Angels of Armageddon

Egypt and Palestine offered the British an opportunity to fight a war of movement. Unlike the Western Front, Egypt and Palestine were undeveloped with wide expanses of land. It was ripe for the development of maneuver warfare using the mechanical products of the industrial age: motor cars, machine guns, tanks and aeroplanes. In particular, the use of aeroplanes proved vital to the successful British defense of the Suez Canal by providing reconnaissance of enemy formations and early warnings of attack. This role of the Royal Flying Corps expanded in this theater to cover the breadth and depth of British efforts at the tactical, operational and strategic levels. The strategic success of the Royal Air Force in wrestling air superiority from the Germans was the key that allowed the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) to prepare and conduct its campaign against the central powers across the plains surrounding Megiddo. It provided the EEF intelligence of enemy positions, freedom to maneuver forces undetected, and the depth to attack and rout the retreating Turkish forces to the point of annihilation. The evolution of local air superiority in Palestine, properly coordinated with the ground offensive, was the deciding factor for victory in that theater.