Ottoman army in Palestine and Syria. Deceiving the Turkish high command that his next offensive would be launched across the Jordan River, General Sir Edmund Allenby secretly concentrated his forces on the coastal plain known as the Plain of Sharon. His Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) consisted of about 57,000 infantry and 12,000 mounted troops which included Lieutenant General Harry Chauvel’s Desert Mounted Corps. The Ottoman Yildirim Army Group was commanded by the German General Liman von Sanders. It consisted of three armies of about 35,000 men, one of which was commanded by General Mustafa Kemal of Gallipoli fame. The offensive began with a massed infantry assault that tore a hole in the Ottoman line and allowed Allied mounted forces to be unleashed into the enemy rear. This successful action severed vital supply routes and prevented the arrival of reinforcements. Within 24 hours Allied mounted troops had advanced over 50 kilometres. The battle of Megiddo brought about a rapid collapse of the Ottoman army, facilitating a rapid advance on Damascus and Homs by the Allied forces. General Allenby himself chose the name of Megiddo to signify this victory, as the nearby ancient fortress of Tel Megid appears in the Bible as Armageddon, the location of the final battle between the forces of good and evil.
