Tel El Khuweilfe - 6th November 1917

[jnorthall]

The 4th, 12th, 11th, LH Regs. were involved.

The 4th AND the 12th Charged Beersheba, with the 11th was coming up later.

I noticed this reference to a new park in Beersheeba commemorating the ALH's charge.

[Guest Bill Woerlee]

JRN

Mate, as luck would have it, pinning down the Turkish formations who took part at any particular point or time is tricky. Turkish Division structure was not stable and thus units come and go who have no relationship to the Division except to be under the Divisional command for a specific purpose. The battles around Tel El Khuweilfe are symptomatic of this.

It has been correctly pointed out by Nick that the 19th Infantry Division was at Tel El Khuweilfe during this time period. During the battles, it is no surprise to see the 72nd and 77th Infantry Regiments being recycled around the front lines. But then that would not explain why the 125th Infantry Regiment became involved on the western wing as part of the 19th Infantry Division as this formation belonged to the 16th Infantry Division which was based at Tel esh Sheria. Obviously it was on loan but it makes it difficult to pin down who was facing whom on any particular day. We also see the 43rd Infantry Regiment involved in the stoush with the Australian forces, again a 16th Infantry Division on the eastern side of the Turkish front line at Tel El Khuweilfe.

In essence, unless we have prisoner reports giving formation identifications which might appear in the war diaries, then there is no certainty in determining this information. For example in another battle, the Turkish Official War history mentions that the formation undertaking a particular battle was the 63rd Infantry Regiment and yet the prisoners captured came from the 57th Infantry Regiment, a formation that should have been in Galicia fighting against the Russians and yet a battalion shows up in Palestine defying any reference in available texts.

Added to this mix are the non-combat formations which were essential in keeping the troops at the frontline. The 19th Infantry Division had such diverse units as the 81st Field Bakery Section; 19th Field Ambulance; 17th 18th 19th & 22nd supply columns replete with their ox wagons and the 1st Company 15th Telegraph Battalion to name but a few. So pinning things down is a difficult task indeed and at best you can only get an indicative idea, so when reading the general outlines, keep in mind that these are glosses which often cover a totally different reality.

Cheers

Bill

[Ozzie]

I see Bill has answered your question.

Let me know if I can help out with the text.

Cheers

Kim