Item ROBERTSON, WR 7/5/84 - Letter from General Sir Edmund Allenby to Robertson, 25 Jan 1918, about operations in Palestine, including the risks of famine and riots in Jerusalem

Letter to Robertson from Gen Sir Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, General Officer Commanding in Chief, Egyptian Expeditionary Force, on operations in Palestine, notably describing the condition of the railways and roads around Jerusalem; his establishment of a good defensive line between the area north-east of Jerusalem and the sea north of Jaffa, and his intention to consolidate that position and develop effective communications; a brief description of his future plans to push north to Jordan and south against the Hedjaz railway; the movements of the Turkish Army and the small likelihood of its launching an offensive; his views on the practicability of establishing foreign administrators in Palestine until the military situation is stabilised; problems of the occupation of Jerusalem, not least the difficulties of supply and the danger of rain leading to starvation, the character and behaviour of Georges Picot, and his request to assume the rights and dignities enjoyed by the French Representative in Jerusalem before the war, and the danger of religious riots in the city. 8pp.