First Battle of Gaza- 26th March 1917
On the 25 March 1917 the Desert Column was concentrated at Belah, the 54th Division was at In Seirat, the 52nd Division at Khan Yunis and the Camel Corps and Armoured Batteries near Abbasan el Kebir.
The First Battle of Gaza commenced on the 26 March 1917. The main body of the enemy was stationed beyond the town, with detachments around the place and between there and Beersheba. The Anzac Mounted Division followed by the Imperial Mounted Division crossed the Wadi Ghuzze about, 6am, but their progress was seriously delayed by dense fog until 8am.
The account of the action can be read in ADDERLEY’s ‘The Warwickshire Yeomanry in the Great War,’ ‘by the end of the day the whole of the Ali Muntar position had been carried. When darkness fell the enemy had suffered heavy losses; but their Relief Columns were moving up from the N.E. and S.E., the majority of the mounted troops had been unable to water their horses’, and it was therefore necessary to withdraw during the night to the west bank of the Wadi Ghuzze in order to water the horses.
On the 25 March after Crossing the Wadi Ghuzze, the Warwickshire Yeomanry took up positions on the Gaza- Beersheba Road at Hill 4727 with the intention of preventing enemy reinforcements reaching Gaza from Sharia or Beersheba. At 2.30am on 26 March they advanced in complete darkness, taking up positions some nine miles S.E. of Gaza. where they came within range of an enemy 5.7 gun which inflicted several casualties. Just before darkness fell on the 26 March reports came in of ‘large numbers of Turkish reinforcements in column on the Gaza-Beersheba Road, a ridge was immediately manned and fire opened with machine guns at 2,400 yards, to which the enemy replied. The Regiment then withdrew to a previously reconnoitred position and then received orders to take up an outpost line but at 2am on the 27 March 1917, they withdrew back to the west bank of the Wadi Ghuzze and by 7am they had returned to Belah.
The First Battle of Gaza resulted in the capture of 950 Turkish & German prisoners and two Austrian field guns; the enemy suffered some 8,000 casualties compared with 4,000 British casualties.
