Battle of Arara

Battle of Arara
Part of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I
Date 19 September 1918[1] Location Wadi Ara (near Nablus), Palestine Result Franco-British victory
Belligerents
German Empire  Ottoman Empire	France French Armenian Legion  British Empire
Commanders and leaders
Otto Liman von Sanders Jevad Pasha Oberst Gustav von Oppen	Edmund Allenby Colonel Jean Philpin de Piépape Lieutenant Colonel Louis Romieu Major General S. W. Hare
Strength
16th and 19th Divisions, Asia Corps, Eighth Army, Yıldırım Army Group	54th (East Anglian) Division Détachement Français de Palestine et de Syrie (DFPS) including the French Armenian Legion, XXI Corps Egyptian Expeditionary Force
Casualties and losses
218 Ottoman soldiers including six officers taken prisoner by the DFPS among 700 prisoners[2]	535 including 23 French Armenian Legion dead 76 wounded[3]

The Battle of Arara took place on 19 September 1918 during the Battle of Sharon, which along with the Battle of Nablus formed the set piece Battle of Megiddo fought between 19 and 25 September in the last months of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War. During the infantry phase of the Battle of Sharon the British Empire 60th Division, XXI Corps attacked and captured the section of the front line nearest the Mediterranean coast under cover of an intense artillery barrage including a creeping barrage and naval gunfire while the 3rd (Lahore), 7th (Meerut) and 75th Divisions XXI Corps attacked the Tabsor group of trenches. These Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) victories over the entrenched Ottoman Eighth Army, composed of German and Ottoman soldiers, began the Final Offensive, ultimately resulting in the destruction of the equivalent of one Ottoman army, the retreat of what remained of two others, and the capture of many thousands of prisoners and many miles of territory from the Judean Hills to the border of modern-day Turkey. After the end of the battle of Megiddo, the Desert Mounted Corps pursued the retreating soldiers to Damascus, six days later. By the time an Armistice of Mudros was signed between the Allies and the Ottoman Empire five weeks later, Aleppo had been captured.

During the Battle of Arara the Yildirim Army Group of the German and Ottoman Empires was attacked by the 54th (East Anglian) Division and the Détachement Français de Palestine et de Syrie (DFPS) which included the French Armenian Legion also known as La Légion Arménienne (XXI Corps). This battle on the extreme right of the main attack covered the flank of the attackers pivoting on their positions. The Armenian's' role during this battle was so prominent that their efforts were recognized by the top commanders of the Allied Force.^[4]