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Born-Islington

Gaza War Cemetery, Palestine

After the Western Front, the second largest theatre of war between 1914 and 1918 was Egypt and Palestine. Britain had long had a foothold in Egypt guarding the vitally important Suez Canal and when war was declared against Turkey (the Ottoman Empire) who controlled all of what is now known as the Middle East, British troops were sent to guard the canal from attacks from the north. For the first two years of the war the British forces were on the defensive as the Turks, backed by the Germans, made a number of attempts against the canal but an important victory in August 1916 at Rumani relieved the pressure and the British force was then able to move onto the offensive and advance north into Palestine. By March 1917 they had concentrated at Rafah and were ready to attack the coastal town of Gaza and the fortifications running east from there to Beersheba.

The First Battle of Gaza was launched on 26th March, 1917 from the Wadi Ghazze, about eight miles south of Gaza and involved cavalry units, including 1st Royal Gloucestershire Hussars, encircling the town whilst the infantry, 52nd, 53rd and 54th Divisions, all Territorial Army units, moved in from the south and south-east. Protected by a thick, early morning sea mist they made good progress. 53rd Division led the way and had soon established themselves on the Es Sire Ridge overlooking the town. The actual assault on the town did not begin until midday and immediately met heavy fire from entrenched Turkish troops. There followed an afternoon of heavy fighting at the end of which the British were in possession of most of the high ground surrounding Gaza and in a position to capture the town the following day. But then things began going wrong. Believing that the infantry attack had come to a halt and because their horses were in desperate need of water, the cavalry screen was withdrawn. This of course left the infantry vulnerable and reluctantly, they pulled back as well. The next day, 27th March, the attack was resumed but by now the Turks had moved up their reinforcements and although the high ground was once again occupied by the British, they were not able to break through the Turkish lines and capture Gaza. Harold Wetherell was killed on 26th March but as yet the circumstances of his death are not known.