Battle of Hareira and Sheria | |||||||
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Part of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I | |||||||
Ottoman 10.5 centimetres (4.1 in) Howitzer at Hareira |
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Belligerents | |||||||
Ottoman Empire German Empire |
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Edmund Allenby Henry Chauvel Philip Chetwode |
Erich von Falkenhayn Friedrich von Kressenstein Fevzi Pasha |
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Units involved | |||||||
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The Battle of Hareira and Sheria was fought on 6–7 November 1917 when the Egyptian Expeditionary Force attacked and captured the Yildirim Army Group's defensive systems protecting Hareira and Sheria in the centre of the Gaza to Beersheba line, during the Southern Palestine Offensive of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in World War I.
These defensive systems, which had successfully repelled frontal attacks during the Second Battle of Gaza, became vulnerable, after a six months' stalemate, to a flanking manoeuvre by the XX Corps on 6 November. This was made possible by the capture of Beersheba on 31 October after which Ottoman defenders had been pushed back north from the town into the Judean Hills, during the Battle of Tel el Khuweilfe. The 74th (Yeomanry) Division attacked the eastern end of the defences from the eastern flank, while the 60th (2/2nd London) Division attacked the Kauwukah and Rushdi defensive systems from the south-eastern flank.