Battle of Jaffa (1917) 1917
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 20 December 1917 – 21 December 1917 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1917 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | World War I era (1914–1918) | derived from year |
| Location | Israel | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Sinai and Palestine Campaign | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Ottoman Empire, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 32.0960, 34.7819 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Jaffa was an engagement fought during the Southern Palestine Offensive of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in World War I, between the Egyptian Expeditionary Force of the British Empire on one side and the Yildirim Army Group of the Ottoman Empire and German Empire on the other.
The port of Jaffa had been occupied by the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade on 16 November, as a result of the victory gained by that brigade and the 1st Light Horse Brigade at the Ayun Kara two days before, but the Ottoman forces were only 3 miles (4.8 km) away across the Auju River (now better known in Arabic as 'Auja River, and in Hebrew as Yarkon River). The closeness of the Ottoman army made the port and town unusable to shipping, still being within range of Ottoman artillery.
Over the night of 20–21 December 1917, the 52nd (Lowland) Division carried out an assault river crossing. With the far side of the river taken, the other divisions of the XXI Corps with their supporting artillery crossed and forced the Ottoman defenders to withdraw 5 miles (8.0 km). With the Ottoman forces pushed back, Jaffa and communications between it and Jerusalem were made secure. The night crossing of the river has been regarded as one of the most remarkable feats of the Palestine campaign.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Jaffa (1917) (revision 1370444022), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Jaffa (1192) 1192 · 5 km
- Siege of Jaffa 1799 · 6 km
- Battle of Arsuf 1191 · 11 km
- First siege of Arsuf 1099 · 11 km
- Battle of Tabsor 1918 · 14 km
- Battle of Ayun Kara 1917 · 16 km
Other battles of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign
- Battle of Beersheba (1917) 1917
- Battle of Hijla 1918
- Battle of Megiddo (1918) 1918
- Capture of Damascus (1918) 1918
- Charge at Kaukab 1918
- First Battle of Amman 1918
All 7 battles of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign →
Browse more: battles in Israel · Asia · World War I era battles