Fawzi al-Qawuqji  Fawzi al-Qawuqji (; 19 January 1890 – 5 June 1977) was a leading Arab nationalist military figure in the interwar period, based in Germany and allied to Nazi Germany during World War II, and served as the Arab Liberation Army (ALA) field commander during the 1948 Palestine War. Fawzi al-Qawuqji was born in 1890 into a Turkmen family in the city of Tripoli, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire. In 1912, he graduated from the military academy in Istanbul. Gilbert Achcar calls him "Arab nationalism's leading military figure in the interwar period... served as a commander in all the Arab national battles of the period." He served as a captain (Yuzbashi) in the 12th Ottoman corps garrison in Mosul, and in several battles during the First World War, including at Qurna in Iraq and at Beersheba in Ottoman Palestine. He was decorated with the Ottoman Majidi Medal for his role in these battles. He was also awarded the German Iron Cross, second class, for his service fighting alongside General Otto von Kreiss' Prussians, who had opposed the British in Palestine during World War I. The Ottoman Empire collapsed after World War I. Al-Qawuqji supported the independence of the short-lived Arab Kingdom of Syria. In 1920, he fought at the Battle of Maysalun, serving in the army of King Faisal as a captain ("ra'is khayyal") in a squadron commanded by Taha al-Hashimi. After the unsuccessful outcome of the campaign to establish the Arab Kingdom of Syria, Syria became a French Mandate. Al-Qawuqji then joined the 'Syrian Legion' (also known as the French-Syrian Army) which had been created by the French mandatory authorities. Al-Qawuqji received formal training at the French "École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr". He became commander of a cavalry squadron in Hama. During the rebellion of 1925–1927, he deserted the French Army to join the rebellion, leading the uprising in Hama in early October 1925. al-Qawuqji remained an outlaw thereafter. Shakib Arslan brought al-Qawuqji to the Hejaz to help train the army of Saudi monarch Abdul-Aziz. Al-Qawuqji relates that he was unimpressed with Abdul-Aziz, depicting him as self-infatuated and suspicious, who disappointingly attempted to justify his collaboration with the British.