Topic: BatzP - El Buggar
El Buggar Ridge
Palestine, 27 October 1917
Casualty Discrepancies
The discrepencies in the various accounts of the casualties that occurred as a consequence of the action around El Buqqar is intriguing. The source books on this subject are:
Falls, Cyril, Palestine, Official British War History, (London 1929).
S. F. Hatton, The Yarn of a Yeoman, Hutchinson, 1930.
Massey, W.T., How Jerusalem was Won, (London 1918).
Major General Hüseyin Hüsnü Emir (Erkilet), Yildirim, (Ankara 1922).
The following is a comparative summary of each book dealing with casualties from the Battle of El Buggar.
Falls:
Turks - at least 15 dead;
Allied 79 KIA and WIA
Hatton:
Turks - 208 KIA;
Allied ?
Massey:
Turks ?;
Allied 24 KIA 53 WIA 10 MIA = 87 casualties
Hüsnü:
Turks 10 KIA 40 WIA;
Allied 200+ KIA
Falls, Hatton and Hüsnü were all writing their accounts subsequent to the war when all details of casualties should have been available and yet their accounts are wildly seperate and yet very similar. Hüsnü describes the Allied dead as being in excess of 200 while Hatton makes a similar description about the Turkish dead.
Until there is a quality accounting of this action, the numbers actually killed and wounded in this action will remain unknown.
Further Reading:
The Battle of El Buqqar (Buggar) Ridge, 27 October 1917
The Battle of Beersheba, 31 October 1917
Battles where Australians fought, 1899-1920
Citation: El Buggar Ridge, Palestine, 27 October 1917, El Buqqar Casualty Discrepancies
