Ottoman officers who successfully defended Gaza during the first battle
Date
26 March 1917
Location
Gaza, southern Palestine
Result
Ottoman victory
Belligerents
British Empire
Canada
British India
Australia
New Zealand
United Kingdom
Ottoman Empire German Empire Austria-Hungary
Commanders and leaders
Archibald Murray Philip Chetwode Charles Dobell
Tala Bey (nominal) Friedrich Freiherr Kress von Kressenstein (actual)
Units involved
Eastern Force
52nd (Lowland) Division
54th (East Anglian) Division
No. 7 Light Car Patrol
Nos. 11 and 12 Armoured Motor Batteries
Desert Column
53rd (Welsh) Division
Anzac Mounted Division
Imperial Mounted Division
Imperial Camel Corps Brigade
Fourth Army
79th Infantry Regiment
2nd Battalion, 81st Infantry Regiment
125th Infantry Regiment
Reinforced by
3rd Infantry Division
31st and 32nd Infantry Regiments
16th Infantry Division
47th and 48th Infantry Regiments
Strength
31,000
19,000
Casualties and losses
523 killed 2,932 wounded 512 missing
16 dead or wounded, 41 missing 300 killed, 750 wounded, 600 missing
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
The First Battle of Gaza was fought on 26 March 1917 during the first attempt by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF), which was a British Empire military formation, formed on 10 March 1916 under the command of General Archibald Murray from the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and the Force in Egypt (1914–15), at the beginning of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War. Fighting took place in and around the town of Gaza on the Mediterranean coast when infantry and mounted infantry from the Desert Column, a component of the Eastern Force, attacked the town. Late in the afternoon, on the verge of capturing Gaza, the Desert Column was withdrawn due to concerns about the approaching darkness and large Ottoman reinforcements. This British defeat was followed a few weeks later by the even more emphatic defeat of the Eastern Force at the Second Battle of Gaza in April 1917.
In August 1916, the EEF victory at Romani ended the possibility of land-based attacks on the Suez Canal, first threatened in February 1915 by the Ottoman Raid on the Suez Canal. In December 1916, the newly created Desert Column's victory at the Battle of Magdhaba secured the Mediterranean port of El Arish and the supply route, water pipeline and railway stretching eastwards across the Sinai Peninsula. In January 1917, the victory of the Desert Column at the Battle of Rafa completed the capture of the Sinai Peninsula and brought the EEF within striking distance of Gaza.
Two months later, in March 1917, Gaza was attacked by Eastern Force infantry from the 52nd (Lowland) Division reinforced by an infantry brigade. This attack was protected from the threat of Ottoman reinforcements by the Anzac Mounted Division and a screen from the Imperial Mounted Division. The infantry attack from the south and southeast on the Ottoman garrison in and around Gaza was strongly resisted. While the Imperial Mounted Division continued to hold off threatening Ottoman reinforcements, the Anzac Mounted Division attacked Gaza from the north. They succeeded in entering the town from the north, while a joint infantry and mounted infantry attack on Ali Muntar captured the position. However, the lateness of the hour, the determination of the Ottoman defenders, and the threat from the large Ottoman reinforcements approaching from the north and north east resulted in the decision by the Eastern Force to retreat. It has been suggested that this move snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
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