Transjordan theatre of operations. The Hijla Ford ("Mak[hade]t Hijla") is marked east of Jericho, at the confluence of "Wadi el-Kelt" and the River Jordan.
The Battle of Hijla (21 March 1918) was fought by the forces of the British and Ottoman Empires during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War. Hijla (now called Makhadet Hijla', lit. 'Partridge Ford'; cf. nearby Deir Hajla) is on the River Jordan a few miles upriver from the Dead Sea. Today the river is the boundary between Jordan and the "West Bank" area presently administered by Israel and the Palestinian Authority, but in 1918 it was territory of the Ottoman Empire. The British invasion had succeeded in taking Jerusalem at the end of 1917. British General Edmund Allenby attempted a "raid" across the Jordan toward Amman in an effort to sever the railroad and resistance was met at Hijla and to the north at Ghoraniyeh, where fords provided means to cross.[1]
The river crossing was resisted by the Ottomans at both sites. The 2/19th Battalion (St. Pancras) London Regiment of the 60th Division tried to cross at Hijla, sending swimmers repeatedly across with ropes to attempt the construction of a pontoon bridge. Major Vivian Gilbert reported the events later. Many of the British soldiers were shot in the Jordan before the bridgehead could be established. Once established, the bridgeheads were maintained against the Ottomans, but the raids on Amman basically failed. This was the prelude to the Battle of Megiddo farther north in what is now Israel.[2][3]
55 The BattleofHijla (21 March 1918) was fought by the forces of the British and Ottoman Empires during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First...
The Second Battleof Gaza was fought on 17–19 April 1917, following the defeat of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) at the First Battleof Gaza in March...
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The Battleof Rafa, also known as the Action of Rafah, fought on 9 January 1917, was the third and final battle to complete the recapture of the Sinai...
The Battleof Magdhaba took place on 23 December 1916 during the Defence of Egypt section of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in the First World War. The...
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Third Battleof Gaza was fought on the night of 1–2 November 1917 between British and Ottoman forces during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of World...
List of the main battles in the history of the Ottoman Empire are shown below. The life span of the empire was more than six centuries, and the maximum...
and at Makhadet Hijla a cavalry steel pontoon bridge. They were opposed by an Ottoman force of about 1,000 rifles, some squadrons of cavalry and six guns...
The Battleof el Buqqar Ridge took place on 27 October 1917, when one infantry regiment and cavalry troops of the Yildirim Army Group, attacked the 8th...
The Battleof Tulkarm took place on 19 September 1918, beginning of the Battleof Sharon, which along with the Battleof Nablus formed the set piece Battle...
Battleof Nazareth began on 20 September 1918, during the Battleof Sharon, which together with the Battleof Nablus formed the set piece Battleof Megiddo...
The Battleof Bir el Abd or the Abd well (9 August 1916) was fought between the forces of the British Empire and the Ottoman Empire, during the Sinai...
The Battleof Sharon fought between 19 and 25 September 1918, began the set piece Battleof Megiddo half a day before the Battleof Nablus, in which large...
Battleof Nebi Samwil, (17–24 November 1917), was fought during the decisive British Empire victory at the Battleof Jerusalem between the forces of the...
The Second Battleof Amman was fought on 25 September 1918 during the Third Transjordan attack as part of the Battleof Nablus which together with the...
The Battleof Katia, also known as the Affair of Qatia by the British, was an engagement fought east of the Suez Canal and north of El Ferdan Station...
Hijla to about 4 miles (6.4 km) north of the Jericho to Es Salt road, cut at the Ghorianyeh Bridge, in the vicinity of Shunet Nimrin. A wired line of...
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