Battle of Rafa

Part of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I

Part of the British Empire firing line at Rafa

Date	9 January 1917
Location	Sinai–Palestine border Coordinates: 31°16′01″N 34°13′23″E / 31.267°N 34.223°E / 31.267; 34.223
Result	British Desert Column victory

Belligerents

British Empire

Ottoman Empire

Commanders and leaders

Philip Chetwode

Unknown

Strength

Desert Column
ANZAC Mounted Division
Imperial Camel Corps Brigade
7th Light Car Patrol

Ottoman garrison of 2,000 soldiers

Casualties and losses

71 killed,
415 wounded

200 killed,
168 wounded,
1,434 prisoners

The Battle of Rafa, also known as the Action of Rafah, fought on 9 January 1917, was the third and final battle to complete the recapture of the Sinai Peninsula by British forces during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War. The Desert Column of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) attacked an entrenched Ottoman Army garrison at El Magruntein to the south of Rafa, close to the frontier between the Sultanate of Egypt and the Ottoman Empire, to the north and east of Sheikh Zowaiid. The attack marked the beginning of fighting in the Ottoman territory of Palestine.

After the British Empire victories at the Battle of Romani in August 1916 and the Battle of Magdhaba in December, the Ottoman Army had been forced back to the southern edge of Palestine as the EEF pushed eastwards supported by extended lines of communication. This advance depended on the construction of a railway and water pipeline. With the railway reaching El Arish on 4 January 1917, an attack on Rafa by the newly formed Desert Column became possible. During the day-long assault, the Ottoman garrison defended El Magruntein's series of fortified redoubts and trenches on rising ground surrounded by flat grassland. They were eventually encircled by Australian Light Horsemen, New Zealand mounted riflemen, mounted Yeomanry, cameliers and armoured cars. In the late afternoon, the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade captured the central redoubt and the remaining defences were occupied shortly afterwards.

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