Charge at Kaukab

Charge at Kaukab
Part of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I
4th Light Horse Regiment at Kaukab
Date 30 September 1918 Location Kaukab in the Hauran area, 10 miles (16 km) south of Damascus on the main road from Jerusalem via Quneitra Result Ottoman victory
Belligerents
British Empire  Australia  New Zealand  France	Ottoman Empire  German Empire
Commanders and leaders
Edmund Allenby Harry Chauvel Henry West Hodgson	Otto Liman von Sanders Mustafa Kemal Pasha Jevad Pasha
Units involved
Australian Mounted Division Desert Mounted Corps	2,500 strong force containing remnants of the Tiberias Group a portion of the 24th, 26th and 53rd Divisions and the 3rd Cavalry Division assigned to the defence of Damascus from Yildirim Army Group
Casualties and losses
Unknown	72 prisoners

The Charge at Kaukab took place on 30 September 1918 about 10 miles (16 km) south of Damascus during the pursuit by Desert Mounted Corps following the decisive Egyptian Expeditionary Force victory at the Battle of Megiddo and the Battle of Jisr Benat Yakub during the Sinai and Palestine campaign of World War I. As the Australian Mounted Division rode along the main road north, which connects the Galilee with Damascus via Quneitra, units of the division charged a Turkish rearguard position located across the main road on the ridge at Kaukab.

Following the victories at the Battle of Sharon and Battle of Nablus during the Battle of Megiddo, remnants of the Ottoman Seventh and Eighth Armies retreated in columns towards Damascus from the Judean Hills. They left rearguards at Samakh, at Tiberias and at Jisr Benat Yakub, all of which were captured by the Australian Mounted Division. Remnants of the Fourth Army retreating in columns towards Damascus along the Pilgrims' Road through Deraa, were pursued by the 4th Cavalry Division, which attacked a rearguard at Irbid.

German and Ottoman remnants of the Seventh and Eighth Armies which had formed the defeated garrisons of Samakh and Tiberias, after being pushed back again from their next defensive positions at Jisr Benat Yakub, joined part of the defenders of Damascus and entrenched themselves at Kaukab on the high ground on both sides of the main road coming from Jerusalem to Damascus via Nablus and Quneitra. Here the 4th and 12th Light Horse Regiments charged up and onto the ridge capturing part of the rearguard, while the remainder withdrew in disorder as the 5th Light Horse Brigade on the western side outflanked their positions.