Map of Syria, Palestine, Turkey, and Mesopotamia from the Baedeker 1912 travel guide Palestine and Syria with Routes through Mesopotamia and Babylonia and with the Island of Cyprus.
"On the 21st of October our rear guards were abreast of Ma'arrat en Numan, halfway between Hamah and Aleppo. On the following day they were several times attacked by hostile Bedouins and armored cars, and upon orders from Kemal they fell back to Ch. es Sebil and the railroad station of Abu ed Duhur. . . . On October 23rd our outposts at Ch. es Sebil were attacked by numerous Bedouins, armored cars, and British cavalry. They had to fall back to the main position south of Aleppo. One portion was surrounded and captured after hand to hand fighting. The outposts at the railroad station of Abu ed Duhur were now also withdrawn to the main position. The enemy chiefly used armored cars in the pursuit. Heavy air attacks were made on the stations of Aleppo.In the Gulf of Alexandretta, British and French ships were observed. In front of Arsus, southwest of Alexandretta, a ship appeared at dusk on the 23rd, bombarded the coast and attempted to land troops."
Excerpts from German General Otto Liman von Sanders' account of the British and Arab advance northward against Ottoman forces in northern Syria in October, 1918. Aleppo was a communication hub with the Turkish homeland and east to Mesopotamia. Mustapha Kemal, a hero of the Gallipoli campaign in 1915, would become famous as Ataturk.
Five Years in Turkey by Liman von Sanders, page 316, publisher: The Battery Press with War and Peace Books, publication date: 1928 (originally)
1918-10-23, 1918, October, Syria, Aleppo, Kemal
