The Jifjafa Raid

Jifhafa raid
Part of the Middle Eastern theatre of the First World War
Men of the 9th Light Horse Regiment crossing the Suez Canal
Date 11–14 April 1916 Location Bir el Jifjafa (The Jifjafa well) Result British victory
Belligerents
British Empire	Ottoman Empire  Austria-Hungary
Commanders and leaders
William Henry Scott	Austria-Hungary  Ottoman Empire
Units involved
9th Light Horse Regiment 8th Light Horse Regiment Royal Flying Corps Bikaner Camel Corps Egyptian Camel Transport Corps ANZAC Mounted Division support troops	2nd Company, 4th Battalion 79th Regiment
Strength
320 men 175 horses 261 camels	42 men 1 Austrian Engineer officer 1 Turkish officer, 25 soldiers 15 Labour Corps
Casualties and losses
1 dead	6 dead 36 captured (5 wounded)

The Jifjafa Raid (11–14 April 1916) was a long range pre-emptive operation by a composite formation of the British Empire against Ottoman Turkish Empire forces at the Jifjafa well in the Sinai Desert. During the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War.

The Jifkafa well (Bir el Jifjafa) is located in the Sinai Desert fifty-two miles (84 km) to the east of Ismalia on the Suez Canal. The raid was carried out by men from the 3rd Light Horse Brigade, supported by small detachments of other corps and a larger group from the Egyptian Camel Transport Corps. Although some of the Australians had seen action in the Gallipoli Campaign, this was the first offensive operation, conducted by any Australian force, during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign.

The raid was a complete success for the British. For the cost of one man killed, the first light horse casualty of the campaign, they killed six men, captured another thirty-six, and destroyed the well's infrastructure. The raiders returned safely to their own lines. In recognition of their achievement, Major William Henry Scott the commander of the raid was invested as a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order.

Bir el Jifjafa or the Jifjafa well is located on the central of three traditional routes crossing the Sinai Desert. Its fifty-two miles (84 km) east of Ismalia on the Suez Canal, about midway between there and Magdhaba, which is near the Egyptian-Palestine border. The central crossing which winds its way across the mountains, to the well which is at an altitude of 1,000 feet (300 m), was the most likely route used in antiquity to cross the desert.

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