battles of Gaza

Gaza, battles of (1917). At the beginning of WW I the Suez Canal, an essential link with India, was the chief cause of Britain's desire to hold Egypt. In February 1915 a small Turkish force crossed Sinai and attacked the canal but was easily repulsed, and in 1916 the British gradually moved into Sinai, defeating a Turkish attack at Rumani on 3 August.

The well-prepared Gaza position, stretching about 30 miles (48 km) from Gaza, near the coast, to Beersheba, blocked further advance. On 26 March 1917 Gen Sir Archibald Murray, C-in-C of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, attacked it frontally with little success, and a second battle on 17-18 April was no more fruitful. Murray was replaced by Allenby, who conceived a more ambitious plan and made careful logistic preparations. Leaving part of his army to fix the Turks and their German allies at Gaza, he hooked round the desert flank, taking Beersheba and its all-important wells on 31 October. The Gaza position had already been penetrated by a tank attack, and the Turks had no option but to withdraw to escape encirclement. The battle is a classic example of manoeuvre succeeding where frontal assault had failed.

— Richard Holmes