ABSTRACT

The study of the science of guerrilla, or irregular, warfare is based on the concrete experience of the Arab Revolt against the Turks, 1916–1918. The Arab Revolt began in June, 1916, with an attack by the half-armed and inexperienced tribesmen upon the Turkish garrisons in Medina and about Mecca. The Turks prepared to send an expeditionary force to Mecca, to crush the revolt at its source, and accordingly moved an army corps to Medina by rail. The algebraical element seemed a pure science, subject to the laws of mathematics, without humanity. It became humanity in battle, an art touching every side of our corporal being. Range is more to strategy than force. The necessary speed and range were attained by the frugality of the desert men, and their efficiency on camels. Armoured cars, once they have found a possible track, can keep up with a camel party.