Editing First Battle of Gaza (section)

{{short description|1917 battle in the Middle Eastern theatre of WWI}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = First Battle of Gaza
| partof            = the [[Middle Eastern theatre of World War I]]
| image             = [[File:1st GazaOfficers00115v.jpg|300px|border|alt=Group of Ottoman officers]]
| caption           = Ottoman officers who successfully defended Gaza during the first battle
| date              = 26 March 1917
| place             = [[Gaza City|Gaza]], southern [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]]
| result            = Central Powers victory
| combatant1        = {{flagcountry|UKGBI}} and [[British Empire|Empire]] 
* {{flag|Canada|1868}}
* {{flag|British India}}
* {{flag|Australia}}
* {{flagcountry|Dominion of New Zealand}}
| combatant2        = {{flag|Ottoman Empire}}<br />{{flag|German Empire}}<br />{{flag|Austria-Hungary}}<br />{{flag|Emirate of Jabal Shammar}}
| commander1        = {{flagicon|UKGBI}} [[Archibald Murray]]<br />{{flagicon|UKGBI}} [[Philip Chetwode, 1st Baron Chetwode|Philip Chetwode]]<br />{{flagicon|Canada|1868}} [[Charles Macpherson Dobell|Charles Dobell]]
| commander2        = {{flagicon|Ottoman Empire}} [[Djemal Pasha|Ahmed Djemal]] Paşa<br />{{flagicon|German Empire}} [[Friedrich Freiherr Kress von Kressenstein]] {{small|(actual)}}<br />{{flagicon|Ottoman Empire}} Colonel [[Rüştü Sakarya|Mehmet Rüştü]]<br/ > {{flagicon|Ottoman Empire}} Lieutenant Colonel [[Edip Servet Tör|Edip Servet]] ([[:tr:Edip_Servet_Tör|tr]])<br />{{flagicon|German Empire}} Major Tiller
| units1            = [[Eastern Force]]
::[[52nd (Lowland) Division]]
::[[54th (East Anglian) Division]]
::No. [[7 Light Car Patrol]]
::Nos. 11 and 12 Armoured Motor Batteries

:[[Desert Column]]
::[[53rd (Welsh) Division]]
::[[Anzac Mounted Division]]
::[[Imperial Mounted Division]]
::[[Imperial Camel Corps Brigade]]
| units2            = [[Fourth Army (Ottoman Empire)|Fourth Army]]
:[[79th Infantry Regiment (Ottoman Empire)|79th Infantry Regiment]]
:[[81st Infantry Regiment (Ottoman Empire)|2nd Battalion, 81st Infantry Regiment]]
:[[125th Infantry Regiment (Ottoman Empire)|125th Infantry Regiment]]
:Reinforced by
:[[3rd Infantry Division (Ottoman Empire)|3rd Infantry Division]]
:[[31st Infantry Regiment (Ottoman Empire)|31st]] and [[32nd Infantry Regiment (Ottoman Empire)|32nd]] Infantry Regiments
:[[16th Infantry Division (Ottoman Empire)|16th Infantry Division]]
:[[47th Infantry Regiment (Ottoman Empire)|47th]] and [[48th Infantry Regiment (Ottoman Empire)|48th]] Infantry Regiments
| strength1         = 31,000
| strength2         = 19,000
| casualties1       = 523 killed<br>2,932 wounded<br>512 missing
| casualties2       = {{flagicon|German Empire}} {{flagicon|Austria-Hungary}} 16 dead or wounded, 41 missing<br>{{flagicon|Ottoman Empire}} 300 killed, 750 wounded, 600 missing
| campaignbox       = {{Campaignbox Sinai and Palestine}}
}}

The '''First Battle of Gaza''' was fought on 26 March 1917 during the first attempt by the [[Egyptian Expeditionary Force]] (EEF), which was a British Empire military formation, formed on 10 March 1916 under the command of General [[Archibald Murray]] from the [[Mediterranean Expeditionary Force]] and the [[Force in Egypt]] (1914–15), at the beginning of the [[Sinai and Palestine Campaign]] of the [[First World War]]. Fighting took place in and around the town of [[Gaza City|Gaza]] on the [[Mediterranean]] coast when [[infantry]] and [[mounted infantry]] from the [[Desert Column]], a component of the [[Eastern Force]], attacked the town. Late in the afternoon, on the verge of capturing Gaza, the Desert Column was withdrawn due to concerns about the approaching darkness and large Ottoman reinforcements. This [[British Empire|British]] defeat was followed a few weeks later by the even more emphatic defeat of the Eastern Force at the [[Second Battle of Gaza]] in April 1917.

In August 1916, the EEF victory at [[Battle of Romani|Romani]] ended the possibility of land-based attacks on the [[Suez Canal]], first threatened in February 1915 by the Ottoman [[Raid on the Suez Canal]]. In December 1916, the newly created Desert Column's victory at the [[Battle of Magdhaba]] secured the Mediterranean port of [[El Arish]] and the supply route, water pipeline and railway stretching eastwards across the [[Sinai Peninsula]]. In January 1917, the victory of the Desert Column at the [[Battle of Rafa]] completed the capture of the Sinai Peninsula and brought the EEF within striking distance of Gaza.

Two months later, in March 1917, Gaza was attacked by Eastern Force infantry from the [[52nd (Lowland) Division]] reinforced by an [[brigade|infantry brigade]]. This attack was protected from the threat of Ottoman reinforcements by the [[Anzac Mounted Division]] and a screen from the [[Imperial Mounted Division]]. The infantry attack from the south and southeast on the Ottoman garrison in and around Gaza was strongly resisted. While the Imperial Mounted Division continued to hold off threatening Ottoman reinforcements, the Anzac Mounted Division attacked Gaza from the north. They succeeded in entering the town from the north, while a joint infantry and mounted infantry attack on [[Ali Muntar]] captured the position. However, the lateness of the hour, the determination of the Ottoman defenders, and the threat from the large Ottoman reinforcements approaching from the north and north east resulted in the decision by the Eastern Force to retreat. It has been suggested that this move snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.