Battle of Rafa

<p>The Battle of Rafa, also known as the Action of Rafah, fought on 9 January 1917, was the third and final battle to complete the recapture of the <a href="/facts/Sinai_Peninsula/SEyERdHm">Sinai Peninsula</a> by British forces during the <a href="/facts/Sinai_and_Palestine_campaign/sXxMkGFQ">Sinai and Palestine campaign</a> of the <a href="/facts/First_World_War/vITTUanQ">First World War</a>. The <a href="/facts/Desert_Column/4btKG8Qo">Desert Column</a> of the <a href="/facts/Egyptian_Expeditionary_Force/oSUBfMBR">Egyptian Expeditionary Force</a> (EEF) attacked an entrenched <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Army/M1aX9Q3a">Ottoman Army</a> garrison at El Magruntein to the south of <a href="/facts/Rafah%2c_Egypt/oXx9L1HR">Rafah</a>, close to the frontier between the <a href="/facts/Sultanate_of_Egypt/ILg3jcls">Sultanate of Egypt</a> and the <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Empire/6QvfTRsg">Ottoman Empire</a>, to the north and east of <a href="/facts/Sheikh_Zuweid/lt9UeIpe">Sheikh Zowaiid</a>. The attack marked the beginning of fighting in the Ottoman territory of <a href="/facts/Palestine_(region)/HxMSPazK">Palestine</a>.
</p><p>After the British Empire victories at the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Romani/tRdPFckf">Battle of Romani</a> in August 1916 and the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Magdhaba/BWG91YKz">Battle of Magdhaba</a> in December, the Ottoman Army had been forced back to the southern edge of Palestine as the EEF pushed eastwards supported by extended <a href="/facts/Lines_of_communication/tntJoI2f">lines of communication</a>. This advance depended on the construction of a railway and a water pipeline. With the railway reaching <a href="/facts/Arish/5WNyKn9c">El Arish</a> on 4 January 1917, an attack on Rafa by the newly-formed Desert Column became possible. During the day-long assault, the Ottoman garrison defended El Magruntein's series of fortified <a href="/facts/Redoubt/nDFnrdy7">redoubts</a> and trenches on rising ground surrounded by flat grassland. They were eventually <a href="/facts/Encirclement/qS3fbETj">encircled</a> by <a href="/facts/Australian_Light_Horse/AaUHPFhN">Australian Light Horsemen</a>, New Zealand mounted riflemen, mounted yeomanry, cameliers and armoured cars. In the late afternoon, the <a href="/facts/New_Zealand_Mounted_Rifles_Brigade/afFWvyqh">New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade</a> captured the central redoubt and the remaining defences were occupied shortly afterwards.
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Battle of Rafa