Battle of Jaffa (1917)

Battle of Jaffa
Part of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I
Jaffa surrenders to the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade on 16 November 1917 in front of the Town Hall
Date 20–21 December 1917 Location Auju River, Jaffa 32°5′0″N 34°48′0″E / 32.08333°N 34.80000°E / 32.08333; 34.80000 Result British Empire victory
Belligerents
British Empire	Ottoman Empire  German Empire
Commanders and leaders
Lieutenant General Edward Bulfin	Birinci Ferik Cevat Çobanlı
Units involved
XXI Corps	Eighth Army

The Battle of Jaffa was an engagement fought during the Southern Palestine Offensive of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in World War I, between the Egyptian Expeditionary Force of the British Empire on one side and the Yildirim Army Group of the Ottoman Empire and German Empires on the other.

The port of Jaffa had been occupied by the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade on the 16 November, as a result of the victory gained by that brigade and the 1st Light Horse Brigade at the Ayun Kara two days before, but the Ottoman forces were only 3 miles (4.8 km) away across the Auju River (Yarkon River), the mouth of which is known as the Nahr-el-Auja. The closeness of the Ottoman army made the port and town unusable to shipping, still being within range of Ottoman artillery.

Over the night of the 20–21 December 1917, the 52nd (Lowland) Division carried out an assault river crossing. With the far side of the river taken, the other divisions of the XXI Corps with their supporting artillery crossed and forced the Ottoman defenders to withdraw 5 miles (8.0 km). With the Ottoman forces pushed back, Jaffa and communications between it and Jerusalem were made secure. The night crossing of the river has been regarded as one of the most remarkable feats of the Palestine campaign.

On 16 November 1917 the British forces occupied the port of Jaffa on the Mediterranean coast. However the Ottoman forces forced out of the town were still able to interdict shipping and harass troop movements from their positions on the northern bank of the Yarkon River—the Nahr el Auja as it was called in Arabic.

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