Battle of Tell 'Asur | |||||||
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Part of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I | |||||||
Jerusalem to Nablus Road shows Ain Sinia on left and Yebrud on right. Photo taken by the 230th Brigade, 74th Division. |
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Belligerents | |||||||
Ottoman Empire German Empire |
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Edmund Allenby Edward Bulfin Philip Chetwode |
Fevzi Pasha Erich von Falkenhayn Liman von Sanders |
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Units involved | |||||||
XX Corps XXI Corps 1st Light Horse Brigade |
Seventh Army Eighth Army |
The Battle of Tell 'Asur, known as the Action of Tell 'Asur also known as the Battle of Turmus 'Aya, took place between 8 and 12 March 1918, after the decisive victory at the Battle of Jerusalem and the Capture of Jericho during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of World War I. Fighting took place over an area which extended from the Mediterranean to Abu Tellul and Mussalabeh on the edge of the Jordan Valley.
After the Capture of Jericho by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) in February 1918 the occupation of the Jordan Valley began. However, the captured territory was not sufficiently broad to provide a strong enough base for the planned Transjordan operations. The EEF's front line was successfully pushed northwards following attacks by the XX and XXI Corps against the Ottoman Seventh Army and Eighth Army. At the end of March the First Transjordan attack on Amman was launched to be followed the next month by the Second Transjordan attack on Shunet Nimrin and Es Salt.