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Events

9 January 1917

By January 9, 2017No Comments

Turkish prisoners captured by the Anzac Mounted Division at Rafa, Sinai, January 1917. Image courtesy Australian War Memorial.

  • Units of the Desert Column including the Anzac Mounted Division, the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade, the 5th Mounted Yeomanry Brigade and 7th Light Car Patrol capture the 3,000-strong Ottoman Army garrison at El Magruntein (also known as Rafa or Rafah). Allied forces sustain 486 casualties, including 71 dead; the Turks 368, 200 of whom are killed. 1,434 Turks are taken prisoner; the remainder withdraw into Palestine.
  • British troops on the Western Front take trenches east of Beaumont Hamel in Ancre
  • Russian soldiers on the Eastern Front advance between Tirul marsh and the River Aa, as the enemy crosses the River Putna north and south-east of Focsani
  • British troops under the command of Sir Frederick Maude launch an artillery attack at Khadairi Bend on the Tigris River, north-east of Kut-al-Amara. The Battle of Khadairi Bend would last almost three weeks and was a prelude to the Second Battle of Kut.