Key Figures of World War I by Ann Hosein

Author:Ann Hosein
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781680480566
Publisher: Britannica Educational Publishing
Published: 2015-07-23T16:00:00+00:00

General John J. Pershing commanded the American Expeditionary Force (AEF).

In 1919 Pershing was appointed general of the armies of the United States, a title no officer had held since it had been created for George Washington in 1799. From 1921 to 1924 he served as army chief of staff, retiring from active duty in 1924. He died in Washington, D.C., on July 15, 1948.

EDMUND ALLENBY

(1861 – 1936)

Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby was born on April 23, 1861, in Brackenhurst, England. He was a field marshal and the last great British leader of mounted cavalry. He directed the Palestine campaign in World War I.

Educated at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, Allenby joined the Inniskilling Dragoons, a unit of mounted troops, in 1882 and took part in several campaigns in Africa. He was inspector general of cavalry from 1910 to 1914, and upon the outbreak of World War I he took a cavalry division to France. After periods in command of the British cavalry and the 5th Corps, he became commander of the 3rd Army (October 1915) and was prominently engaged at the Battle of Arras (April 1917).

Allenby’s service in the Middle East proved more distinguished. In June 1917 he took command of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force. The strength of his personality created a new spirit in his army, and after careful preparation and reorganization he won a decisive victory over the Turks at Gaza (November 1917), which led to the capture of Jerusalem (December 9, 1917). Further advances were checked by calls from France for his troops, but after receiving reinforcements he won a decisive victory at Megiddo (September 19, 1918), which, followed by his capture of Damascus and Aleppo, ended Ottoman power in Syria. Allenby’s success in these campaigns was attributable partly to his skillful and innovative use of cavalry and other mobile forces in positional warfare.

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