The Battle of Beersheba Trivia Quiz

Answer: Turkish forces capture the Suez Canal (April)

The stalemate on the Western front moved Allied forces to re-shape its strategies on other fronts. Thus, 1917 saw a turning point on the Middle Eastern front. The fall of Baghdad was a major blow to the Turks who together with the Germans established a new force, the Yildirim ('Lightning' in Turkish) Army commanded by Erich von Falkenhayn ("the Blood-Miller of Verdun"), whose purpose was to re-capture Baghdad and stabilize the region. But, they had double trouble to deal with. Losses caused by the Arab Revolt led by Lawrence of Arabia, and even more importantly the shift of the Palestine front from Allied defence to Allied attack (two Turkish offensives on the Suez Canal in 1915-1916 failed miserably). Allied forces, possibly inspired by Lord Kitchener's saying "Are you defending the Canal or is the Canal defending you?", changed their strategy and started to apply offensive pressure on Turkish strongholds north of the Canal.

Answer: The Third Battle of Gaza

The Allied offensive focused on the key port of Gaza. The first Gaza battle (March 26-27, 1917) and the second Gaza battle (April 17-19, 1917) failed, both because they came as no surprise to the defending force and because they were poorly handled by Allied command. Archibald Murray, who successfully commanded the defence of the Suez Canal and the logistic preparation for the counter-attack, was relieved of his duty as commander of the EEF (Egyptian Expeditionary Force). On June 27, 1917, he was replaced by General Edmund Allenby (retired as a Field Marshal). Allenby was known as a rough commander (nicknamed "Bloody Bull") but had the greatness to listen to and learn from his field commanders and adopt their plan for a new approach.

The Battle of Romani was the second Turkish-German failure to capture the Suez Canal (August 3-5, 1916).

Answer: Moving Allenby's HQ to Alexandria

The Allied forces wished the surprise factor to be maintained, in order to maximize their advantage in the Beersheba area.
Maritime maneuvers were conducted with an Egyptian work force on board (the one that has built the water pipelines from the Suez Canal into the Negev desert). There were also maritime maneuvers up north off Syria's shores, which succeeded in delaying the transfer of the Yildirim Army from Aleppo to Gaza and Beersheba, which indeed was executed too late.
Routine cavalry and infantry activity was conducted so as to dim the awareness of the defence to the massive troop deployment planned before the attack.
A great deal of effort was dedicated to the spreading of disinformation through various channels. The most notable example was the Meinertzhagen haversack story. The complete chain of events and people involved is not clear, but it is widely agreed that a pocketbook full of false plans did reach the Turks and that the German commander of the Gaza-Beersheba line, Kress von Kressenstein, relied on this pocketbook and refused to weaken the Gaza defence by sending reinforcements to Beersheba even after the actual attack had begun.

Answer: 1:10

Allied disinformation succeeded in limiting the Beersheba defence force to its default value of around 4,000 troops while allowing for the engagement of an astoundingly large attacking force of around 40,000 soldiers within a few days of a carefully planned pre-battle deployment.

The Turkish force, partly inexperienced and poorly motivated, was headed by Ismet Bey İnönü, who in years to come replaced Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as Turkish head of state (1938-1953). It consisted of three infantry regiments and a cavalry division, with under 100 artillery barrels operated by Austrian troops.

The Allied force included the British XX Corps commanded by Lt. Gen. Philip Chetwode, the Desert Mounted Corps (the Anzac Mounted Division and the Australian Mounted Division) commanded by Australian Lt. Gen. Henry Chauvel, and a small separate force comprising of a mounted brigade and the Imperial Camel Corps commanded by Lt. Col. S. F. Newcomb.

Answer: The factor is water, and "be'er" is (water) well

The attacking Allied forces with its thousands of soldiers and horses could carry water supply for only one more day. Taking Beersheba with its wells intact within the day of the attack was absolutely essential.

Beersheba, Be'er Sheva (Hebrew) or Bir el Saba (Arabic), is located at the northern rim of the Negev desert, nearly equidistant from the Mediterranean Sea, Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. It is first mentioned in the Bible and was inhabited during various historic eras. The Ottoman Empire rebuilt it from 1900 on as its major post en route to Sinai. Geographically, it is located at a saucer which was always relatively rich in underground water.

The word "be'er" (or "bir") means well. The word "sheva" (or "saba") actually means seven (and also an archaic form of "oath") but numerology had nothing to do with the battle. For the interesting etymology, refer to Genesis 21: 24-34.

Answer: All are correct

Considering the city's location and topography these positions made sense. The eastern, non-wired, defence line was augmented by an outpost in Tel el Saba, a dominating hill 3km to the north-east. Still, the surprise would be complete if an attack came from the east.

Chetwode's British XX Corps was set to attack the city's southern and western wired defence lines, while Chauvel's Desert Mounted Corps was to carry out the raid into the city after dealing with Tel el Saba. Newcomb's Cavalry Corps was sent as a cut-off force to the area north of Beersheba.

Answer: He ordered the backup force to take the city before dark

Lt. Gen. Henry Chauvel was the first Australian to command an Allied military corps. That afternoon of October 31, 1917, he seemed to have been the right man at the right place and time. With no time to spare, he ordered: "put Grant straight at it". Brig. Gen. William Grant, the commander of the 4th Australian Light Horse Brigade received the message and decided to send two of his light horse regiments, the 4th and the 12th (with the 11th and Yeomanry trailing in reserve), to an open charge from their backup positions about 5km east of Beersheba. Drawing such a length in such a short time was a unique move, and is considered the last major horse brigade charge in war history. The successful charge was commanded by Lt. Col. Murray Bourchier (4th ALHR) and Lt. Col. Donald Cameron (12 ALHR) and is a source of great and lasting pride in Australian war history.
By the end of the day Beersheba fell with 15 of its 17 wells intact. The attacking forces suffered 169 dead and around 1,000 wounded. About 500 Turkish soldiers were killed and 1,400 taken prisoner and the rest, led by Ismet Bey,
fled the city.

Answer: yes

The battle of Beersheba ignited a rapid collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the region. Gaza fell by November 7 and the Gaza-Beersheba line was fully gone the day after. The attack then spread to the north and to the east. Jaffa, Lod and Latroun fell on November 16 and Jerusalem surrendered on December 9, more than two weeks before the requested schedule. Allenby entered Jerusalem on foot on December 11.

It is interesting to note that the revolutionary Balfour Declaration supporting a Jewish homeland in then Palestine was signed and delivered on November 2, 1917 - just two days after the conquest of Beersheba. Whether or not this timing is related to the outcome of the battle is a matter of debate. I believe that once the fall of Beersheba was secured it was clear to decision makers that Britain would soon rule the whole area, and thus that the timing was not coincidental.

Answer: Arab

The Jewish leadership accepted the Partition Plan, the Arabs unequivocally rejected it. A war was waged and the rest is history, left to interpretations, misinterpretations and prejudice. In Israel, modern Beersheba maintains its historical role as a regional capital.
Yours truly was born and bred in Beersheba, slightly less than 50 years after the battle. I remember my late grandmother, who fled to Palestine from Germany in 1934, wondering how come a desert city can be that green. If one attempts to answer her, there's something to be learnt here.

Answer: All of these

On October 31, 2007, family members of Australian soldiers who fought 90 years before, along with WWI aficionados from Australia and Israel took part in a full scale re-enactment of the advance and charge of the Australian 4th Light Horse Brigade. The event ended with a memorial service in the Beersheba Commonwealth War Cemetery. Not far from there, near the Turkish train station where a statue in memory of Turkish soldiers was erected in 2002, a Turkish memorial service was held.

In April 2008, the Park of the Australian Soldier was inaugurated, including a playground suited for disabled kids and a statue of an Australian Light Horse Brigade soldier. Beersheba also hosts a monument in memoriam of Edmund Allenby.