Battle of Aqaba

The Battle of Aqaba was fought for the Red Sea port of Aqaba (now in Jordan) during the Arab Revolt of World War I. The attacking forces, led by Sherif Nasir and Auda abu Tayi and advised by T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia"), were victorious over the Ottoman Empire defenders. Gilbert Clayton had already told Lawrence, "The move to Aqaba on the part of Feisal is not at present desirable..." This was due to the McMahon-Hussein Correspondence being superseded by the Sykes-Picot Agreement. Lawrence, however, decided to go his own way, without orders. Lawrence called it a private venture, void of British support, since "Feisal provided money, camels, stores and explosives." The 600-mile desert journey was led by Sherif Nasir, while Lawrence was accompanied by Nesib el-Bekri and Auda Abu Tayi, leader of the northern Howeitat tribe of Bedouin. Total strength on 9 May 1917, when they embarked, was 45 Howeitat and Ageyl camel men. Aqaba was surrounded by mountains north and east, and connected to the interior by Wadi Itm. The long and narrow gorge could be used by the Ottomans to bottle up any British invasion by sea, though it did not stop the Royal Navy from bombarding the site. By 1917, the Ottoman garrison had grown to 300 – mainly Ottoman-Arab gendarmerie – up from 100 in 1914. According to Neil Faulkner, "The British high command had long been anxious about Aqaba." The British feared that an Ottoman Aqaba would threaten Archibald Murray's flank, or Ottoman raids could develop into the Sinai, or that it could be used as a base for German submarines in the Red Sea. According to T.E. Lawrence, "The Arabs needed Akaba: firstly, to extend their front, which was their tactical principle; and, secondly, to link up with the British." Lawrence also says, "I was working out with Auda abu Tayi a march to the Howeitat in their spring pastures of the Syrian desert. From them we might raise a mobile camel force, and rush Akaba from the eastward without guns or machine-guns. The eastern was the unguarded side, the line of least resistance, the easiest for us.