Battle of Jeddah (1925)

The Battle of Jeddah or the siege of Jeddah took place in 1925, as part of the Abdulaziz Ibn Saud's campaign to conquer the Kingdom of Hejaz. Jeddah was the last major stand of the Hashemites against the Saudis.

Battle of Jeddah
Part of Saudi conquest of Hejaz
Date 10 February – 17 December 1925 Location Jeddah, Kingdom of Hejaz Result Najdi victory
Belligerents
Sultanate of Nejd	Kingdom of Hejaz
Commanders and leaders
Abdulaziz bin Saud Sultan bin Bajad	Hussein bin Ali Ali bin Hussein
Strength
50,000 men	5,000 men 8 combat aircraft[1] 40 artillery 30 machine guns Some combat tanks[2]
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown killed 5 combat tanks 1 combat aircraft

Overview

Following the fall of Mecca to Ibn Saud in early December 1924, King Ali bin Hussein moved back to Jeddah, trying to defend it against the Nejd Army.^{[citation needed]} Ali's remaining Sharifian Army started to build fortifications around the city and place mines. Ali requested help and supply from his brothers, Emir Abdullah of Transjordan and King King Faisal of Iraq. They both supplied Ali with arms and men. Also, Ali's two old airplanes were not enough for the impending battle so he bought five aircraft from Italy and several tanks from Germany.

Regardless, Ali could not stand for long.^{[citation needed]} The nearby clans were Ibn Saud's allies. The supplies from Aqaba traveled slowly to Jeddah, besides he had only two pilots, one of whom died during the battle. Eventually, the chiefs of Jeddah decided to surrender the city to Ibn Saud, while King Ali escaped to Baghdad over the Red Sea. The siege ended on 23 December 1925^[3] (1343 A.H.).

Consequently, Ibn Saud was declared the new King of Hejaz.^{[citation needed]} The following year, Ibn Saud merged the Hejaz with the Nejd as one state, the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd.

See also

• Battle of Jeddah (1813)
• History of Saudi Arabia

Notes and references

1. Al-Rehani: Nejd and its followers.
2. From Bullard to Mr ChamberLain. Jeddah, February 1925 (No.# secrets). Archived Post.
3. "Chronology 1925". www.indiana.edu. Archived from the original on 2020-04-02. Retrieved 2019-06-03.

Bibliography

• Al-Harbi, Dalal: King Abdulaziz and his Strategies to deal with events: Events of Jeddah. 2003, King Abdulaziz national library. ISBN 9960-624-88-9.