First Battle of Gaza - Prelude - Defending Force

Defending Force

During early March Gaza had been held by two battalions and two batteries but by the time of the British Empire attack that had grown. The total garrison of seven battalions at Gaza was made up of units from the Ottoman Fourth Army as follows –

Defending Gaza (Group Tiller)

79th Infantry Regiment
81st Infantry Regiment (2nd Battalion)
125th Infantry Regiment

Reinforcements advancing from Sheria (estimated to be between 10,000 to 12,000)

3rd Infantry Division
31st Infantry Regiment
32nd Infantry Regiment
16th Infantry Division
47th Infantry Regiment
48th Infantry Regiment

Infantry in the Ottoman 53rd Division which had been garrisoning Jaffa were ordered to move down the coast towards Gaza while Kress von Kressenstein moved his headquarters from Beersheba to Tell esh Sheria.

Included in the artillery were two Austro–Hungarian howitzers batteries of 12 heavy mountain howitzers and a German 10-cm. battery of two long guns from Pasha I together with two Ottoman field artillery batteries.

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