Battle of Haifa (1918)
| Battle of Haifa | |||||||||
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| Part of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I | |||||||||
 Indian lancers marching through Haifa after it was captured |
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Ottoman Empire German Empire Austria-Hungary
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
 Cyril Rodney Harbord
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Unknown | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
| 15th (Imperial Service) Cavalry Brigade | Haifa garrison | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 3 dead 34 wounded |
Unknown killed and wounded Prisoners 2 German officers 23 Ottoman officers 664 other ranks |
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The Battle of Haifa was fought on 23 September 1918 towards the end of the Battle of Sharon which together with the Battle of Nablus formed the set piece Battle of Megiddo fought between 19 and 25 September during the last months of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War. During the Battle of Haifa, the Indian 15th (Imperial Service) Cavalry Brigade, 5th Cavalry Division and part of the Desert Mounted Corps attacked rearguard forces of the Ottoman Empire that resulted in the capture of the towns of Haifa and Acre. This attack took place at the north western edge of the Esdraelon Plain (also known as the Jezreel Valley and the plain of Armageddon) 40–50 miles (64–80 km) behind the front line in the Judean Hills after the Desert Mounted Corps had occupied the plain, during the cavalry phase of the Battle of Sharon.
The Battle of Megiddo had begun with an attack by British Empire infantry along an almost continuous line from the Mediterranean Sea across the Plain of Sharon into the foothills of the Judean Hills. They attacked the Ottoman front line and captured the headquarters of the Ottoman Eighth Army at Tulkarm, the trenches at Tabsor and pivoted at Arara. The Eighth Army was outflanked on the coast and British Empire cavalry moved north through the gap created. The Desert Mounted Corps almost encircled the infantry in the Judean Hills capturing their main lines of supply, communications and retreat. By 25 September, one Ottoman army had been destroyed, and what remained of two others, were in retreat northwards to Damascus.
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