Background
The battle of Beersheba (Then Birüssebi) was one critical element of a wider British offensive, known as the Third Battle of Gaza, aimed at breaking the Ottoman defensive line that stretched from Gaza on the Mediterranean shore to Beersheba, an important regional centre some 50 kilometres (31 mi) inland. Earlier in 1917, two previous attempts to breach this line had failed. After the Second Battle of Gaza ended in complete failure, General Archibald Murray, the commander in chief of the British forces in Egypt and Palestine, was replaced by the distinguished cavalry commander, General Edmund Allenby, formerly the commander of the British Third Army on the Western Front.
Allenby demanded and received large reinforcements before renewing the offensive. The "Eastern Force" headquarters was replaced by two infantry corps headquarters; the XX Corps, commanded by General Philip Chetwode, and the XXI Corps commanded by Lieutenant General Edward Bulfin. More significantly, with the formation of the British Yeomanry Mounted Division, Allenby possessed three mounted divisions. The two Australian-based divisions were combined to create the new Desert Mounted Corps, commanded by the newly promoted Lieutenant General Henry Chauvel, the first Australian general to command an army corps.
Meanwhile, according to Major General Hüseyin Hüsnü Emir (Erkilet) the Ottoman forces at Beersheba under the command of Ismet Bey consisted of:
- The western front: 900 rifles mainly from the 81st Infantry Regiment;
- The southwest front: 1400 rifles mainly from the 67th Infantry Regiment;
- The southern front: 900 rifles mainly from the 48th Infantry Regiment;
- The General Reserve which included 1200 rifles from the 3rd Cavalry Division.
In total, 4400 rifles, 60 machine guns, and 28 field guns were available for the defence of Beersheba. The defences were strong to the south and west (towards Gaza) but to the east depended heavily on a recently fortified redoubt at Tel el Saba, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) east of Beersheba.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Beersheba (1917)
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