Although the contribution of the French in Arabia during the First World War is not as well known as that of the British, they played an important part in the war on the Hejaz Railway.
Established in 1916 under the command of Édouard Brémond, the French Military Mission was to operate in all sectors of the Hejaz Railway. French units were attached to the southern armies of Princes Ali and Abdullah in the Hejaz, as well as to the northern army under Prince Faisal.
In particular, the artillery battery of Captain Rosario Pisani provided vital support for the Bedouin in their attacks against the well entrenched and heavily armed Ottoman defenders of stations and other strategic points on the railway. Pisani's units took part in several raids with T.E. Lawrence and made up part of the great offensive push to capture Damascus at the end of the war.
Read more about the French Military Mission here.
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