Raid on the Beersheba to Hafir el Auja railway

Raid on the Beersheba to Hafir el Auja railway
Part of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I
The main Ottoman desert base at Hafir el Aujah
Date 23 May 1917 Location in southern Palestine, just to the north of, and midway along the Egyptian frontier Result Desert Column demolition of sections of the railway from Beersheba to Hafir el Aujah
Belligerents
British Empire  United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland  Australia  New Zealand	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Harry Chauvel
Units involved
Desert Column

The Raid on the Beersheba to Hafir el Auja railway took place on 23 May 1917 after the Second Battle of Gaza and before the Battle of Beersheba during the Stalemate in Southern Palestine in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of World War I.

Substantial sections of the Ottoman railway line which ran south from Beersheba to Hafir el Auja were attacked and demolished by working parties of the Royal Engineers of the Anzac and Imperial Mounted Divisions and the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade reinforced with men from the 1st Light Horse Brigade. They destroyed bridges, and rails between Asluj and the main Ottoman Desert Base at Hafir el Auja also known as Auja al-Hafir in the south. While the demolition force completed their work, the Imperial Mounted Division demonstrated against Beersheba covered by the Anzac Mounted Division on their right.