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Despite this success, the Turks did launch a counterattack, ten miles to the north of Beersheba, at Tel el Khuweilfeh, a dominating hill that also commanded a water supply. Fighting continued here from 2 November until the Turks were forced to pull back by the general retreat further west. This fighting, and a water shortage at Beersheba, delayed the second phase of the attack until 6 November. It also restricted the routes available for the cavalry when they came to make their attempts to cut off the Turkish retreat. The Turkish left consisted of a series of fortified positions protecting Sheria, running from Hareira, to Rushdi and then to Kauwukah at the east of the line. The British attack began at 5 a.m. on 6 November. By 4.30pm the eastern two positions had been captured. Hareira and Sheria itself fell early on 7 November. With their left broken, on 7 November the Turks pulled out of Gaza. That day XXI corps on the British left occupied the town. The cavalry envelopment failed to develop as hoped, despite a determined pursuit that lasted until 9 November. Even so, 10,000 Turkish prisoners were taken during the chase, probably somewhere around 25-33% of their total force. The British advance continued into December, and on 9 December captured Jerusalem. The Battle at Beersheba The Light Horse Charge at Beersheba "Then Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water which Abimelech's servants had seized... And he said, You will take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that they may be my witness that I have dug this well. Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because the two of them swore an oath there." Genesis chapter 21 verses 25 -31   See also Beersheba, a genuine photograph of the charge? See also Photographs of Australian Light Horse going into action at Beersheba.    The village of BIR SABA lay on the northern edge of the Sinai Desert in a shallow saucer at the foot of the judean Hills, Beerhseba was protected by Tel El Saba, a 300 metre feature on the northern bank of the Wadi Saba 3 kilometres to the east. It was a great mound which had a commanding view of the surrounding plain.   The Battle at Beersheba ベエルシェバの戦い

This was the most significant factor in the Battle of Beersheba, forcing Chauvel to commit his reserve - the Australian Mounted Division. In a preliminary operation, the British Infantry of XX Corps were to secure positions to the south-west astride the Khalasa-Beersheba Road.   At Asluj and Khalasa the men of the Desert Mounted Corps watered; they carried three days rations. Despite great loads, the horses were touched with excitement. Smoking was forbidden and talking subdued. The bare hills of Sinai sounded with the beat of thousands of shod horses. They rode 30 kilometres through the night.30th October 1917   1800: Asluj and Khalasa were cleared. 31st October 1917   0555: 100 British guns opened in support of the preliminary operation.   0700: The Desert Mounted Corps halted, and patrols were pushed forward. Beersheba with its mosque was clearly in view; it offered no prize in rations or quarters, but something more coveted were the ancient wells to water those parched men and their Waler mounts. A large pool could be seen shimmering in the Wadi; there had been a storm on the 27th.   0830: The British rushed forward and captured their objectives to the south-west and brought forward their guns.   0900: The ANZAC's were ready to seize the road and the Tel. The enemy was observed reinforcing the Tel.   0930: The 2nd Brigade moved into artillery formation, advanced through a Bedouin camp, and thundered to the Hebron Road Sakati without slackening. Turkish batteries fired, but formation and ground gave them protection. With this task accomplished, they remained in a Wadi for the day.   1000: The Somerset Battery opened up on Tel El Saba from 3000 metres to cover the ANZAC assault. The 3rd Australian Light Horse Regiment was ordered to attack from the south-east. A spirited gallop under heavy fire brought the 3rd to within     1500 metres of the enemy. They dismounted. The Auckland Regiment conformed to the north. The Inverness Battery gave covering fire to the Somersets as they galloped to within 1000 metres of the Tel.  

Over the next week, attacks by the 53rd (Welsh) Division, the Anzac Mounted Division, and the 5th Mounted Brigade (Australian Mounted Division) attempted to capture the Khuweilfe position. Attacks were launched by the British infantry and Yeomanry cavalry, and Australian and New Zealand mounted brigades. Despite their failure to dislodge the Ottoman defenders, the continuing pressure drew in Ottoman reserves, which could have made the EEF attacks at Gaza during the night of 1/2 November, and at Hareira and Sheria on 6–7 November, more strongly contested. On 6 November, in coordination with the attacks on Hareira and Sheria, the 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division, with the Imperial Camel Brigade covering their flanks, made another inconclusive assault with artillery support. This fighting continued the following day, until the Ottoman defenders began to withdraw, as a consequence of the loss of Hareira, the evacuation of Gaza, and the weakening of the Sheria position, all of which threatened to outflank the Tel el Khuweilfe position. The Charge at Sheria took place on 7 November 1917 during the Battle of Hareira and Sheria when the 11th and 12th Light Horse Regiments (4th Light Horse Brigade) charged a Yildirim Army Group rearguard in support of an attack by the 60th (London) Division during the Southern Palestine Offensive of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in World War I. Following the victory at the Battle of Beersheba on 31 October, Ottoman Army forces continued to hold most of their front line stretching from Gaza on the Mediterranean coast to the mound of Tel el Sheria and Tel el Khuweilfe, in the Judean Hills to the north of Beersheba. A major offensive launched by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) on 6 November could not dislodge the Ottoman defenders at Gaza, Hareira and Tel el Khuweilfe. Although Sheria and Tel el Khuweilfe continued to be strongly defended, the heavy EEF bombardment by the XXI Corps against Gaza, resulted in the Ottoman garrison withdrawing from Gaza during the night. During 7 November the attack by the XX Corps, led by the 60th (London) Division and supported by the 10th (Irish) Division on the left and the 74th (Yeomanry) Division on the right, gained some ground in the morning but was held up by a strong position at Sheria, when the Australian Mounted Division was ordered to attack mounted. The 11th and 12th Light Horse Regiments charged into the face of heavy artillery, machine gun and rifle fire, was forced to stop and dismount as the fire was too fierce. One troop missed the signal and was annihilated, after they charged up and over the Ottoman trenches.

The Charge at Huj (8 November 1917), (also known by the British as the Affair of Huj), was an engagement between forces of the British Empire' Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) and the Ottoman Turkish Empire's,[nb 1] Yildirim Army Group during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War. It took place during the Pursuit phase of the Southern Palestine Offensive which eventually captured Jerusalem a month later. The charge was carried out by units of the 5th Mounted Brigade, against a rearguard position of German, Austrian and Turkish artillery and infantry armed with machine guns. The charge was successful and the British captured the position, seventy prisoners, eleven pieces of artillery and four machine guns. However British casualties were heavy; of the 170 men taking part, twenty-six were killed and forty wounded. They also had 100 horses killed. The charge is claimed to be one of the last British cavalry charges and was immortalised in a watercolour painting by the noted British artist Lady Butler.Huj is a Palestinian Arab village located 9.3 miles (15.0 km) north east of Gaza. During the Third Battle of Gaza, under pressure from the British attack, the majority of the Turkish forces from XXI Corps, had withdrawn from the area on 5 November. At around 14:00 8 November 1917, the following British forces with the 60th (2/2nd London) Division in the lead were stopped by artillery fire from a strong rearguard position on a ridge of high ground to the south of Huj. The Turkish rearguard had been established to protect the withdrawal of the Eighth Army headquarters, and was composed of German, Austrian and Turkish artillery, around 300 infantry and six machine guns. Aware that his infantry division alone would have problems taking the position, the 60th Division commander requested assistance from mounted troops. The only mounted troops in the area were 170 yeomanry - two full squadrons and two half squadrons from the Worcestershire and Warwickshire Yeomanry - part of the British 5th Mounted Brigade in the Australian Mounted Division. The squadrons manoeuvred under cover to a forming up point 1,000 yd (910 m) on the British right.

Casualties in the 33rd Division were so great that it was relieved on 27 September by the 23rd Division, which had only been withdrawn on the night of 24/25 September. Battle of Polygon Wood　ポリゴンの森の戦い Australian infantry with small box respirator gas masks, Ypres, September 1917 The Second Army altered its Corps frontages soon after the attack of 20 September, for the next effort (26 September – 3 October) so that each attacking division could be concentrated on a 1,000 yards (910 m) front. Roads and light railways were extended to the new front line, to allow artillery and ammunition to be moved forward. The artillery of VIII Corps and IX Corps on the southern flank, simulated preparations for attacks on Zandvoorde and Warneton. At 5.50 a.m. on 26 September, five layers of barrage fired by British artillery and machine-guns began. Dust and smoke thickened the morning mist and the infantry advanced using compass bearings. Each of the three German ground-holding divisions attacked on 26 September, had an Eingreif division in support, twice the ratio of 20 September. No ground captured by the British was lost and German counter-attacks managed only to reach ground to which survivors of the front-line divisions had retired. Battle of Broodseinde ブルードサインデの戦い The Battle of Broodseinde (4 October), was the last assault launched by Plumer in good weather. The operation aimed to complete the capture of the Gheluvelt Plateau and occupy Broodseinde Ridge. The Germans sought to recapture their defences around Zonnebeke, with a methodical counter-attack also to begin on 4 October. The British attacked along a 14,000 yards (13,000 m) front and by coincidence, Australian troops from I Anzac Corps met attacking troops from the German 45th Reserve Division in no man's land when Operation Hohensturm commenced simultaneously. The Germans had reinforced their front line to delay the British capture of their forward positions, until Eingreif divisions could intervene, which put more German troops into the area most vulnerable to British artillery. The British inflicted devastating casualties on the 4th Army divisions opposite.

Battle of La Malmaison After numerous requests from Haig, Petain began the Battle of La Malmaison, a long-delayed French attack on the Chemin des Dames, by the Sixth Army (General Paul Maistre). The artillery preparation started on 17 October and on 23 October, the German defenders were swiftly defeated, losing 11,157 prisoners and 180 guns, as the French advanced up to 3.7 miles (6.0 km), capturing the village and fort of La Malmaison, gaining control of the Chemin des Dames ridge. The Germans had to withdraw to the north of the Ailette Valley early in November. Haig was pleased with the French success but regretted the delay, which had lessened its effect on the Flanders operations. Second Battle of Passchendaele The British Fifth Army undertook minor operations from 20–22 October, to maintain pressure on the Germans and support the French attack at La Malmaison, while the Canadian Corps prepared for a series of attacks from 26 October – 10 November. The four divisions of the Canadian Corps had been transferred to the Ypres Salient from Lens, to capture Passchendaele and the ridge. The Canadians relieved the II Anzac Corps on 18 October and found that the front line was mostly the same as that occupied by the 1st Canadian Division in April 1915. The Canadian operation was to be three limited attacks, on 26 October, 30 October and 6 November. On 26 October, the 3rd Canadian Division captured its objective at Wolf Copse, then swung back its northern flank to link with the adjacent division of the Fifth Army. The 4th Canadian Division captured its objectives but was forced slowly to retire from Decline Copse, against German counter-attacks and communication failures between the Canadian and Australian units to the south. The second stage began on 30 October, to complete the previous stage and gain a base for the final assault on Passchendaele. The attackers on the southern flank quickly captured Crest Farm and sent patrols beyond the final objective into Passchendaele. The attack on the northern flank again met with exceptional German resistance.

Men from the 9th and 10th Battalions started up the Ari Burnu slope, grabbing the gorse branches or digging their bayonets into the soil to provide leverage. At the peak they found an abandoned trench, the Turks having withdrawn inland. Soon the Australians reached Plugge's Plateau, the edge of which was defended by a trench, but the Turks had withdrawn to the next summit two hundred yards (180 m) inland, from where they fired at the Australians coming onto the plateau. As they arrived, Major Edmund Brockman of the 11th Battalion started sorting out the mess, sending the 9th Battalion's men to the right flank, the 11th Battalion's to the left, and keeping the 10th Battalion in the centre. The second six companies landed while it was still dark, the destroyers coming to within five hundred yards (460 m) to disembark the troops, under fire. They also landed at Anzac Cove, but now as planned the 11th were in the north, 10th in the centre and the 9th in the south. The 12th Battalion landed all along the beach. This extended the beachhead 500 yards (460 m) to the north of Ari Burnu, and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the south. Landing under fire, some of the assaulting troops were killed in their boats, and others as they reached the beach. Once ashore they headed inland. In the south, the first men from the 9th and 12th Battalions reached the bottom of 400 Plateau. In the north, the first men from the 11th and 12th Battalions started up Walker's Ridge, under fire from a nearby Turkish trench. Around the same time Turkish artillery started bombarding the beachhead, destroying at least six boats. The Australians fought their way forward and reached Russell's Top; the Turks withdrew through The Nek to Baby 700, 350 yards (320 m) away. Coming under fire again the Australians went to ground, having advanced only around one thousand yards (910 m) inland. Some also dug in at The Nek, a twenty yards (18 m) piece of high ground between Malone's Gully to the north and Monash Valley to the south. Around this time Colonel Ewen Sinclair-Maclagan, commanding the 3rd Brigade, decided to change the corps plan. Concerned about a possible counter-attack from the south, he decided to hold the Second Ridge instead of pushing forward to the Third or Gun Ridge. This hesitation suited the Turkish defence plans, which required the forward troops to gain time for the reserves to coordinate a counter-attack.

However, between 12:30 and 16:00 not one infantry or artillery formation came ashore. The ships carrying the New Zealanders were in the bay, but the steamers and rowing boats were being used to take the large numbers of wounded to the hospital ship. The transports with the 4th Australian Brigade on board were still well out at sea and not due to land until that evening. The landings recommenced around 16:30 when the Wellington Battalion came ashore, followed by the Otago Battalion around 17:00, who were put into the line beside the Aucklanders. Next to land were the two other Canterbury companies, who were sent north to Walker's Ridge to extend the corps left flank. Events ashore now forced a change in the disembarkation schedule, and at 17:50 orders were issued for the 4th Australian Brigade to start landing to boost the defence. It would take until the next day for the complete brigade to come ashore. The transports carrying both divisions' artillery batteries had been forced further out to sea by Turkish artillery fire, and were unable to land. MacLaurin's Hill is a 1,000 yard (910m) long section of the Second Ridge that connects Baby 700 to 400 Plateau, with a steep slope on the ANZAC side down to Monash Valley. In the coming days Quinn's, Steel's and Courtney's Posts would be built on the slope. The first ANZAC troops to reach the hill, from the 11th Battalion, found that the Turkish defenders had already withdrawn. As the Australians crested the hill they came under fire from Baby 700, but to their front was a short, shallow slope into Mule Valley. When Major James Denton's company of the 11th Battalion arrived at the hill they started digging in, and soon after received orders from MacLagen to hold the position at all costs. At 10:00 Turkish troops, advancing from Scrubby Knoll, got to within three hundred yards (270 m) of the Australians on the hill, opening fire at them. Altogether there were two and a half companies from the 11th Battalion between Courtney's Post, Steele's Post, and Wire Gully. They had not been there long before the 3rd Battalion arrived to reinforce them. The 400 Plateau, named for its height above sea level, was a wide and level plateau on the second ridge line, about six hundred by six hundred yards (550 by 550 m) wide and around one thousand yards (910 m) from Gun Ridge. The northern half of the plateau became known as Johnston's Jolly, and the southern half as Lone Pine, with Owen's Gully between them.

Shortly after, McCay was informed that if he wanted the 6th Battalion to hold its position, it must be reinforced. So McCay sent his last reserves, a company of the 1st Battalion, and ordered the 8th to leave one company on the ridge and advance on the right of the 6th Battalion. The scattered formations managed to hold their positions for the remainder of the afternoon, then at 17:00 saw large numbers of Turkish troops coming over the southern section of Gun Ridge.[136]Around 10:00 Kemal and the 1st Battalion, 57th Infantry were the first to arrive in the area between Scrubby Knoll and Chunuk Bair. From the knoll Kemal was able to observe the landings. He ordered the artillery battery to set up on the knoll, and the 1st Battalion to attack Baby 700 and Mortar Ridge from the North-East, while the 2nd Battalion would simultaneously circle around and attack Baby 700 from the West. The 3rd Battalion would for the moment be held in reserve. At 10:30 Kemal informed II Corps he was attacking. At 11:30 Sefik told Kemal that the ANZACs had a beachhead of around 2,200 yards (2,000 m), and that he would attack towards Ari Burnu, in conjunction with the 19th Division. Around midday Kemal was appraised that the 9th Division was fully involved with the British landings at Cape Helles, and could not support his attack, so at 12:30 he ordered two battalions of the 77th Infantry Regiment (the third battalion was guarding Suvla Bay) to move forward between the 57th and 27th Infantry Regiments. At the same time he ordered his reserve 72nd Infantry Regiment to move further west. Within the next half-hour the 27th and 57th Infantry Regiments started the counter-attack, supported by three batteries of artillery. At 13:00 Kemal met with his corps commander Esat Pasha and convinced him of the need to react in strength to the ANZAC landings. Esat agreed and released the 72nd and 27th Infantry Regiments to Kemal's command. Kemal deployed the four regiments from north to south; 72nd, 57th, 27th and 77th. In total, Turkish strength opposing the landing numbered between ten thousand and twelve thousand men. At 15:15 Lalor left the defence of The Nek to a platoon that had arrived as reinforcements, and moved his company to Baby 700. There he joined a group from the 2nd Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Leslie Morshead. Lalor was killed soon afterwards. The left flank of Baby 700 was now held by sixty men, the remnants of several units, commanded by a corporal. They had survived five charges by the Turks between 07:30 and 15:00; after the last charge the Australians were ordered to withdraw through The Nek.

There, a company from the Canterbury Battalion had just arrived, with their commanding officer Lieutenant-Colonel Douglas Stewart. By 16:00 the New Zealand companies had formed a defence line on Russell's Top. On Baby 700, there was on the left Morsehead's and Lalor's men, and at the top of Malone's Gulley were the survivors of the 2nd Battalion and some men from the 3rd Brigade. On the right were the men left from the Auckland companies, and a mixed group from the 1st, 2nd, 11th and 12th Battalions. Once Stewart's men were secure, he ordered Morsehead to withdraw. During a Turkish artillery bombardment of The Nek, Stewart was killed. The artillery heralded the start of a Turkish counter-attack; columns of troops appeared over the top of Battleship Hill and on the flanks and attacked the ANZAC lines. At 16:30 the three battalions from the 72nd Infantry Regiment arrived and attacked from the north. At the same time the Australians and New Zealanders holding on at Baby 700 broke and ran back to an improvised line, from Walker's Ridge in the north to Pope's Hill in the south. The defence line at The Nek was now defended by nine New Zealanders, under the command of a sergeant; they had three machine-guns but the crews had all been killed or wounded. As the survivors arrived from Baby 700 their numbers rose to around sixty. Bridges in his divisional headquarters starting receiving messages from the front; just after 17:00 Lieutenant-Colonel George Braund on Walker's Ridge advised he was holding his position and "if reinforced could advance". At 17:37 Maclagen reported they were being "heavily attacked", at 18:15 the 3rd Battalion signalled, "3rd Brigade being driven back". At 19:15 from Maclagen again "4th Brigade urgently required". Bridges sent two hundred stragglers, from several different battalions, to reinforce Braund and promised two extra battalions from the New Zealand and Australian Division which was now coming ashore. Dusk was at 19:00 and the Turkish attack had now reached Malone's Gulley and The Nek. The New Zealanders waited until the Turks came close, then opened fire in the darkness, stopping their advance. Seriously outnumbered, they asked for reinforcements. Instead, the supporting troops to their rear were withdrawn and the Turks managed to get behind them. So, taking the machine-guns with them, they withdrew off Russell's Top into Rest Gully. This left the defenders at Walker's Ridge isolated from the rest of the force.

Sector II Headquarters at Ismailia Old Camp 22nd (Lucknow) Brigade (the 62nd and 92nd Punjabis and the 2/10th Gurkha Rifles) 28th Indian Brigade (the 51st Sikhs (Frontier Force) and 53rd Sikhs, the 56th Punjabis and the 1/5th Gurkha Rifles) 1 Squadron Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade Bikaner Camel Corps (less three and a half companies) Machine Gun Section of Egyptian Camel Corps 1 Brigade of Territorial RFA 1 Battery Indian Mountain Artillery 2 Field Ambulances These troops were deployed at the Deversoir, Serapeum East, Serapeum West, Tussum, Gebel Mariam, Ismailia Ferry and Ismailia Old Camp posts. Sector III Headquarters at Qantara 29th Indian Brigade (the 14th Sikhs, the 69th and 89th Punjabis and the 1/6th Gurkha Rifles) 1 Battalion 22nd Brigade 1 Squadron Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade half a company of Sappers and Miners 2 Batteries of Territorial Royal Field Artillery (RFA) 26th Battery Mountain Artillery Armoured train with half company Indian Infantry Territorial Wireless Section Indian Field Ambulance Detachment of Territorial R.A.M.C. These troops were deployed at the Ballah, Qantara East, Qantara West, El Kab, Tina, Ras El Esh, Salt Works, New Canal Works and Port Said posts. Zagazig Advanced Ordnance Depot was defended by one battalion, 32nd (Imperial Service) Brigade Sweet Water Canal and the railway were defended by 1 Troop Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade, a half company of Birkanir Camel Corps and a half company of Indian Infantry Moascar General Reserve was formed by:31st Indian Brigade (the 2nd Queen Victoria's Own Rajput Light Infantry), the 27th Punjabis, the 93rd Burma Infantry and the 128th Pioneers 32nd (Imperial Service) Brigade (the 33rd Punjabis, Alwar, Gwalior and Patiala Infantry) Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade (less three squadrons and one troop) 1 Egyptian R. E. Section (Camels) 1 Egyptian Mountain Battery 2 Sections Field Artillery with Cavalry Brigade 3 Indian Field Ambulances. This force would be supported by warships located in the Suez Canal and the lakes. Located at these series of posts were trenches with sand bag revetments, protected by barbed wire on the eastern bank of the canal mainly covering ferries with an extensive bridgehead at Ismailia Ferry Post. Three floating bridges were constructed, at Ismailia, Kubri and Qantara. On the western bank trenches were dug at intervals between the posts. These defences were augmented by the presence in the Suez Canal of HMS Swiftsure, HMS Clio, HMS Minerva the armed merchant cruiser HMS Himalaya and HMS Ocean near Qantara, Ballah, Sallufa, Gurka Post and Esh Shatt respectively, with the French protected cruiser D'Entrecasteaux just north of the Great Bitter Lake, HMS Proserpine at Port Said, the Royal Indian Marine Ship Hardinge south of Lake Timsah and north of Tussum, with the French coastal defence ship Requin in Lake Timsah. The canal was closed each night during the threat.

Two battalions of the 32nd (Imperial Service) Brigade were deployed north of Lake Timsah to Ballah in Sector II commanded by Brigadier General H.D. Watson with the New Zealand Infantry Brigade and the Otago and Wellington Battalions reinforcing Sector I. To protect their strategic interests, by January 1915 the British had assembled some 70,000 troops in Egypt. Major-General Sir John Maxwell, a veteran of Egypt and Sudan, was commander-in-chief and led mostly British Indian Army divisions, together with the 42nd (East Lancashire) Division, local formations and the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. 30,000 of the troops stationed in Egypt manned defences along the Suez Canal. The Ottomans had only three available routes to reach the Suez Canal through the road-less and waterless Sinai Peninsula. A coastal advance that would have water supplies and usable tracks, but would be within range of Royal Navy warships. A central route from Beersheba to Ismailia or a southern track between El Kossaima and the Suez Canal.[citation needed] The central route was chosen as it would provide the Ottoman soldiers with proper tracks to follow once they crossed the canal.[citation needed]The Bavarian Colonel Kress von Kressenstein had been appointed Chief of Staff of the VIII Corps, Fourth Army on arrival from Constantinople on 18 November 1914. The VIII Corps comprised five infantry divisions, the 8th, 10th, 23rd, 25th, and 27th with contingents from Sinai Bedouins, Druzes, Kurds, Mohadjirs, Circassians from Syria and Arabs. These Muslim contingents were to foment revolt against the British in Egypt. In January 1915 Kress von Kressenstein's force concentrated 20,000 men in southern Palestine with nine field batteries and one battery of 5.9 inch (15 cm) howitzers. This force which was to cross the Sinai comprised the 10th Infantry Division and a cavalry regiment and the first echelon of about 13,000 infantrymen including the 23rd, 25th and 27th Divisions with 1,500 Arabs and eight batteries of field artillery. A second echelon of 12,000 infantrymen was made up of 20th and 23rd Divisions. The plan was for a single infantry division to capture Ismailia and cross the canal before being reinforced by a second infantry division which would be supported on the east bank of the canal by two additional divisions. A further division would be available to reinforce the bridgehead on the west bank of the Suez Canal.

The Ottoman Empire constructed a branch railway line from the Jaffa–Jerusalem railway at Ramleh running south to reach Sileh about 275 miles (443 km) from the Suez Canal during the autumn of 1914. The 100 miles (160 km) stretch of the railway to Beersheba was opened on 17 October 1915. By May 1916 it had been extended on to Hafir El Auja then south across the Egyptian frontier, to almost reached the Wadi el Arish in December 1916 when the Battle of Magdhaba was fought. German engineers directed the construction of stone Ashlar bridges and culverts along this railway line built to move large numbers of troops long distances quickly and keep them supplied many miles from base. Ottoman military town of Hafir el Aujah, the Principal Desert Base Any attack on the Suez Canal would require artillery and a bridging train to be dragged across the desert. Two Ottoman divisions plus one more in reserve, with camel and horse units, were ready to depart in mid-January. The advance across the Sinai took ten days, tracked by British aircraft, even though German aircraft stationed in Palestine in turn aided the Ottomans and later flew some bombing missions in support of the main attack. Kress von Kressenstein's force moved south by rail, continuing on foot via el Auja carrying iron pontoons for crossing and attacking the Suez Canal at Serapeum and Tussum. It was known at Force in Egypt headquarters that the 10th, 23rd and 27th Division had assembled near Beersheba. By 11 January Nekhl had been occupied by a small Ottoman force. On 13 January 1915 it was known to the British that strong columns were passing through el Auja and El Arish. On 25 January one regiment was reported to be approaching Qantara. The next day a force of 6,000 soldiers was reported 25 miles (40 km) east of the Little Bitter Lake at Moiya Harab when defenders at Qantara were fired on by part of the approaching force. On 27 January the El Arish to Qantara road was cut 5 miles (8.0 km) to the east and Baluchistan and Kubri posts were attacked. The force had moved towards the Suez Canal in three echelons; the main group along the central route with smaller forces on the northern and southern routes. The northern group of about 3,000 men moved via Magdhaba to El Arish and thence along the northern route towards Port Said. The central group of about 6,000 or 7,000 men moved via the water cisterns at Moiya Harab and the wells at Wady um Muksheib and Jifjafa towards Ismailia. This was at the midpoint of the Suez Canal near the vital British railway and water pumping equipment. The main force marched from Beersheba through El Auja and Ibni, between the Maghara and Yelleg hills to Jifjafa and Ismailia. The third group of about 3,000 moved via Nekl southwards towards the town of Suez at the southern end of the Suez Canal.

The main force was attacked by aircraft dropping 20 pounds (9.1 kg) bombs. Two smaller flanking columns of this Ottoman force made secondary attacks on 26 and 27 January 1915 near Qantara in the northern sector of the Suez Canal and near the town of Suez in the south. From 31 January the British defenders expected an attack and by 1 February at least 2,500 infantry attackers were 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Serapeum with two guns, another force of 8,000 was at Moiya Harab 30 miles (48 km) to the south east and a third force of 3,000 was at Bir el Mahadat 10 miles (16 km) east north east of El Ferdan. In the rear of these forces were "considerable forces" at Bir el Abd 40 miles (64 km) from the Canal, at El Arish and at Nekhl. The Ottoman Expeditionary Force, moving only at night, believed that it had been unnoticed, as scouts had observed British officers playing football, when Ottoman forces already established themselves in a camp 25 kilometres (16 mi) east of the Suez Canal. Kress von Kressenstein's Suez Expeditionary Force arrived at the Canal on 2 February 1915 and the Ottomans succeeded in crossing the Suez Canal about Ismailia on the morning of 3 February 1915. By 2 February slight forward movements of the attacking force made it clear the main attack would be on the central sector, to the north or south of Lake Timsah and the armoured train with four platoons of New Zealand infantry and two platoons reinforced the 5th Gurkhas post on the east bank. The 22nd (Lucknow) Brigade (the 62nd and 92nd Punjabis and the 2/10th Gurkha Rifles) from Sector II, the 2nd Queen Victoria's Own Rajput Light Infantry, and two platoons of the 128th Pioneers from general reserve at Moascar, the 19th Lancashire Battery RFA (four 15-pounders), 5th Battery Egyptian Artillery (four mountain guns and two Maxim guns), two sections of the 1st Field Company East Lancashire Royal Engineers and the 137th Indian Field Ambulance were in position between the Great Bitter Lake and Lake Timsah. 3 February Tussum and Serapeum Squads of men were seen by the light of the moon at about 04:20 on 3 February moving pontoons and rafts towards the Suez Canal. They were fired on by an Egyptian battery, and the 62nd Punjabis along with the 128th Pioneers at Post No. 5 stopped most attempts to get their craft into the water. A further attempt along a stretch of 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to get pontoons and rafts to the canal was made slightly to the north of the first attempt. Three pontoons loaded with troops crossed the canal under cover of machine gun and rifle fire from the sand dunes on the eastern bank. As they landed on the western bank of the canal all three boat loads of soldiers were attacked and killed, wounded, or captured. As dawn lit the area, the failure of the attempt to cross the canal was complete.

At dawn, the Tussum Post was attacked supported by artillery shelling the British positions, the warships in the Canal, and the merchant shipping moored in Lake Timsah. The Hardinge and Requin opened fire on groups of infantry in the desert and an Ottoman trench 200 yards (180 m) south of Tussum Post was caught by enfilade fire from machine guns. A group of about 350 Ottoman soldiers, which occupied British day trenches located to the east and south of the post, was counterattacked during the day by the 92nd Punjabis. About 15:30 the trenches were recaptured with 287 casualties or prisoners. At 06:00 a second attack was launched, this time by diversions north of the crossing point. The attack was checked by the defending British troops and the gunnery of the British and French ships in the canal. By 3 a.m. the Ottomans' attack had petered out and failed and a full withdrawal was effected. The thirsty Ottoman troops retreated to Beersheba, free from molestation by British forces. 600 Ottoman soldiers made it to the other side of the canal, but were taken prisoner. By 06:30 the commander of the 22nd (Lucknow) Brigade ordered a counterattack which began to push Ottoman soldiers of the 73rd and 75th Regiments (25th Division) out of trenches and sandhills south of Tussum Post. Two companies of the 2/10th Gurkhas with machine guns moved from Deversoir to Serapeum to join six platoons of the 2nd Queen Victoria's Own Rajput Light Infantry where they crossed the canal by ferry. Two platoons of the 2nd Queen Victoria's Own Rajput Light Infantry with two platoons of the 92nd Punjabis from the post on their right began to advance up the east bank towards Tussum. This attack caused the Ottoman soldiers to break and run from hummocks and sandhills before a considerable force consisting of the 74th Regiment (25th Division) with the 28th Regiment (10th Division) following, was seen 3 miles (4.8 km) to the north east supported two batteries. Strongly counterattacked, the two platoons of the 2nd Queen Victoria's Own Rajput Light Infantry and two platoons of the 92nd Punjabis were halted, losing their commanding officer. However, they were reinforced by the six platoons of the 2/10th Gurkhas, and together with fire from the Requin, D'Entrecasteaux, the armed tug Mansourah and Tug Boat 043 the latter two armed with light guns, they brought the Ottoman attack to a standstill about 1,200 yards (1,100 m) from the British front line. Subsequently, all the pontoons which could have been used again during the coming night were destroyed by firing two rounds from a torpedo boat's 3-pdr gun into each pontoon, while two pontoons that had been missed were holed by gun cotton charges.

Even New Zealand Brigade which has only recently been engaged lost heavily and is to some extent demoralised. If troops are subjected to shellfire again tomorrow morning there is likely to be a fiasco, as I have no fresh troops with which to replace those in firing line. I know my representation is most serious, but if we are to re-embark it must be at once. Hamilton conferred with his naval commanders, who convinced him an evacuation would be almost impossible, and responded; "dig yourselves right in and stick it out ... dig, dig, dig until you are safe". The survivors had to fight on alone until 28 April when four battalions of the Royal Naval Division were attached to the corps. On the Turkish side, by that night the 2nd Battalion 57th Infantry were on Baby 700, the 3rd Battalion, reduced to only ninety men, were at The Nek, and the 1st Battalion on Mortar Ridge. Just south of them was the 77th Infantry, next was the 27th Infantry opposite 400 Plateau. The last regiment, the 72nd Infantry, were on Battleship Hill. As for manpower, the Turks were in a similar situation to the ANZACs. Of the two regiments most heavily involved, the 57th had been destroyed, and the 27th were exhausted with heavy casualties. Large numbers of the 77th had deserted, and the regiment was in no condition to fight. The 72nd was largely intact, but they were a poorly trained force of Arab conscripts. The III Corps, having to deal with both landings, could not assist as they had no reserves available. It was not until 27 April that the 33rd and 64th Infantry Regiments arrived to reinforce the Turkish forces. The ANZACs, however, had been unable to achieve their objectives, and therefore dug in. Gallipoli, like the Western Front, turned into a war of attrition. The German commander, Liman von Saunders, was clear about the reasons for the outcome. He wrote that, "on the Turkish side the situation was saved by the immediate and independent action of the 19th Division." The division commander, Kemal, became noted as "the most imaginative, most successful officer to fight on either side" during the campaign. As a commander he was able to get the most out of his troops, typified by his order to the 57th Infantry Regiment; "Men, I am not ordering you to attack. I am ordering you to die. In the time that it takes us to die, other forces and commanders can come and take our place."

The first official dawn services were held in Australia in 1927 and in New Zealand in 1939. Lower-key services are also held in the United Kingdom. In Turkey, large groups of Australians and New Zealanders have begun to gather at Anzac Cove, where in 2005 an estimated 20,000 people attended the service to commemorate the landings. Attendance figures rose to 38,000 in 2012 and 50,000 in 2013. The Second Battle of Krithia continued the Allies' attempts to advance on the Helles battlefield during the Battle of Gallipoli of the First World War. The village of Krithia and neighbouring hill of Achi Baba had to be captured in order for the British to advance up the Gallipoli peninsula to the forts that controlled passage of the Dardanelles straits. A small amount of ground was captured after two days of costly fighting but the objectives remained out of reach. Following the failure of the First Battle of Krithia, the exhausted soldiers of the British 29th Division halted to consolidate their positions. They had to endure a number of Ottoman counter-attacks on 1 and 4 May. Similar counter-attacks were repulsed at the Anzac landing on 2 May so that General William Birdwood, commander of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps deemed his front sufficiently secure to enable two brigades to be moved to Helles for the next assault on Krithia. These were the Australian 2nd Infantry Brigade and the New Zealand Infantry Brigade, around 5,000 men. Other British reinforcements included brigades from the Royal Naval Division and the 125th Brigade from the British 42nd (East Lancashire) Division. The 87th and 88th Brigades of the 29th Division would once again be at the forefront of the attack. The Anzac brigades and General Herbert Cox's 29th Indian Brigade (Indian Expeditionary Force G)would be in reserve. The commander at Helles, Major General Aylmer Hunter-Weston, was woefully lacking in shells for his artillery and those he did have were shrapnel shells which was ineffective against entrenched positions. The navy were somewhat ambitiously still hoarding shells for the anticipated assault on Constantinople. The Ottomans had also been reinforcing their defences around Krithia. According to Kiazim Pasha the following units were responsible for the defence of Krithia:1/ and 2/29th Regt (10th Div), 2/56th Regt. (15th Div), 2/19th Regt. (7th Div), 1/ and 4/26th Regt. (9th Div), and 15th Regt. (5th Div). The infantry actually in front of Krithia on 8 May comprised: 2/25th Regt. (9th Div), 1/20th Regt. (7th Div), and 2/56th Regt. (15th Div). The Ottomans had seven field-batteries positioned on either side of Achi Baba, as well as a six-gun battery of 4.7 in (120 mm) howitzers. The Second Battle of Krithia 第二次クリチアの戦い

Abbas Hilmi, the reigning Khedive, who had opposed the British occupation, was out of the country when the war started. When the British declared the Protectorate on 18 December 1914 they deposed Abbas Hilmi and promoted Prince Hussein Kamel as the Sultan of Egypt. The population agreed to these changes while the outcome of the war was unknown and the fighting continued. From 2 August 1914 when the Ottoman armies mobilised, Brigadier General Zekki Pasha commanding the Ottoman Fourth Army at Damascus was planning to attack the Suez Canal, with the support of Djemal Pasha Commander in Chief of Syria and Palestine. The first hostilities occurred on 20 November when a 20-man patrol of the Bikanir Camel Corps was attacked at Bir en Nuss 20 miles (32 km) east of Qantara by 200 Bedouin. The Bikanir Camel Corps lost more than half their patrol. By December El Arish was occupied by an Ottoman force and the defence of the Suez Canal was organised. There had been a pre-war suggestion that a force of camels could hold Nekhl just to the south and in the centre of the Ottoman Empire and Egyptian frontier. The difficulty of supporting such a force of camels from bases on the western side of the Suez Canal was recognised when the decision was made that "the obvious line of actual defence of the eastern frontier of Egypt is the Suez Canal." The 100 miles (160 km) long canal had a railway running along its whole length and was supplied with water from the west, while only brackish wells were to the east. The length of the canal included about 29 miles (47 km) of the Great and Little Bitter Lakes and Lake Timsah, which divided the three sectors organised for the defence. These were, Suez to the Bitter Lakes Deversoir to El Ferdan El Ferdan to Port Said, with headquarters and a general reserve at Ismailia while small detachments guarded the Sweet Water Canal and the Zagazig supply depot on the main Ismailia to Cairo road. The northern stretch of the canal was shortened by 20 miles (32 km) by cutting the Canal bank at Port Said on 25 November to flood a portion of the desert which stretched to El Kab. Another major cutting in the Asiatic bank was made on 2 January north of Qantara and minor inundations between Qantara and Ismailia followed. On 15 January 1915 Sector I Headquarters at Suez 30th Indian Brigade (the 24th and 76th Punjabis, the 126th Baluchistan Infantry and the 2/7th Gurkha Rifles) 1 Squadron Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade 1 Company Bikaner Camel Corps half a company of Sappers and Miners 1 Battery Royal Field Artillery (RFA) 1 Indian Field Ambulance These troops were deployed at the Esh Shat, Baluchistan, El Kubri, Gurkha, Shallufa, Geneffe and Suez posts.

Second Battle of Ypres During World War I, the Second Battle of Ypres was fought from 22 April – 25 May 1915 for control of the strategic Flemish town of Ypres in western Belgium. The First Battle of Ypres had been fought the previous autumn. The Second Battle of Ypres was the first mass use by Germany of poison gas on the Western Front. It also marked the first time a former colonial force (the 1st Canadian Division) defeated a European power (the German Empire) in Europe (at the Battle of St. Julien and Battle of Kitcheners' Wood). The eminent German chemist Walther Nernst, who was in the army in 1914 as a volunteer driver, saw how trenches produced deadlock. He proposed to Colonel Max Bauer, the German general staff officer responsible for liaison with scientists, that they could empty the opposing trenches by a surprise attack with tear gas. Observing a field test of this idea, the chemist Fritz Haber instead proposed using heavier than air chlorine gas (originally preferring the use of the more deadly phosgene gas, though little was stockpiled for such a use). The German commander Erich von Falkenhayn agreed to try the new weapon, but intended to use it in a diversionary attack by his 4th Army. The gas would be released by siphoning liquid chlorine out of cylinders; the gas could not be released directly because the valves would freeze; wind would carry the gas to the enemy lines. 5,730 gas cylinders, the larger weighing 90 pounds (41 kg) each, were manhandled into the front line. Installation was supervised by Haber and the other future Nobel prize winners Otto Hahn, James Franck and Gustav Hertz. Twice cylinders were breached by shell fire, the second time three men were killed and fifty wounded. Some of the Germans were protected by miner's oxygen breathing apparatus. The Ypres salient was the selected for the attack. It followed the canal, bulging eastward around the town. North of the salient, the Belgian army held the line of the Yser and the north end of the salient was held by two French divisions. The eastern part of the salient was defended by the Canadian and two British divisions. The II Corps and V Corps of the Second Army comprised the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Cavalry Divisions and the 4th, 27th, 28th, Northumbrian, Lahore and 1st Canadian divisions. Second Battle of Ypres　第二次イーペルの戦い

An acute shortage of artillery ammunition made another attack impossible, apart from a local effort by the 7th Division, which was another costly failure. The Germans strengthened the defences opposite the British and increased the number of troops in the area. One consequence was that the French became cautiously optimistic that British forces could be reliable in offensive operations. Despite poor weather conditions, the early stages of the battle went extremely well for the British. The RFC quickly secured aerial dominance and set about bombarding railways and German reserves en route. At 7:30 a.m. on 10 March, the British began a thirty-five-minute artillery bombardment by ninety 18-pounder field guns of the Indian Corps and the IV Corps, on the German wire which was destroyed within ten minutes. The remaining fifteen 18-pounder field gun batteries, six 6-inch howitzer siege batteries and six QF 4.5-inch howitzer batteries with sixty howitzers fired on the German front-line trenches. The trenches were 3 ft (0.91 m) deep, with breastworks 4 ft (1.2 m) high but were unable to withstand a howitzer bombardment. The bombardment was followed by an infantry assault at 8:05 a.m. The Garhwal Brigade of the Meerut Division, Indian Corps attacked with all four battalions on a 600 yd (550 m) front, from Port Arthur to Pont Logy. On the right the attack quickly collapsed, both companies losing direction and veering to the right. The attack confronted a part of the German defence not bombarded by the artillery and before the mistake was realised the two support companies followed suit. The Indian troops forced their way through the German wire and took 200 yd (180 m) of the German front trench, despite many casualties. The three Garhwal battalions to the left advanced in lines of platoon fifty paces apart, swiftly crossing the 200 yd (180 m) of no man's land and overran the German infantry, they subsequently pressed on to the German support trench, the attack taking only fifteen minutes to complete. The leading companies then advanced beyond the Port Arthur–Neuve Chapelle road, without waiting for the planned thirty-minute artillery preparation and took the village by 9:00 a.m. along with 200 prisoners and five machine-guns. A gap of 250 yd (230 m) had been created by the loss of direction on the right, where the German garrison had been severely bombarded, but the survivors, about two platoons of the 10th Company, Infantry Regiment 16 fought on. A fresh British attack was arranged from the north, in which the Garhwali troops were to join in with a frontal assault.