Damascus on 1 October 1918, despite the presence of some 12,000 Ottoman soldiers at Baramke Barracks. Major Olden of the Australian 10th Light Horse Regiment received the official surrender of the city at 7 am at the Serai. Later that day, Lawrence's irregulars entered Damascus. The inhabitants of the region varied greatly in their background, religious beliefs and political outlook. In the Eastern Hauran, the bulk of the population were Druses, while in the Jaulan, more Circassians, Metawala and some Algerian colonists were living. The southern Jaulan district was poor and rocky, supporting a very small population and groups of nomads from the Wuld Ali in the eastern desert, while the north is more fertile with a large Circassian colony in and around Kuneitra. The north–west Jaulan district contains some Metawala villages and some Algerian colonies in the east, introduced by the Emir Abdul Qadir after he had taken refuge in Damascus in the 1850s. In between these are settled Arabs similar to those in the Nukra plain; while in the east are Bedouin Arabs. The advances to Amman, during the Third Transjordan attack of the Battle of Megiddo, and to Damascus towards the end of the war resulted in the highest incidence of malaria "that has ever been suffered by Australian forces." Capture of Aleppo Aleppo, the third largest city in the Ottoman Empire, was captured on 25 October. The Ottoman government was quite prepared to sacrifice these non-Turkish provinces without surrendering. Indeed, while this battle was raging, the Ottoman Empire sent an expeditionary force into Russia to enlarge the ethnic Turkish elements of the empire. It was only after the surrender of Bulgaria, which put Ottoman Empire into a vulnerable position for invasion, that the Ottoman government was compelled to sign an armistice at Mudros on 30 October 1918, and surrendered outright two days later. Summary The British and their Dominions suffered a total of 51,451 battle casualties: 12,873 killed/missing, 37,193 wounded, and 1,385 captured. An additional 503,377 were hospitalized as non-battle casualties, mostly from disease; 5,981 of these died, and most of the rest were returned to duty. It is unknown how many of the non-battle casualties were in serious enough condition to require evacuation out of theater, though comparison to the Mesopotamia campaign (where 19% were evacuated) would suggest the number is around 100,000. Indian non-battle casualties are unknown, while Indian battle casualties were 10,526: 3,842