25/9/1918 As his men take Amman, Allenby prepares to march on Damascus

Turkish forces in Palestine are in disarray following Allenby‘s successful offensive. Success on the coastal plain has allowed the British to make gains further inland. Success across the Jordan had proved elusive earlier in the year but now at last Allenby’s men take Amman.

Henry Wilson, the chief of staff of the British army, is pressing Allenby to exploit the Turks’ discomfiture by advancing with haste to Aleppo in northern Syria, from where Anatolia itself can be threatened with invasion. But Allenby is more cautious, fearing the consequences of an over-hasty advance (with the capture of Townshend‘s army at Kut in 1916 serving as a warning of the possible consequences of throwing caution to the wind). Nevertheless, he is not going to allow the Turks an opportunity to retreat and regroup. He is now preparing for his men to advance on Damascus, capital of Syria. The…