Battle of Magdhaba

Overview

The Battle of Magdhaba took place on 23 December 1916 during the Defence of Egypt section of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in the First World War. The attack by the Anzac Mounted Division took place against an entrenched Ottoman Army garrison to the south and east of Bir Lahfan in the Sinai desert, some 18–25 miles (29–40 km) inland from the Mediterranean coast. This Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) victory against the Ottoman Empire garrison also secured the town of El Arish after the Ottoman garrison withdrew.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Magdhaba on 23 December 1916 was a victory for the Egyptian Expeditionary Force during the Defence of Egypt phase of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. The Anzac Mounted Division defeated an entrenched Ottoman garrison at a position 18–25 miles inland from the Mediterranean coast, eliminating a force of roughly 2,000 defenders and inflicting over 1,200 casualties or captures. The action also secured El Arish, whose Ottoman garrison had already withdrawn, consolidating EEF control over a strategically significant coastal town and its surrounding desert approaches. Together these gains extended British-led control eastward across the Sinai, reducing the Ottoman capacity to threaten Egypt from the peninsula and setting conditions for subsequent operations toward Palestine.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (2)