Battle of Arara
| Battle of Arara | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of World War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Ottoman Empire |
 French Armenian Legion | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Lieutenant Colonel Romieu | |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Yuldurum Army | Unknown, includes the French Armenian Legion | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 218 Turkish soldiers and six officers taken prisoner[2] |
23 dead 76 wounded[3] | ||||||
The Battle of Arara took place on September 19, 1918 between the forces of the Ottoman Empire and the French Armenian Legion (La Légion Arménienne) during the military operations of the Battle of Megiddo. The Armenians' role during this battle was so prominent that their efforts were recognized by the top commanders of the Allied Force.[4]
Background
In September 1918, on the Palestinian front, the Turkish army was crumbling before the British expeditionary forces in the Middle East, which contained an Armenian contingent commanded by a French colonel and French officers, as well as Armenian officers. Many of the Armenians were survivors from Musa Dagh, where Armenians had resisted against Turkish massacres during the Armenian Genocide.[5] The legion had landed at Jaffa in the middle of September and was prepared to take part in the final British offensive to evict the Ottomans from Palestine.
Commendation
General Edmund Allenby commended Armenian forces in his official dispatch to the Allied High Command, "On the right flank, on the coastal hills, the units of the Armenian Legion d'Orient fought with great valour. Despite the difficulty of the terrain and the strength of the enemy defensive lines, at an early hour, they took the hill of Dir el Kassis."[2] Allenby remarked, ""I am proud to have had an Armenian contingent under my command. They have fought very brilliantly and have played a great part in the victory."[6]
A monument for the Armenian troops killed during the battle was moved from its original location on the battlefield to Mount Zion in October 1925.[2]
Notes
- ^ Walker, Christopher J. (1997). "World War I and the Armenian Genocide" in The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times, Volume II: Foreign Dominion to Statehood: The Fifteenth Century to the Twentieth Century. Richard G. Hovannisian (ed.). New York: St. Martin's Press, p. 299. ISBN 0-3121-0168-6
- ^ a b c "Extract from the book Ir Ha-Menuhot" by Meron Benvenisti, Read at the Genocide Memorial evening." Hebrew University Jerusalem, Israel Armenian Studies Program Genocide Commemoration 2004. Hebrew University of Jerusalem. April 28, 2004. Accessed May 22, 2009.
- ^ Template:Hy icon Torosyan, Sh. Արարայի ճակատամարտ 1918 (Battle of Arara, 1918). Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia. vol. i. Yerevan, Armenian SSR: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1974, p. 691.
- ^ Balakian, Grigoris (2009). Armenian Golgotha. Trans. Peter Balakian and Aris Sevag. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 389–392. ISBN 0-3072-6288-X.
- ^ Walker. "World War I and the Armenian Genocide", p. 267.
- ^ Kerr, Stanley E. (1973) The Lions of Marash: Personal Experiences with American Near East Relief, 1919-1922. New York: State University of New York Press. p. 31 ISBN 0-8739-5200-6.
Further reading
- Template:Hy icon Boyajian, Dickran H. Հայկական լեգեոնը (The Armenian Legion). New York: AGBU Publishing Press, 1965.
32°29′38.67″N 35°3′16.13″E / 32.4940750°N 35.0544806°E
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