Members of the 12th Light Horse survey damaged items and captured Turkish equipment from the Battle of Beersheba, Palestine 31 October 1917. Image courtesy Australian War Memorial.
- Day 1190 of the war
- Sidney Alfred Maddison is killed in action in the Battle of Beersheba
- Allied and Turkish forces clash in the Battle of Beersheba in Palestine. The 4th Australian Light Horse Brigade leads their famous mounted charge, capturing the Turkish stronghold.
- The month of October 1917 would prove to be the costliest month of WWI in terms of Australian casualties, with 40,498 men killed, wounded or missing.
- The year 1917 would be the worst year of the war for Australia with more than 21,000 dead – one-third of all Australians killed in the four-year conflict.
