At the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the British government realized that it had to keep the Suez Canal open at all costs because it was the primary sea route connecting Britain to its far-flung eastern colonies. The Suez bordered Egypt, a nominal Turkish province, and, when Turkey became involved in the war on Germany's side in 1915, Turkey attacked the canal. As a result the British declared war on Turkey and began an offensive against the Ottoman forces and their German advisers. The British, aided by various Arab groups, swept north through Palestine, Jordan, and Syria to Turkey's ultimate defeat in October 1918.
In "Armageddon, 1918," eminent military historian Cyril Falls discusses the background of the World War I Middle East conflict and relates the final, critical campaign through Palestine, along with its notable personalities, including T. E. Lawrence, Emir Feisal, Kress von Kressenstein, and Edmund Allenby. Falls ends with a pertinent reflection on the subsequent history of the region, from the formation of Iraq in 1920 through the establishment of Israel, showing how the campaign in the Middle East brought into the international spotlight the tangled alliances and imperialistic and nationalistic desires that have left an indelible mark on the region to this day.

The Gordons raised 21 battalions in the First World War, serving on the Western Front and in Italy and winning 65 battle honours. The regular force battalions (1st and 2nd Gordons) were immediately assigned to the British Expeditionary Force on the outbreak of war. 3rd (Reserve) Gordons remained in Aberdeen to serve as the depot unit for the duration of the war. The 1st Gordons in Plymouth was assigned to 8 Brigade of the 3rd Division, while 2nd Gordons was assigned to 20 Brigade in the 7th Division following its recall from Cairo. The first line Territorial Force battalions; 1/4th (Aberdeen, ) 1/5th (Buchan and Formartine), 1/6th (Banffshire and Donside), 1/7th (Deeside), were assigned to 153 (2nd Highland) Brigade of the 51st (Highland) Division. This brigade was also known as the Gordons Brigade until May 1915 because of its composition solely of Gordon Highlanders battalions. A further eight Territorial Force battalions (2/4th, 2/5th, 2/6th, 2/7th, 3/4th, 3/5th, 3/6th, and 3/7th) were formed as part of the second line Home Service. These units were chronically undermanned and ill-equipped throughout the war and did not serve overseas. Four Service battalions - 8th (Service), 9th (Service), 10th (Service), and 11th (Service) - were formed as part of Lord Kitchener's New Army scheme with 9th Gordons eventually serving as a pioneer battalion. A 1st Garrison battalion was formed in 1916 for service in India. Unusually, The Gordon Highlanders did not serve on any of the other battle fronts where British soldiers fought during the war. The sole exception was the 2nd Gordons which was sent as part of a joint Anglo-French force to aid the Italians in 1917 after their heavy defeat by Austro-German forces at the Battle of Caporetto. The regiment lost 1,000 officers and 28,000 men during the war

This is the first of two volumes which, after a brief background review of Macedonia and its neighbours, and the conflict between Austria and Serbia which triggered The Great War, picks up the story from the landing of British and French troops at Salonika in northern Greece and takes it up to the abdication of the pro-German King Constantine of Greece and the entry of Greece into the war on the side of the Allies. The last of the military operations covered in this volume is the April/May 1917 allied offensive known as the Battle of Dojran; British divisions in the theatre consisted of 10th (Irish), 22nd, 26th, 27th (reg), 38th (reg) and 60th (2/2nd London, TF); the latter was transferred to the EEF in June 1917 and fought in the Palestine campaign

It was originally planned to complete the Official History of the Egypt and Palestine campaign in two volumes, with this second volume taking the story from the appointment of Allenby to the command of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) in June 1917, to the conclusion of the armistice with Turkey. But it was only after Allenby's arrival that the campaign really took off, with all the major offensives and battles taking place during his period of command. It thus became clear that Volume II would need to be in two parts. This part covers the offensive at Gaza and Beersheba and the subsequent battles in the Judaean Hills for the capture and defence of Jerusalem, which lasted from the end of October to the end of December 1917 without a break. It continues into 1918 with the operations in the Jordan Valley in February 1918; first the capture of Jericho, then the two raids into Trans-Jordan with the important engagements between them, lasting until 4 May. At this point there was a real break in the campaign for the first time and it is here that Part I ends. The contents list includes Parts I and II and all the appendices are at the end of Part II.

Held to be the best written of all the official histories of operations on the Western Front begins with a review of the allied prospects for 1917 as discussed at the Chantilly Conference and then covers the first five months of 1917: the operations on the Ancre in Jan/Feb, the German withdrawal and the British Arras Offensive April - May 1917 Vimy, the battles of the Scarpe (3), of Bullecourt (2), and of Arleux.

The second of the two Macedonia campaign volumes completes the narrative of British military operations in that Balkan theatre. The four months from late May to early September 1917 were relatively uneventful apart from raids, the most dramatic occurrence being a major fire in Salonika which destroyed between a third and a half of the Greek city, rendering 80,000 people homeless. Towards the end of 1917 things livened up, with operations in the Struma Valley, and at the end of the year the Allied C-in-C, the French General Sarrail, was recalled and replaced by Gen. Guillaumat. In May/June 1918 there were Franco-Greek operations, a testing rehearsal for the planned final offensive which was launched in September. The battles of Dobropolje and Dojran caused the Bulgarians to retreat. The narrative takes the story through the Allied pursuit to the armistice with Bulgaria on 30 September 1918. Total battle casualties among British and Indian troops amounted to 23,762; total non-battle casualties numbered 481,262, of whom just over 198,000 were malaria cases.

Part II of the Official History of The Great War in the Middle East takes the story from May 1918 to the armistice. It begins with a summary of the Arab revolt against the Turks, which involved the exploits of Col. T.E. Lawrence 'of Arabia', and consisted of harassing attacks and sabotage of railways which drew off great numbers of the Turks to the benefit of the EEF. This was important because Allenby was being required to despatch British infantry battalions and Yeomanry regiments to France where the great German spring offensives had been launched in March. Indian battalions were set to replace the British ones, and the ensuing reorganisation of the EEF is described in some detail. The narrative continues with the final offensives - the battles of Megiddo, the operations of the Desert Mounted Corps, Chaytor's Force, the pursuit through Syria and the capture of Damascus. An epilogue discusses the policy of the campaign, the strategy and the tactics. There are numerous appendices which apply to both Parts I and II, beginning with a tabular record of operations from June 1917 and containing orders of battle of the EEF in October 1917 and in September 1918 as well as that of the Turkish forces. There are examples of Force Orders, of corps operation orders and instructions, and finally there is a good index to both parts.