Charge at Huj The Charge at Huj ( 8 November 1917 ) , ( also known by the British as the Affair of Huj ) , was an engagement between forces of the British Empire and the Ottoman Empire during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War . The charge was carried out by units of the 5th Mounted Brigade , against a rearguard position of German , Austrian and Ottoman artillery and infantry armed with machine gun s . The charge was successful and the British captured the position , seventy prisoners , eleven pieces of artillery and four machine guns . However British casualties were heavy ; of the 170 men taking part , twenty - six were killed and forty wounded . They also had 100 horses killed . The charge is claimed to be one of the last British cavalry charges and was immortalised in a watercolour painting by the noted British artist Lady Butler . Background . Huj is a Palestinian Arab village located north east of Gaza . During the Third Battle of Gaza , under pressure from the British attack , the majority of the Ottoman forces from XXI Corps , had withdrawn from the area on 5 November . At around 14 : 00 8 November 1917 , the following British forces with the 60th ( 2 / 2nd London ) Division in the lead were stopped by artillery fire from a strong rearguard position on a ridge of high ground to the south of Huj . The Ottoman rearguard had been established to protect the withdrawal of the Eighth Army headquarters , and was composed of German , Austrian and Ottoman artillery , around 300 infantry and six machine guns . Aware that his infantry division alone would have problems taking the Ottoman position , the 60th Division commanding officer requested assistance from mounted troops . Attack . The only mounted troops in the area were 170 yeomanry - two full squadron s and two half squadrons from the Worcestershire and Warwickshire Yeomanry - part of the British 5th Mounted Brigade in the Australian Mounted Division . The squadrons manoeuvred under cover to a forming up point on the British right . Advancing under cover of the terrain they got to within of the position , drew their swords and charged . The Warwickshire Yeomanry squadron attacked the main force of Ottoman infantry , then turned and attacked the gun line . The regiments other half squadron and the Worcestershire Yeomanry squadron attacked the guns from the front , while the remaining troops attacked an infantry position located at the rear behind the main force . The German and Austrian artillerymen carried on firing until the horsemen were around away then some took cover underneath their guns . Those that remained standing were mostly stabbed by the swords of the attacking British , while others running away from the guns escaped injury by lying on the ground . The only officer of the Worcestershire Yeomanry to escape uninjured Lieutenant Mercer described the charge ; " Machine guns and rifles opened up on us the moment we topped the rise behind which we had formed up . I remember thinking that the sound of crackling bullets was just like hailstorm on a iron - roofed building , so you may guess what the fusillade was . . . A whole heap of men and horses went down twenty or thirty yards from the muzzles of the guns . The squadron broke into a few scattered horsemen at the guns and seemed to melt away completely . For a time I , at any rate , had the impression that I was the only man left alive . I was amazed to discover we were the victors " . All three charges were successful and the main force of infantry withdrew leaving the guns undefended apart from their crews . The yeomanry captured seventy prisoners , eleven artillery guns and four machine guns . British casualties amounted to twenty - six men dead , including three squadron commanding officer s , and forty wounded , 100 horses were also killed in the charge . Aftermath . The charge opened the way for the British forces to continue the advance , as it had destroyed the last of the Ottoman strength south of the village of Huj which was captured later that day . No large groups of Ottoman soldiers were cut off . However both British yeomanry regiments contingents were in no position to continue the pursuit of the withdrawing Ottoman forces . The pursuit was further hampered by problems with watering horses and lack of supplies ; both of which were hindered by the weather conditions . The British forces , from the Australian Mounted Division , did not follow up until the 9 / 10 November . The charge at Huj , has been called " the last great charge of the British cavalry . " It has since been immortalised in a watercolour painting by the noted British artist Lady Butler which hangs in the Warwickshire Yeomanry Museum . Major Oscar Teichman , the Medical Officer for the Worcestershire Yeomanry writing in the Cavalry Journal in 1936 said ; " The Charge at Huj had it occurred in a minor war would have gone down to history like the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava . In the Great War when gallant deeds were being enacted on all fronts almost daily it was merely an episode , but as the Official Historian remarks , for sheer bravery , the episode remains unmatched . ” Visitors to the Warwickshire Yeomanry Museum located in the Court House , Jury Street , Warwick , can inspect the 75mm Model 1903 Turkish Field Gun number 488 manufactured by Friedrich Krupp , Essen , and marked to the 1 / 1 Warwickshire Yeomanry . This trophy gun ended up on display at Kaitangata , New Zealand circa 1921 , and was finally donated by the Fox Family of Invercargill , New Zealand , to the Warwickshire Yeomanry Museum for public display in 2001 . The return of the Warwickshire Yeomanry ' s trophy gun also served to reinforce the enduing links between 2 New Zealand Division and the Regiment which were forged in 1942 , during and after the Battle of El Alamein , when the Warwickshire Yeomanry provided invaluable tank support for the New Zealand advance .