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The Battle of Rafa, also known as the Action of Rafah, fought on 9 January 1917, was the third and final battle to complete the recapture of the Sinai Peninsula by British forces during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War. The Desert Column of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) attacked an entrenched Ottoman Army garrison at El Magruntein to the south of Rafa, close to the frontier between the Sultanate of Egypt and the Ottoman Empire, to the north and east of Sheikh Zowaiid. The attack marked the beginning of fighting in the Ottoman territory of Palestine. After the British Empire victories at the Battle of Romani in August 1916 and the Battle of Magdhaba in December, the Ottoman Army had been forced back to the southern edge of Palestine as the EEF pushed eastwards supported by extended lines of communication. This advance depended on the construction of a railway and water pipeline. With the railway reaching El Arish on 4 January 1917, an attack on Rafa by the newly formed Desert Column became possible. During the day-long assault, the Ottoman garrison defended El Magruntein's series of fortified redoubts and trenches on rising ground surrounded by flat grassland. They were eventually encircled by Australian Light Horsemen, New Zealand mounted riflemen, mounted Yeomanry, cameliers and armoured cars. In the late afternoon, the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade captured the central redoubt and the remaining defences were occupied shortly afterwards. ==Background== Following their victory at the Battle of Romani on 4 August 1916, the ANZAC Mounted Division with the 5th Mounted Brigade attached and infantry in support, went onto the offensive. Their advance depended on the construction of a railway and water pipeline. With the railhead about away, on 23 December 1916 the ANZAC Mounted Division, less the 2nd Light Horse Brigade but with the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade attached, occupied El Arish during day-long fighting at the Battle of Magdhaba.〔Downes 1938, p. 593〕〔Carver 2003, p. 194〕〔Bruce 2002 p. 84〕 Meanwhile, the 52nd (Lowland) Division, having marched from Romani, established a garrison at El Arish and began to fortify the town on the Mediterranean Sea, from the railhead.〔〔 El Arish was by road from the nearest British base at Kantara on the Suez Canal, initially making resupply difficult. The arrival of the Royal Navy on 22 December, quickly followed by the first stores on 24 December, meant that during the next fortnight the important Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) forward base grew quickly as 1,500 tons of supplies arrived by ship. Supplies of all kinds were unloaded by the Egyptian Labour Corps and distributed by the Egyptian Camel Transport Corps. Vitally important, the supply activities at El Arish were protected by the infantry garrison and ground based artillery, supported by the navy. On 4 January 1917 the first construction train arrived at El Arish, but it was some time before the railway, with its vast capacity to support the development of infrastructure and the supply of large garrisons, was fully developed.〔〔〔Gullett 1941, p. 229〕〔Falls 1930 Vol. 1 pp. 263, 271〕 General Sir Archibald Murray, the commander of the EEF, was keen to complete the advance across the north of the Sinai, to put pressure on the southern Ottoman Army. Believing an attack would compel Ottoman forces to abandon their desert bases and outposts on the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula, he ordered an advance from El Arish to Rafa, a distance of , to begin as soon as possible.〔Cutlack 1941, pp. 49–51〕〔Falls 1930 Vol. 1 p. 271〕 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 Rafa」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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