7 THings you may not know about
the surrender of jerusalem, 1917
1) It took the Mayor of Jerusalem, Hussein Bey al-Husseini, five attempts to surrender the city.
The first attempt was to two privates of the 2/20th Battalion, London Regiment, Albert Church and R. W. J. Andrews. Overwhelmed, they refused. Next, Husseini and his party met Sergeants Fred Hurcomb and James Sedgewick of the 2/19th London Regiment. They also refused to take the surrender, but directed the Mayor’s party back to where they met Majors W. Beck and F. R. Barry of the 60th Division’s artillery staff. These two officers passed them back to Lieutenant Colonel H. Bayley, commander of the 303rd Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, and he escorted them Brigadier General C. F. Watson, commander of the 180th Brigade. Watson finally contacted higher authority and received orders to hold the Mayor until the arrival of Major General John Shea, commander of the 60th Division. He accepted the surrender of the city on the behalf of General Allenby.
2) The Post Office was the first objective.
After meeting the Mayor, Lieutenant Colonel Bayley had despatched Major E. M. D. H. Cooke, with an orderly and an Arab policeman, into the city to take the most important building – the Post Office, with its telegraph and telephone lines. Cooke and his men did so, and stood guard outside the building even while Ottoman rearguard parties marched past. Cooke had the onerous task of taking the brunt of the welcome from the inhabitants, and, he recalled, ‘suffered from the attentions, more especially of the female portion, of the thankful and rejoicing crowd.’
3) The American Colony played small but significant roles.
The American Colony in Jerusalem had been allowed to stay even after America had entered the war (probably because they did not declare war on the Ottoman Empire, only their German allies). They had been an important source of charity in the increasingly poor and hungry city, maintaining soup kitchens and running employment and training schemes. They also helped the handover. When the Ottoman commander in Jerusalem, Izzat Bey, left the city on the night of 8/9 December 1917, he did so with a horse and carriage borrowed from the American Colony. When the Mayor of Jerusalem set out to find the British on the morning of the 9 December, he took with him a white flag made out of a bed sheet borrowed from the Colony. (This flag is now in the ImperialWarMuseum, the fate of the horse and carriage is unknown.)
4) The first guards on the City were Welsh.
The first Western troops to stand guard on the walls of Jerusalem since 1187 were Welsh. No. 11 Platoon, C Company, 1/5th Battalion Welsh Regiment (under the command of Lieutenant W. A. Woods) were placed to guard the Jaffa Gate, the main entrance to the Old City from the coast.
5) Muslim guards were kept ready for deployment to Islamic sites.
Special preparations were made by the British Army to ensure that Muslim troops would be available to guard the Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem in the period of unrest that was bound to follow the occupation of the city. Around 400 men of 123rd Outram’s Rifles were kept back for the task, even after the rest of their battalion took serious casualties in the fighting around Nabi Samwil in late November 1917.
6) The rest of the occasion was also very international.
Great pains were taken to make the surrender an international affair. The Jaffa Gate was flanked on the right by 50 men drawn from English, Irish, Welsh and Scottish units, and on the left by 50 from Australia and New Zealand. Inside, 20 French guards faced 20 Italians. Representatives of the Allied and Arab nations followed General Allenby as he entered the city through the Jaffa Gate, and the declaration announcing British control of the city (and ensuring religious freedom) was read out in English, French, Arabic, Hebrew, Greek, Russian and Italian.
7) The Keys for Jerusalem are in MaidstoneMuseum.
The keys to the OldCity, ceremonially handed over by the Mayor, are now on display in the Queen’s Own West Kent Regiment’s Museum, located inMaidstone Museum, Kent. This is because the 20th Battalion, London Regiment, had been a Territorial Battalion of the West Kent Regiment until 1908, and maintained close ties with northern Kent. Presumably, the locks on the gates have been changed since 1917.
The first attempt was to two privates of the 2/20th Battalion, London Regiment, Albert Church and R. W. J. Andrews. Overwhelmed, they refused. Next, Husseini and his party met Sergeants Fred Hurcomb and James Sedgewick of the 2/19th London Regiment. They also refused to take the surrender, but directed the Mayor’s party back to where they met Majors W. Beck and F. R. Barry of the 60th Division’s artillery staff. These two officers passed them back to Lieutenant Colonel H. Bayley, commander of the 303rd Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, and he escorted them Brigadier General C. F. Watson, commander of the 180th Brigade. Watson finally contacted higher authority and received orders to hold the Mayor until the arrival of Major General John Shea, commander of the 60th Division. He accepted the surrender of the city on the behalf of General Allenby.
2) The Post Office was the first objective.
After meeting the Mayor, Lieutenant Colonel Bayley had despatched Major E. M. D. H. Cooke, with an orderly and an Arab policeman, into the city to take the most important building – the Post Office, with its telegraph and telephone lines. Cooke and his men did so, and stood guard outside the building even while Ottoman rearguard parties marched past. Cooke had the onerous task of taking the brunt of the welcome from the inhabitants, and, he recalled, ‘suffered from the attentions, more especially of the female portion, of the thankful and rejoicing crowd.’
3) The American Colony played small but significant roles.
The American Colony in Jerusalem had been allowed to stay even after America had entered the war (probably because they did not declare war on the Ottoman Empire, only their German allies). They had been an important source of charity in the increasingly poor and hungry city, maintaining soup kitchens and running employment and training schemes. They also helped the handover. When the Ottoman commander in Jerusalem, Izzat Bey, left the city on the night of 8/9 December 1917, he did so with a horse and carriage borrowed from the American Colony. When the Mayor of Jerusalem set out to find the British on the morning of the 9 December, he took with him a white flag made out of a bed sheet borrowed from the Colony. (This flag is now in the ImperialWarMuseum, the fate of the horse and carriage is unknown.)
4) The first guards on the City were Welsh.
The first Western troops to stand guard on the walls of Jerusalem since 1187 were Welsh. No. 11 Platoon, C Company, 1/5th Battalion Welsh Regiment (under the command of Lieutenant W. A. Woods) were placed to guard the Jaffa Gate, the main entrance to the Old City from the coast.
5) Muslim guards were kept ready for deployment to Islamic sites.
Special preparations were made by the British Army to ensure that Muslim troops would be available to guard the Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem in the period of unrest that was bound to follow the occupation of the city. Around 400 men of 123rd Outram’s Rifles were kept back for the task, even after the rest of their battalion took serious casualties in the fighting around Nabi Samwil in late November 1917.
6) The rest of the occasion was also very international.
Great pains were taken to make the surrender an international affair. The Jaffa Gate was flanked on the right by 50 men drawn from English, Irish, Welsh and Scottish units, and on the left by 50 from Australia and New Zealand. Inside, 20 French guards faced 20 Italians. Representatives of the Allied and Arab nations followed General Allenby as he entered the city through the Jaffa Gate, and the declaration announcing British control of the city (and ensuring religious freedom) was read out in English, French, Arabic, Hebrew, Greek, Russian and Italian.
7) The Keys for Jerusalem are in MaidstoneMuseum.
The keys to the OldCity, ceremonially handed over by the Mayor, are now on display in the Queen’s Own West Kent Regiment’s Museum, located inMaidstone Museum, Kent. This is because the 20th Battalion, London Regiment, had been a Territorial Battalion of the West Kent Regiment until 1908, and maintained close ties with northern Kent. Presumably, the locks on the gates have been changed since 1917.