On December 9, 1917, as the third full year of World War I drew to a close, British forces captured the historical Jewish capital from the Ottomans. Hanukkah began that evening. Then, on December 11, General Edmund Allenby entered the city and read a proclamation. For the most part, local Jews greeted the arrival of the British with joy. Lenny Ben-David describes this atmosphere. (Several historical photographs can be found at the link below.)
After General Allenby departed from the Old City, officers and the photographer, George Westmoreland, made their way to the Western Wall. Two pictures in the British Imperial War Museum show Jewish worshippers and British officers, who stood at the narrow alley’s northern entrance.
Westmoreland’s pictures were taken at the “Jews’ Wailing Wall” on December 11, 1917. The shadows indicate that the day was getting late. . . . The first picture at the Kotel is fascinating. Upon enlarging the photograph, one can see an officer holding what appears to be a Torah scroll. Between the soldiers and the Wall is a small table, a curiosity considering that until the day before, the Turkish masters of the city banned all furniture at the Jewish site.
Was the table there to hold a Hanukkah menorah? Apparently, that was its purpose.
An official British military report on the Jerusalem victory likened the 1917 liberation to the defeat and ouster of the Seleucid Greeks by the Maccabees and attributed this [comparison] to General Allenby himself.
Read more on Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs: https://jcpa.org/hanukkah-eve-and-a-maccabean-deliverance-jerusalem-december-11-1917/