Topic: BatzP - Khuweilfe
The Battle of Khuweilfe
Palestine, 1 - 8 November 1917
Outline
The view from the top of Tel el Khuweilfe demonstrating its military value.
[Photograph by Gal Shaine.]
Khuweilfe, a prominent hill eighteen kilometres north of Beersheba, became the scene of an unexpected fight on 1-8 November 1917 initially between Australian light horsemen and Turkish forces. The action was triggered when a small detachment of 70 men under Lieut.-Colonel S.F. Newcombe, pressed ahead of the Desert Mounted Corps in the wake of the fall of Beersheba (q.v.) to search for water towards Nejile, in hill country beside the road to Hebron. Detecting this movement and concluding that the British were aiming to thrust north to Jerusalem via Hebron, which housed the headquarters of the Turkish 7th Army, the enemy quickly committed six battalions in this area and began transferring some reserve units from Gaza.
Hand drawn map detailing the situation at 8.30 am, 6 November 1917.
[Click on map for larger version.]
The latter deployments actually played into British hands, since they weakened Gaza's defences when a third (and ultimately successful) attempt to capture that place was launched on the night of 1 November. In the meantime the commander of Desert Mounted Corps, Lieut.-General Harry Chauvel, suddenly found his force presented with a serious obstacle at Tel el Khuweilfe at the very time that his superior (General Allenby) was counting on its availability for mobile operations to exploit any breaches in the enemy's defensive line between Hebron and Gaza.
Hand drawn map detailing the situation during 6 November 1917.
[Click on map for larger version.]
For five days Chauvel used his light horsemen, British yeomanry and New Zealanders, along with infantry from the British 53rd Division and men of the Camel Brigade which were placed under his command, in attempts to push the Turks off the dominating ridge. The fighting in the waterless and rocky country was extremely difficult, and at times the attackers found themselves under immense pressure.
The entrance to the imposing hills on the Hebron Road.
[Photograph by Gal Shaine.]
Although the operation served a valuable purpose in drawing in a large part of the enemy's own reserves, it seriously blunted Chauvel's ability to undertake vigorous pursuit of an expected Turkish withdrawal.
In preparation for an infantry assault by the British 20th Corps at Qawuka, eighteen kilometres to the west, on 6 November Chauvel was ordered to hand over conduct of the fight at Khuweilfe to Major-General G. de S. Barrow's Yeomanry Division. The enemy-held hill was not finally taken until two days later, its capture being accomplished by troops of the 53rd Division. By then the Desert Mounted Corps was already moving to exploit the 20th Corps' success against the Turkish centre, but being without its Yeomanry Division and three other brigades (Camels, New Zealanders, and 3rd Light Horse) the advance towards Huj and Jemmamah was slow. Although the overall outcome of the operation (the fall of Gaza) was achieved on 7 November, this result had not come as spectacularly as had been hoped.
Inverness Battery Royal Horse Artillery Guns in action at Tel el Khuweilfe.
Extracted from the book produced by Chris Coulthard-Clark, Where Australians Fought - The Encyclopaedia of Australia's Battles, Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 1998, p. 136.
Additional References cited by Chris Coulthard-Clark:
H.S. Gullett, (1944), The Australian Imperial Force in Sinai and Palestine, Sydney: Angus & Robertson.
A.J. Hill, (1978), Chauvel of the Light Horse, Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Press.
Further Reading:
The Battle of Khuweilfe, Palestine, 1 - 8 November 1917
The Battle of Khuweilfe, Palestine, 1 - 8 November 1917, Roll of Honour
The Third Battle of Gaza, Palestine, 26 October 1917 - 2 January 1918
Battles where Australians fought, 1899-1920
Citation: The Battle of Khuweilfe, Palestine, 1 - 8 November 1917, Outline
