The raid on the Suez Canal, also known as actions on the Suez Canal, took place between 26 January and 4 February 1915 when a German-led Ottoman force advanced from southern Palestine to attack the British Empire-protected Suez Canal, marking the beginning of the Sinai and Palestine campaign (1915–1918) of World War I (1914–1918).
Substantial Ottoman forces crossed the Sinai Peninsula, and a few managed to cross the Canal. The primary objective of the Ottoman forces was not to capture British Egypt, but to seize the Suez Canal. Capturing this strategically vital channel would cut British communications with East Africa, India and Asia, and prevent British Empire troops from reaching the Mediterranean Sea and Europe. The Ottoman attack was a failure with the loss of nearly 2,000 troops.
Background
Since its opening in 1869 the Suez Canal had featured prominently in British policy and concerns. Among the great advantages it provided were a line of communication and also the site for a military base; the well equipped ports at Alexandria and Port Said made the region particularly useful. However, the Egyptian public was becoming increasingly opposed to the British occupation of Egypt, in particular various policies and judgments issued by Britain during the occupation.
The Convention of Constantinople of 1888 by the European great powers guaranteed freedom of navigation of the Suez Canal. In August 1914 Egypt was defended by 5,000 men of the Force in Egypt.
Prelude
Abbas Hilmi, the reigning Khedive, who had opposed the British occupation, was out of the country when the war started. When the British declared the Protectorate on 18 December 1914 they deposed Abbas Hilmi and promoted Prince Hussein Kamel as the Sultan of Egypt. The population agreed to these changes while the outcome of the war was unknown and the fighting continued.
From 2 August 1914 when the Ottoman armies mobilised, Brigadier General Zekki Pasha commanding the Ottoman Fourth Army at Damascus was planning to attack the Suez Canal, with the support of Djemal Pasha Commander in Chief of Syria and Palestine.
The first hostilities occurred on 20 November when a 20-man patrol of the Bikaner Camel Corps was attacked at Bir en Nuss 20 miles (32 km) east of Qantara by 200 Bedouin. The Bikaner Camel Corps lost more than half their patrol. By December El Arish was occupied by an Ottoman force and the defence of the Suez Canal was organised. There had been a pre-war suggestion that a force of camels could hold Nekhel just to the south and in the centre of the Ottoman Empire and Egyptian frontier. The difficulty of supporting such a force of camels from bases on the western side of the Suez Canal was recognised when the decision was made that "the obvious line of actual defence of the eastern frontier of Egypt is the Suez Canal."
Suez Canal defences
The 100 miles (160 km) long canal had a railway running along its whole length and was supplied with water from the west, as only brackish wells could be found to the east. The length of the canal included about 29 miles (47 km) of the Great and Little Bitter Lakes and Lake Timsah, which divided the three sectors organised for the defence. These were,
- Suez to the Bitter Lakes
- Deversoir to El Ferdan
- El Ferdan to Port Said
with headquarters and a general reserve at Ismailia, while small detachments guarded the Sweet Water Canal and the Zagazig supply depot on the main Ismailia to Cairo road.
On 25 November, cutting the canal bank at Port Said flooded a portion of the desert stretching to El Kab, shortening the northern stretch of the canal by 20 miles (32 km). On 2 January, another major cutting in the Asiatic bank north of Qantara enabled minor inundations between Qantara and Ismailia.
On 15 January 1915
These troops were deployed at the Esh Shat, Baluchistan, El Kubri, Gurkha, Shallufa, Geneffe and Suez posts.
These troops were deployed at the Deversoir, Serapeum East, Serapeum West, Tussum, Gebel Mariam, Ismailia Ferry and Ismailia Old Camp posts.
These troops were deployed at the Ballah, Qantara East, Qantara West, El Kab, Tina, Ras El Esh, Salt Works, New Canal Works and Port Said posts.
- Zagazig Advanced Ordnance Depot was defended by one battalion, 32nd (Imperial Service) Brigade
- Sweet Water Canal and the railway were defended by 1 Troop Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade, a half company of Bikaner Camel Corps and a half company of Indian Infantry
- Moascar General Reserve was formed by:
Located at these series of posts were trenches with sand bag revetments, protected by barbed wire on the eastern bank of the canal mainly covering ferries with an extensive bridgehead at Ismailia Ferry Post. Three floating bridges were constructed, at Ismailia, Kubri and Qantara. On the western bank trenches were dug at intervals between the posts.
These defences were augmented by the presence in the Suez Canal of HMS Swiftsure, HMS Clio, HMS Minerva, the armed merchant cruiser Himalaya and HMS Ocean near Qantara, Ballah, Sallufa, Gurka Post and Esh Shatt respectively, with the French protected cruiser D'Entrecasteaux just north of the Great Bitter Lake, HMS Proserpine at Port Said, the Royal Indian Marine Ship Hardinge south of Lake Timsah and north of Tussum, with the French coastal defence ship Requin in Lake Timsah. The canal was closed each night during the threat.
Two battalions of the 32nd (Imperial Service) Brigade were deployed north of Lake Timsah to Ballah in Sector II commanded by Brigadier General H.D. Watson with the New Zealand Infantry Brigade and the Otago and Wellington Battalions reinforcing Sector I.
To protect their strategic interests, by January 1915 the British had assembled some 130,000 troops in Egypt. Major-General Sir John Maxwell, a veteran of Egypt and Sudan, was commander-in-chief and led mostly British Indian Army divisions, together with the 42nd (East Lancashire) Division, local formations and the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. 30,000 of the troops stationed in Egypt manned defences along the Suez Canal. The Ottomans had only three available routes to reach the Suez Canal through the road-less and waterless Sinai Peninsula. A coastal advance that would have water supplies and usable tracks, but would be within range of Royal Navy warships. A central route from Beersheba to Ismailia or a southern track between El Kossaima and the Suez Canal. The central route was chosen as it would provide the Ottoman soldiers with proper tracks to follow once they crossed the canal.
Attacking force
The Bavarian Colonel Kress von Kressenstein had been appointed Chief of Staff of the VIII Corps, Fourth Army on arrival from Constantinople on 18 November 1914. The VIII Corps comprised five infantry divisions, the 8th, 10th, 23rd, 25th, and 27th with contingents from Sinai Bedouins, Druzes, Kurds, Mohadjirs, Circassians from Syria and Arabs. These Muslim contingents were to foment revolt against the British in Egypt. In January 1915 Kress von Kressenstein's force concentrated 20,000 men in southern Palestine with nine field batteries and one battery of 5.9 inch (15 cm) howitzers.
This force which was to cross the Sinai comprised the 10th Infantry Division and a cavalry regiment and the first echelon of about 13,000 infantrymen including the 23rd, 25th and 27th Divisions with 1,500 Arabs and eight batteries of field artillery. A second echelon of 12,000 infantrymen was made up of 20th and 23rd Divisions. The plan was for a single infantry division to capture Ismailia and cross the canal before being reinforced by a second infantry division which would be supported on the east bank of the canal by two additional divisions. A further division would be available to reinforce the bridgehead on the west bank of the Suez Canal.
The Ottoman Empire constructed a branch railway line from the Jaffa–Jerusalem railway at Ramleh running south to reach Sileh about 275 miles (443 km) from the Suez Canal during the autumn of 1914. The 100 miles (160 km) stretch of the railway to Beersheba was opened on 17 October 1915. By May 1916 it had been extended on to Hafir El Auja then south across the Egyptian frontier, to almost reached the Wadi el Arish in December 1916 when the Battle of Magdhaba was fought. German engineers directed the construction of stone Ashlar bridges and culverts along this railway line built to move large numbers of troops long distances quickly and keep them supplied many miles from base.
Any attack on the Suez Canal would require artillery and a bridging train to be dragged across the desert. Two Ottoman divisions plus one more in reserve, with camel and horse units, were ready to depart in mid-January. The advance across the Sinai took ten days, tracked by British aircraft, even though German aircraft stationed in Palestine in turn aided the Ottomans and later flew some bombing missions in support of the main attack. Kress von Kressenstein's force moved south by rail, continuing on foot via el Auja carrying iron pontoons for crossing and attacking the Suez Canal at Serapeum and Tussum.
It was known at Force in Egypt headquarters that the 10th, 23rd and 27th Divisions had assembled near Beersheba. By 11 January Nekhl had been occupied by a small Ottoman force. On 13 January 1915 it was known to the British that strong columns were passing through el Auja and El Arish. On 25 January one regiment was reported to be approaching Qantara. The next day a force of 6,000 soldiers was reported 25 miles (40 km) east of the Little Bitter Lake at Moiya Harab when defenders at Qantara were fired on by part of the approaching force. On 27 January the El Arish to Qantara road was cut 5 miles (8.0 km) to the east and Baluchistan and Kubri posts were attacked.
The force had moved towards the Suez Canal in three echelons; the main group along the central route with smaller forces on the northern and southern routes.
The northern group of about 3,000 men moved via Magdhaba to El Arish and thence along the northern route towards Port Said. The central group of about 6,000 or 7,000 men moved via the water cisterns at Moiya Harab and the wells at Wady um Muksheib and Jifjafa towards Ismailia. This was at the midpoint of the Suez Canal near the vital British railway and water pumping equipment. The main force marched from Beersheba through El Auja and Ibni, between the Maghara and Yelleg hills to Jifjafa and Ismailia. The third group of about 3,000 moved via Nekl southwards towards the town of Suez at the southern end of the Suez Canal. The main force was attacked by aircraft dropping 20 pounds (9.1 kg) bombs.
Two smaller flanking columns of this Ottoman force made secondary attacks on 26 and 27 January 1915 near Qantara in the northern sector of the Suez Canal and near the town of Suez in the south.
Battle
From 31 January the British defenders expected an attack and by 1 February at least 2,500 infantry attackers were 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Serapeum with two guns, another force of 8,000 was at Moiya Harab 30 miles (48 km) to the south east and a third force of 3,000 was at Bir el Mahadat 10 miles (16 km) east north east of El Ferdan. In the rear of these forces were "considerable forces" at Bir el Abd 40 miles (64 km) from the Canal, at El Arish and at Nekhl.
The Ottoman Expeditionary Force, moving only at night, believed that it had been unnoticed, as scouts had observed British officers playing football when Ottoman forces had already established themselves in a camp 25 kilometres (16 mi) east of the Suez Canal. Kress von Kressenstein's Suez Expeditionary Force arrived at the Canal on 2 February 1915 and the Ottomans succeeded in crossing the Suez Canal about Ismailia on the morning of 3 February 1915.
By 2 February slight forward movements of the attacking force made it clear the main attack would be on the central sector, to the north or south of Lake Timsah and the armoured train with four platoons of New Zealand infantry and two platoons reinforced the 5th Gurkhas post on the east bank. The 22nd (Lucknow) Brigade (the 62nd and 92nd Punjabis and the 2/10th Gurkha Rifles) from Sector II, the 2nd Queen Victoria's Own Rajput Light Infantry, and two platoons of the 128th Pioneers
from general reserve at Moascar, the 19th Lancashire Battery RFA (four 15-pounders), 5th Battery Egyptian Artillery (four mountain guns and two Maxim guns), two sections of the 1st Field Company East Lancashire Royal Engineers and the 137th Indian Field Ambulance were in position between the Great Bitter Lake and Lake Timsah.