Chaytor's Force

Chaytor's Force
Active13 August – 31 October 1918
CountryBritish Empire
AllegianceBritish Crown
TypeMounted Infantry
Infantry
Artillery
SizeReinforced Division of 11,000
Part ofDesert Mounted Corps
Egyptian Expeditionary Force
EngagementsFirst World War
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Edward Chaytor

Chaytor's Force (13 August – 31 October 1918[1]) named after its commander, Major General Edward Chaytor, was a composite division-sized force which served in the British Egyptian Expeditionary Force during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War. The force of 11,000 men, consisted of a division headquarters, three mounted and one infantry brigades, four independent infantry battalions and four artillery batteries[2][3] and was detached from the Desert Mounted Corps for deception operations.[4][nb 1]

Chaytor's Force was formed to deceive the Ottoman high command into thinking the whole Desert Mounted Corps was positioned on the British right flank. They created dummy camps, guns positions and horses.[13] Mules were used to drag branches along tracks, making dust, imitating the movement of mounted troops. Each day infantry marched into the Jordan Valley, and was driven out by trucks by night, to suggest a buildup of troops.[14] Later it was primary responsible for the defence of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's right flank, from the northern end of the Dead Sea to a point 8 miles (13 km) north-west of Jericho where the force touched the XX Corps. Chaytor's Force faced the Turkish Fourth Army, until that army was forced to retreat as a consequence of the successes of the Battles of Sharon and Nablus.[15]

  1. ^ Chappell 2008 p.411
  2. ^ Kinloch 2007 p.321
  3. ^ Sumner 2010 p.10
  4. ^ General Edmund Allenby (4 February 1922). "Supplement to the London Gazette, 4 February, 1920" (PDF). The London Gazette. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  5. ^ Baker, Chris. "The British order of battle of 1914–1918". The Long Long Trail. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  6. ^ Jukes 2003 p.307
  7. ^ Hart 1989 p.276
  8. ^ Carey and Scott 2011 p.238
  9. ^ Woodward 2006 p.199
  10. ^ Griffiths 2003 p.96
  11. ^ Bou 2009 p. 194
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference AnzacMDash was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Perrett 1999 p.39
  14. ^ Horner, Chapter: "Deceiving the Turks"
  15. ^ Falls & MacMunn 1996, p. 547.


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