Desert Column ANZAC Mounted Division Imperial Camel Corps Brigade 7th Light Car Patrol
Ottoman garrison of 2,000 soldiers
Casualties and losses
71 killed, 415 wounded
200 killed, 168 wounded, 1,434 prisoners
v
t
e
Sinai and Palestine Campaign
Sinai
Suez Canal
El Tor
Jifjafa
Katia
Romani
Bir el Abd
Magdhaba
Nekhl
Bir el Hassana
Southern Palestine
Rafa
1st Gaza
2nd Gaza
1st Southern Palestine
Hafir el Auja railway
Buggar Ridge
2nd Southern Palestine
Beersheba
Khuweilfe
3rd Gaza
Hareira & Sheria
Wadi el Hesi
Huj
Mughar Ridge
Junction Station
Ayun Kara
Jerusalem
Nebi Samwil
Jaffa
El Burj
Judean Hills
Tell 'Asur
Berukin & 1st Arara
Transjordan
Jericho
Jordan Valley
1st Transjordan
Hijla
1st Amman
2nd Transjordan
Abu Tellul
3rd Transjordan
Jisr ed Damieh
2nd Amman
Northern Palestine
Arsuf
Megiddo
Sharon
Tulkarm
Tabsor
2nd Arara
Nazareth
Afulah & Beisan
Jenin
Haifa
Samakh
Tiberias
Nablus
Syria
Damascus
Irbid
Jisr Benat Yakub
Kaukab
Kiswe
Khan Ayash
Northern Syria
Aleppo
Haritan
Arab Revolt
Mecca
Medina
Taif
Yanbu
Aqaba
Wadi Musa
v
t
e
Theaters of World War I
Europe
Western Front
Eastern Front
Romania
Italy
Balkans
Serbia
Middle East
Caucasus
Persia
Gallipoli
Mesopotamia
Sinai & Palestine
Hejaz & Levant
South Arabia
Central Arabia
Africa
South West Africa
Togoland
Cameroon
East Africa
North Africa
Somaliland
Asia-Pacific
Tsingtao
Samoa
New Guinea
Central Asia
Naval theatres
U-boat
Atlantic
Mediterranean
The Battle of 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 Peninsula by British forces during the Sinai and Palestine campaign of the First World War. The Desert Column of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) attacked an entrenched Ottoman Army garrison at El Magruntein to the south of Rafah, close to the frontier between the Sultanate of Egypt and the Ottoman Empire, to the north and east of Sheikh Zowaiid. The attack marked the beginning of fighting in the Ottoman territory of Palestine.
After the British Empire victories at the Battle of Romani in August 1916 and the Battle of Magdhaba in December, the Ottoman Army had been forced back to the southern edge of Palestine as the EEF pushed eastwards supported by extended lines of communication. This advance depended on the construction of a railway and a water pipeline. With the railway reaching El Arish on 4 January 1917, an attack on Rafa by the newly-formed Desert Column became possible. During the day-long assault, the Ottoman garrison defended El Magruntein's series of fortified redoubts and trenches on rising ground surrounded by flat grassland. They were eventually encircled by Australian Light Horsemen, New Zealand mounted riflemen, mounted yeomanry, cameliers and armoured cars. In the late afternoon, the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade captured the central redoubt and the remaining defences were occupied shortly afterwards.
The BattleofRafa, 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...
mounted division would advance to reoccupy Rafa (captured by the Desert Column on 9 January during the BattleofRafa). With the 11 January War Cabinet decision...
battles to maintain solid footing". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved 7 September 2022. Train, Rob (5 June 2022). "What is Müller-Weiss syndrome, Rafa Nadal's...
newly formed Desert Column completed the recapture of the Sinai at the BattleofRafa. This recapture of substantial Egyptian territory was followed in March...
result of the EEF victories at the Battle of Romani, the Battleof Magdhaba, and the BattleofRafa, fought from August 1916 to January 1917, the EEF had...
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...
Sinai Peninsula, pushing Ottoman forces back in the Battleof Magdhaba in December and the BattleofRafa on the border between the Egyptian Sinai and Ottoman...
later, on the evening of 8 January 1917 the mounted units of the Desert Column commanded by Chetwode rode out of El Arish towards Rafa where a 2,000-strong...
at the Battleof Magdhaba in December 1916 and back to the border of Ottoman Empire-controlled Palestine to be defeated at the BattleofRafa in January...
of Romani 23 December 1916 CE Battle of Magdhaba 9 January 1917 CE BattleofRafa 13–21 February 1917 CE Raid on Nekhl 1 September 1939 CE – 2 September...
captures the Ottoman garrison during the Battleof Magdhaba. 1917: January 9 – Sinai and Palestine Campaign: BattleofRafa – British Empire forces defeat the...
9 January 1917, in the BattleofRafa, during which it fought dismounted, suffering 46 casualties. Following the BattleofRafa, the 5th Mounted Brigade...
2005, p. 1052. Tucker 2005, p. 299. Duffy, Michael (2009-08-22). "The Battleof Bolimov, 1915". Firstworldwar.com. Retrieved 2013-11-13. Tucker 2005,...
back to Palestine after the victories at the Battleof Magdhaba in December 1916 and the BattleofRafa in January 1917, by which time the Desert Column...
events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January 9 – WWI – Battle ofRafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured...
Canal 23 April 1916 Battleof Katia 3–5 August 1916 Battleof Romani 23 December 1916 Battleof Magdhaba 9 January 1917 BattleofRafa 13–21 February 1917...
appointment on 22 December 1916. The Battleof Magdhaba was won the next day, and on 9 January 1917 the BattleofRafa was also won by the Desert Column...
On 9 January 1917 the ICC was involved in another victory during the BattleofRafa, which forced the Ottomans to withdraw the Sinai outposts towards Gaza...
retreat at the victory at Rafa. Chetwode's "arms length" style of command also impacted the First Battleof Gaza. In the Battleof Beersheba in October 1917...
Global Information
Ottoman Empire
Philip Chetwode
