Barry Shaw

On December 11, 1917, Gen. Edmund Allenby’s forces officially liberated Jerusalem. Actually, a Jerusalem delegation, led by the mayor, surrendered the city to a pair of British army cooks on December 8. Thus began a comical farce. The Turkish army and its German commanders had fled the city ahead of the British advance, leaving the city officials nervously waiting for the liberators. The first uniformed men to arrive were privates Andrews and Church, two cooks who got lost while searching for cooking water. They wandered near the Jaffa Gate entrance to the Old City and were confronted by a large delegation of city officials. The cooks were so scared they ran back to their unit. At 8 a.m. the following morning, James Sedgewick and Fred Hurcomb, two British sergeants, were scouting around the Old City walls when they were approached by a group of Arab dignitaries holding a white flag. The two soldiers were overwhelmed by the sudden responsibility of accepting the surrender of Jerusalem and apologized after pictures were taken for posterity, saying they were unable to accept the surrender but promised to send a more senior officer. Later the same day, two artillery officers, majors Beck and Barry […]