5th Cavalry Division. Narrative of Operations.

Folio (204 x 330 mm). 9 typescript ff. Stapled. Confidential document from the British Indian Army's Sinai and Palestine campaign during World War I: a report on operations of the 5th Cavalry Division prepared by the commander Henry Macandrew (1866-1919), covering the events of September and October 1918. It includes operations in Nazareth, the capture of Acre and Haifa (23 September) and Damascus (1 October), along with the advance from Homs to Aleppo, and the occupation of the latter (26 October): "The road is little more than a fairweather track, very rocky in places, but improved after passing Seraikin. No running water was encountered until Khan Tuman but well water and cisterns were plentiful at each stage. Grain, meat and bread were requisitioned easily, except at Maarit en Naaman where certain sections of the inhabitants displayed covert hostility. Groceries, petrol and some grain reached the troops daily by lorry. Meanwhile the Sherifian Forces hat been advancing up the railway route driving small bodies of Turks in front of them. On the 25th inst. they had moved to the East of Aleppo ready to attack the town from that flank in co-operation with us on the 26th. They, with the assistance of Arabs in the town, gained entrance into Aleppo on the night of the 25th/26th, after considerable fighting in which the Turks suffered heavy casualties". - The report concludes with a statement of 5th Cavalry Division casualties suffered from 19 September to 31 October, including 39 killed, 160 wounded, 9 missing, and 1334 sick persons, noting that "many shows as sick have since rejoined the Division" (p. 9). - The 5th Cavalry Division emerged on 22 July 1918 from the 2nd Mounted Division that served as part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force in Palestine. It remained in Palestine after the end of the war on occupation duties until finally broken up in 1920. - Scattered manuscript marks and corrections. Marked "confidential" on first page. A few minor tears, some foxing, slightly waterstained. A rare survival.…