page_title: Southern Palestine Offensive
section_title: In the centre
hierarchical_section_title: Southern Palestine Offensive / 31 October to 7 November / Medical situation / In the centre
context_page_description: The Southern Palestine Offensive, employing manoeuvre warfare, began on 31 October 1917, with the Battle of Beersheba, during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign, of World War I. After the capture of Beersheba, by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, the Gaza to Beersheba line became increasingly weakened and, seven days later, the EEF successfully forced the Ottoman Turkish Empire's Seventh and Eighth Armies to withdraw. During the following seven days of pursuit, the Turkish forces were pushed back to Jaffa. There followed three weeks of hard fighting in the Judean Hills before Jerusalem was captured on 9 December 1917. During five and a half weeks of almost continuous offensive operations, the EEF captured 47.5 miles of territory.
  After a joint attack by the XX and the Desert Mounted Corps, Beersheba at the eastern end of the Gaza to Beersheba line, was captured. The next day, on 1 November, the Battle of Tel el Khuweilfe began, with an advance north of Beersheba into the Judean foothills, by the 53rd and the ANZAC Mounted Divisions. This move up the road from Beersheba to Jerusalem, also threatened Hebron and Bethlehem.
context_section_description: The main flank attack on the Ottoman front line stretching from Gaza, was made on 6 November by the EEF in the centre at Hareira and Sheria, and a gap was created for the Desert Mounted Corps to advance to capture Huj on their way to the Mediterranean coast.
  However, there were less than 8,000 horsemen available out of the 17,000 in Desert Mounted Corps. Only three light horse and one mounted brigades were immediately available on 7 November to participate in the breakthrough. They were the 1st and the 2nd Light Horse Brigades (Anzac Mounted Division), the 4th Light Horse and the 5th Mounted Brigades while the 3rd Light Horse Brigade (Australian Mounted Division), waited to be relieved from outpost work connecting the XX and the XXI Corps. Desert Mounted Corps’ strength had been cut by one third by the decision to leave the Yeomanry Mounted Division, the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, and the 11th and the 12th Light Armoured Car Batteries in the Judean Hills supporting the 53rd (Welsh) Division attacks at Tel el Khuweilfe. The Anzac Mounted Division was also less two squadrons and machine guns, and most of the Division's Field Squadron Australian Engineers which were still working to improve the amount of water flowing from the Beersheba wells.
  By 09:00 the Australian Mounted Division (less one brigade) was to connect at Kh. Buteihah with the Anzac Mounted Division which was steadily pushing back Ottoman posts to gain space for manoeuvre. However, the Australian Mounted Division was not in a position to advance until after dark, because of delays in the capture of Tel esh Sheria. After participating in the unsuccessful charge, the horses of the 11th Light Horse Regiment were watered at 06:00 at the Sheria Water Tower on 8 November, where the regiment was issued with rations and forage from their B1 echelon's special emergency rations. At 07:30 the 4th Light Horse Brigade informed the regiment that the brigade was moving at 09:00 in a northerly direction up the Wadi Sudeh. The 4th Light Horse Brigade concentrated .5 miles (0.80 km) south of Tel el Sheria and the 12th Light Horse Regiment moved off with the brigade northwards. Ottoman columns were reported retreating northwards from Atawineh towards Huj and Beit Hanun at midnight 7/8 November.
  Meanwhile the opposing forces fighting for the Khuweilfeh Ridge, continued their long drawn-out struggle on 7 November without much change. Towards the evening the Ottoman forces began to withdraw, to conform with a general retirement along the length of the whole Ottoman defensive line, including Gaza and Sheria. At Gaza, a series of EEF infantry attacks during the night of 6 November were not strongly resisted and when a general advance occurred during the morning of 7 November the town was found to have been abandoned. The town which had a population of 40,000 people before the war, was completely deserted. By that evening, although not many prisoners had been captured "the enemy had been ejected from strong positions" which had been held successfully against the EEF for eight months.
caption: Ottoman Artillery at Hareira
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