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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 Empires on the other. The port of Jaffa had been occupied by the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade on the 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 away across the Auju River (Yarkon River), the mouth of which is known as the Nahr-el-Auja. 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 the 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 . 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. ==Background== On 16 November 1917 the British forces occupied the port of Jaffa on the Mediterranean coast. However the Ottoman forces forced out of the town were still able to interdict shipping and harass troop movements from their positions on the northern bank of the Yarkon River—the Nahr el Auja as it was called in Arabic.〔Tucker and Roberts 2005, p.1394〕 The British commander General Edmund Allenby needed to establish a defensive line running from the Mediterranean Sea which could be held with reasonable security once his right flank was secured on the Dead Sea.〔Hughes 2004, pp. 102–3〕 In order to consolidate a strong British line, it was necessary to push the 3rd and 7th Divisions, part of the XXII Corps, of the Ottoman Eighth Army away from the Nahr el Auja north of Jaffa on the Mediterranean coast.〔Erickson 2001 p.173〕 The river was defended on the northern bank, by a trench system, from Mulebbis and Fejja to Bald Hill.〔 From Mulebbis to the sea the river is between wide and deep except for the ford.〔 The first attack across the Nahr el Auja, was little more than a raid, on the night of 24/25 November by two infantry battalions from the 54th (East Anglian) Division and the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade.〔Kinloch 2007, pp. 229-231〕〔Bruce 2002, pp. 158–9〕〔Moore 1920, p. 95〕 The outnumbered battalions, were driven back by the Ottoman defenders, as they recaptured the bridgeheads and restored the tactical situation.〔Erickson 2001, p. 173〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Jaffa (1917)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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