51253: The capture of Jerusalem, 1917

The Mayor of Jerusalem, Dr Hussein Salim al-Husseini (with walking-stick and cigarette), with his party under a white flag-of-truce, attempts to deliver the Turkish Governor's letter surrendering the city to Sergeants James Sedgwick and Frederick Hurcomb of 2/19th Battalion, the London Regiment, just outside Jerusalem's western limits in the early morning of 9 December 1917. The two sergeants, who were scouting ahead of General Allenby's main force, refused to take the letter, which was eventually accepted by Brigadier-General C F Watson, Commanding 180th Infantry Brigade. The resplendent figure at far left is Habj Abd al-Kadir, Chief of the Jerusalem Police Force.