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.
Read more about this topic: First Battle Of Gaza, Prelude
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