CAPTAIN BRIJESH CHOWTA
More than a century ago, Indian cavalry brigade ended Ottoman Turks’ hold over Israeli city of Haifa.
Here is an account of how the men on horses galloped right through the Jewish port city and took down the Turks with all their might.
The battle was almost lost. The British had given up. The 402-year-old hold of the Ottoman Turks over what was then Palestine would continue to be strengthened. But for the Mysore and Jodhpur lancers, who couldn’t digest the idea of going back from war.
Four hundred Indian soldiers of the princely states commanded by Indian officers charged against over 1,500 soldiers of the combined forces of the Germans, Turks and Austrians romping into the town of Haifa, capturing Mount Carmel and freeing the spiritual leader of the Bahais.
This day went on to be the turning point for the world, as with Haifa won, the rest of Israel was almost as good too — the last known episode of a cavalry unit marched against seemingly impossible odds, ensuring the Turks bite the dust.
Every year when we celebrate the Haifa Day in the Indian Army, what we essentially celebrate is the spirit of service before self, and the might of will-over-weaponry that was displayed over a century ago by soldiers of the 15 (Imperial Service) Cavalry Brigade, constituting soldiers of the princely states of Mysore and Jodhpur.
Despite being armed with just spears or lances as against the mighty Turks and their modern ammunition, these men on horses galloped right through the Jewish port city, taking down the Turks with all their might.
While we were said to have lost 44 soldiers (some reports say eight soldiers died while 34 were wounded) and more than 150 horses, the casualties on the other side were far greater with over a thousand of them being taken prisoners. Capturing Haifa was the beginning of the end of the Ottoman Turks reign in the region as it was a strategic point in their supply channel.
As the clock struck 3 this afternoon, it marked the victory of the decision to fight all odds that liberated Haifa at 3pm on 23 September 1918.
“Have today taken Palestine” read the cable sent by General Sir Edmund Allenby to London, who also hailed this victory as unmatched in the history of this war.
The victory that was made possible by ‘Hero of Haifa’ Major Dalpat Singh Shekhawat who led our troops and marched into the face of death capturing a machine gun-piquet that was taking down his men and their horses single handedly. His death was mourned as a loss to the entire British empire. The baton was passed to Captain Aman Singh Jodha, who saw this battle to its end.
“No more remarkable cavalry action of its scale was fought in the whole course of the campaign,” General Allenby is said to have remarked. Author of Indian Heroism in Israel Ravikumar Iyer in an interview described it as the “turning point in the history of India and Israel”.
For the enemy was perched all armed on top of Mount Carmel, firing from a vantage point while these ‘foot soldiers’ and horse riding men with just spears in their hands decided not to withdraw, even though the British officers saw it as the wise thing to do. But in a matter of hours, 1,350 German and Ottomans were in the hold of the Indian regiments, along with 17 artillery guns and 11 machine guns.
Baha, the son of Baha’u’llah, the founder of Bahaism and religious leader of the Bahais, whom the Ottoman forces threatened to crucify, were the Turks to be displaced, was also released.
The Mysore Lancers led Baha out of captivity from Haifa where today stands world heritage site, the Bahai World Centre.
But how many young minds from Mysore would know that their city bred men who accomplished such a feat against world powers that be? This and many such tales of our military might should make it to school textbooks, and popular lore and be told to a nation whose youth seem to certainly be in dire need of the right kind of heroes.
(Captain Brijesh Chowta is a former Indian Army Infantry officer who served in the Gorkha Rifles. The story was first published on September 23, 2020)
