ANZACS in Palestine?

With the Israel-Palestine conflict ongoing and Remembrance day in recent memory, it's a great time to commemorate this tale of ANZAC heroism.

Written by Percy Spender, find more of his content on 𝕏 @PercySpender

Watching the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip and pouring over the maps a landmark caught my curiosity. Southeast of Gaza city, where the crux of the fighting is currently ongoing, just 30 minute drive is a monument to the ANZACs. The Australian and New Zealand involvement is often focused on Western Europe and Gallipoli, my time in school particularly did not make any mention of the ANZAC battles through the Levant region. After a diving into the history of the war here I was astounded that it is not a part of common knowledge, not only for significance in a strategic sense but purely for their captivating and brilliantly executed manoeuvres.

The ANZAC’s were originally deployed to Egypt to defend from the Ottoman and German offensive which aimed to capture the Suez Canal, most of which had served previous in the Gallipoli campaign. By capturing the canal, the Axis would starve the Allies of resources, mainly oil. In 1915, these opening invasions were repelled by the British and ANZAC’s. In the next year following the Allied forces earned a significant victoriy in Romani to the east. In order to completely secure the Suez Canal, and assure the supply chain of the Allies in the Western theatre, the allied forces would have to capture Palestine, Jerusalem and much of Ottoman Syria.

After Romani, the next significant battle was fought over Gaza City. The German-led Ottoman’s were deeply entrenched and well-fortified. Two major battles occurred in March and again in April of 1917 resulting in Allied defeat, failing to capture the city both times. The ANZAC forces had been deployed to secure the flanks during both invasions, feeling underutilised and not involved. To break this stalemate over Gaza, Allied command looked to the far end of the Ottoman defensive line. Unable to break through at Gaza they sought to penetrate the enemy line at the far end in a small, isolated desert town called Beersheba, now Be’er Sheva, and be able to exert more pressure on Gaza.

The battle plan was very complicated, the British XX infantry corps would attack Beersheba in conventional means from the east. But the ANZAC light horsemen would charge from the west, to execute this they would have to march in total darkness at night for 40-56km to circle around the town. Preparing for the battle was complicated, Beersheba is over 40km from the coast so supplying the men and horses with water was extremely difficult. Soldiers could only carry a limited amount in their battle packs and they marched then deployed for the battle in harsh desert conditions where water was extremely scarce. The command knew if they failed to take Beersheba or if retreating Ottoman forces sabotaged the water springs many of their soldiers and horses would suffer severe dehydration and endure many casualties.

At this point in World War One, calvary tactics had changed significantly. Gone were the days of mass calvary charges due to the use of machine guns and pivot to extensive trench warfare. Early on the Allies understood how detrimental charges were, enduring heavily loses in battles on the Western front. However, desperate to break the stalemate the British command were persuaded by Australian leadership to trust them to succeed. The Battle of Beersheba begun with heavy allied shelling on Ottoman positions and the British infantry began the main assault from the west and the horseman marched on the opposite side. Expecting the horseman to dismount, as horse infantry had often done at this point in the war, instead the Ottomans were charged and caught off-guard, scrambling to realign their machine guns and artillery. The horseman charged through machine gun fire, shells exploding around them and shrapnel scattering in all directions. Upon reaching the Ottoman trenches a segment of the ANZAC’s dismounted and heavy hand-to-hand ensured. Amazing reports of the cavalry vaulting the trenches to push on and fight deeper in Ottoman groupings to prevent resource sabotage and prevent artillery piece evacuation paint the heroic image of the ANZAC soldiers. The battle of Beersheba was a success and the water springs were captured mostly undamaged. This provided 60,000 allied troops with a reliable water supply. Leading to the fall of the Ottoman defensive line and eventually the Allied victory in the Third Battle of Gaza. This famous battle deserves to be remembered and it’s heroes celebrated.

-The Charge of the Australian Light Horse at Beersheba, 1917. Painted by George Lambert in 1920.

Lest we forget.