Of all the armies which earned a place in history in Palestine, General Allenby’s was the greatest—­the greatest in size, in equipment, in quality, in fighting power, and not even the invading armies in the romantic days of the Crusades could equal it in chivalry.  It fought the strong fight with clean hands throughout, and finished without a blemish on its conduct.  It was the best of all the conquering armies seen in the Holy Land as well as the greatest.  Will not the influence of this Army endure?  I think so.  There is an awakening in Palestine, not merely of Christians and Jews, but of Moslems, too, in a less degree.  During the last thirty years there have grown more signs of the deep faiths of peoples and of their veneration of this land of sacred history.  If their institutions and missions could develop and shed light over Palestine even while the slothful and corrupt Turk ruled the land, how much faster and more in keeping with the sanctity of the country will the improvement be under British protection?  The graves of our soldiers dotted over desert wastes and cornfields, on barren hills and in fertile valleys, ay, and on the Mount of Olives where the Saviour trod, will mark an era more truly grand and inspiring, and offer a far greater lesson to future generations than the Crusades or any other invasion down the track of time.  The Army of General Allenby responded to the happy thought of the Commander-in-Chief and contributed one day’s pay for the erection of a memorial near Jerusalem in honour of its heroic dead.  Apart from the holy sites, no other memorial will be revered so much, and future pilgrims, to whatever faith they belong, will look upon it as a monument to men who went to battle to bring lasting peace to a land from which the Word of Peace and Goodwill went forth to mankind.

In selecting General Sir Edmund Allenby as the Palestine Army’s chief the War Cabinet made a happy choice.  General Sir Archibald Murray was recalled to take up an important command at home after the two unsuccessful attempts to drive the Turks from the Gaza defences.  The troops at General Murray’s disposal were not strong enough to take the offensive again, and it was clear there must be a long period of preparation for an attack on a large scale.  General Allenby brought to the East a lengthy experience of fighting on the Western Front, where his deliberate methods of attack, notably at Arras, had given the Allies victories over the cleverest and bravest of our enemies.  Palestine was likely to be a cavalry, as well as an infantry, campaign, or at any rate the theatre of war in which the mounted arm could be employed with the most fruitful of results.  General Allenby’s achievements as a cavalry leader in the early days of the war marked him as the one officer of high rank suited for the Palestine command, and his proved capacity as a General both in open and in trench warfare gave the Army that high degree of confidence in its Commander-in-Chief