page_title: Battle of Romani
section_title: Pursuit begins
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Romani / Pursuit begins
caption_attribution_description: English: Kantara to El Arish showing Ballah railhead between Kantara and Ferdan.
context_page_description: The Battle of Romani was the last ground attack of the Central Powers on the Suez Canal at the beginning of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign during the First World War. The battle was fought between 3 and 5 August 1916 near the Egyptian town of Romani and the site of ancient Pelusium on the Sinai Peninsula, 23 miles east of the Suez Canal. This victory by the 52nd Division and the Anzac Mounted Division of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force over a joint Ottoman and German force, which had marched across the Sinai, marked the end of the Defence of the Suez Canal campaign, also known as the Offensive zur Eroberung des Suezkanals and the İkinci Kanal Harekâtı, which had begun on 26 January 1915.
  This British Empire victory, the first against the Ottoman Empire in the war, ensured the safety of the Suez Canal from ground attacks and ended the Central Powers' plans to disrupt traffic through the canal by gaining control of the strategically important northern approaches to it. The pursuit by the Anzac Mounted Division, which ended at Bir el Abd on 12 August, began the Sinai and Palestine Campaign.
context_section_description: Von Kressenstein had prepared successive lines of defence during his advance towards Romani, and despite losing one artillery battery and more than one third of his soldiers, fought a series of effective rearguard actions which slowed the pursuit by British Empire mounted troops and enabled his force to retreat back to El Arish.
  During the night of 5/6 August, infantry in the 155th (South Scottish) Brigade and 157th (Highland Light Infantry) Brigade were at Abu Hamra, the 127th (Manchester) Brigade (42nd Division) at Hod el Enna, the 125th (Lancashire Fusiliers) Brigade (42nd Division) on its left in touch with the 156th (Scottish Rifles) Brigade, (52nd Division) which had its left on Redoubt No. 21. The next morning, infantry in the 42nd Division was ordered to advance eastwards at 04:00 and occupy a line from Bir el Mamluk to Bir Katia, while the 52nd (Lowland) Division was to advance from Abu Hamra and prolong the infantry line of the 42nd Division to the north-east. Although they carried out their orders during their two-day march from Pelusium Station to Katia, infantry in the 127th (Manchester) Brigade lost 800 men, victims to thirst and the sun; other infantry brigades suffered similarly. It became clear that the infantry could not go on, and they ceased to be employed in the advance. Indeed, it was necessary for the Bikanir Camel Corps and Yeomanry detachments, as well as the medical services, to search the desert for those who had been left behind.
  The Mobile Column in the south, consisting of the Imperial Camel Brigade, the 11th Light Horse, and the mounted City of London Yeomanry Regiments (less two squadrons), advanced from Ferdan and the Ballah railhead to attack the German and Ottoman left flank, working through Bir El Mageibra, Bir El Aweidia and Hod El Bayud. They found Mageibra evacuated on 5 August. After camping there for the night, they fought strong hostile forces between Bayud and Mageibra the following day, but could make no impression. Some days later, on 8 August, the Mobile Column did succeed in getting round the Ottoman flank, but was too weak to have any effect and retired to Bir Bayud.
caption: Kantara to El Arish showing Ballah railhead between Kantara and Ferdan
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