Battle of Gaza, 26th March - 7 November 1917

Gaza, in Palestine, was held by Turkish and German forces under General Friedrich Kressenstein. He had 18,000 men under his command but faced a British force under General Dobell of more than twice the size.

In the first battle the British quickly secured land to the rear of the town, but were unable to break the defenses of the town itself and after a second battle, in which the Turks counter-attacked, they withdrew.

The British attacked again on 31 October, this time under the command of General Allenby. They quickly took the town of Beersheba, which lay to the south-west of Gaza and which guarded the Turkish flank, and on 6 November moved against the defenses around Gaza itself. By mid-afternoon that day the British forces had overrun the defenses and they entered the town of Gaza the next day, the Turks having retreated. Allenby's troops went on to take Jerusalem on 9 December.

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