The Palestine Campaigns

In this thoughtful and well written account of the Palestinian campaigns, Field Marshal Wavell (at that time a Colonel) gives not only a very readable account of the actual campaigns themselves but also highlights the military maxims that gave success to the British Forces. Wavell himself was on the staff of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force in 1917 and had a deep and firsthand knowledge of the operations and the theatre of war. As one of the most forward thinking leaders in the British Army of the time, Wavell’s conclusions on the future of war that he advanced in this book were quite prescient; the use of armoured vehicles and strategic mobility to mention but two.

“The Palestine campaigns have been acclaimed as a triumph for cavalry and as the vindication of that arm in modern war. And quite certainly the skilful use of the mounted arm is the outstanding feature of the operations. But the true lesson is not so much the value of the horseman as the value and power of mobility, however achieved.

“The campaigns are a classic illustration of this power, and are well worth careful study for this reason alone, since the chief aim of military thought at the present time must be to recapture the power of movement and manœuvre, which was lost in the principal operations of the late war in Western Europe.”—Extract from book