| Capture of Wejh | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Arab Revolt on the Middle Eastern theatre of the First World War | |||||||
 Contemporary British map of Hejaz marked with the locations of Wejh (red), Yenbo (green), Medina (blue) and Mecca (yellow) | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United Kingdom Kingdom of Hejaz |
 Ottoman Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
William Boyle | |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
Six Royal Navy ships 550 men |
1,300 men | ||||||
The capture of Wejh (modern-day Al Wajh, Saudi Arabia) took place on 23–24 January 1917 when British-led Arab forces landed by sea and, with the support of naval bombardments, defeated the Ottoman garrison. The attack was intended to threaten the flanks of an Ottoman advance from their garrison in Medina to Mecca, which had been captured by Arab forces in 1916. The sea-based force was to have attacked in co-operation with a larger force under Arab leader Faisal but these men were held up after capturing a quantity of supplies and gold en-route to Wejh. The sea-based force under Royal Navy leadership captured Wejh with naval artillery support, defeating the 1,300-strong Ottoman garrison. The capture of the town safeguarded Mecca, as the Ottoman troops were withdrawn to static defence duties in and around Medina.