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sion was the only formation able to make the long march north from Damascusto Aleppo. On 23 October the British 15th Cavalry Brigade, comprisingthe Jodhpur Lancers, the Mysore Lancers and the İst HyderabadLancers, established contact with elements of the Turkish 20th ArmyCorps, 20 kilometers southvvest of Aleppo. The newly formed 20th ArmyCorps, whieh consisted of the skeletal İst and llth Divisions under thecommand of Cebesoy, was the fruit of the organizing power of Atatürk,who was responsible for the defence of Aleppo and beyond. A demand tosurrender Aleppo was rejected and the British emissary, Captain R.H.M.Mclntyre of the 7th Light Car Patrol, was courteously treated by theTurks, but the written message from the chief of staff of the 20th ArmyCorps, Majör Naci (Tınaz), which he brought back was brief, curt, stiff,laconic and to the point. It ran: "The commander of the Turkish garrisonof Aleppo does not fınd it necessary to answer your note." The Turks hadabout 8,000 troops in the city and was not impressed by Macandrew'sslight column. Macandrew therefore decided to wait for the remainder ofhis force before attacking and 24 and 25 October passed vvithout activity 8 .On the afternoon of 25 October Arab bedouin pillagers attackedAleppo from the east and broke in. Liman Von Sanders describes this asthe first hard fighting since his troops had left Palestine. Von Sanders wasat Adana, över 150 kilometers from the scene, but he describes accuratelywhat followed and gives the strength of the bedouins at about 1,500,which is correct. They appeared at one moment to have captured the citadeland government building. Then they attacked the headquarters of the7th Army. After gaining a temporary footing there they were thrown out.Atatürk heard firing in the street outside his headquarters. He went outand sardonically observed that certain inhabitants of Aleppo, whom theTurks aspired to defend, were throwing grenades at them from the rooftops.His men moved svviftly down the streets and dispersed the bedouins.They were driven out of the city and order was soon restored. The commanderof the Group of Lightning Armies goes astray at this time aboutthe British. He states that they brought up a strong force of infantry intrucks, whereas what the Turks actually saw was a supply column and themaintenance vehicles of the cars 9 .But the time had come to evacuate Aleppo. Apart from Macandrew'simminent advance there was a danger of a landing in the rear at iskenderun.A disembarkation in the area had previously been discussed amongthe Allies and the scheme had been very much in the mind of the Britishmilitary authorities. At midnight on 25 October the Turkish commander8. Atay (1965), pp. 59-61. Sanders (1927), pp. 317-318. Official History of the GreatWar, "Military Operations: Egypt and Palestine", Edited by Cyril Falls, London,1930, Vol. l,p. 610.9. ibid.626