Battle of Jaffa (1917)

Battle of Jaffa
Part of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I
Jaffa surrenders to the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade on 16 November 1917 in front of the Town Hall
Date 20–21 December 1917 Location Auju River, Jaffa 32°5′0″N 34°48′0″E / 32.08333°N 34.80000°E / 32.08333; 34.80000 Result British victory
Belligerents
British Empire	Ottoman Empire  German Empire
Commanders and leaders
Lieutenant General Edward Bulfin	Jawad Pasha[1]
Units involved
XXI Corps	Eighth Army

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.