ONLINE EVENT
'From Gaza to Jerusalem: The Palestine Campaigns of 1917’
At the start of 1917, the Egyptian Expeditionary Force stood at the gates of Gaza in southern Palestine. The early months of the year saw two bloody failures to break through the Ottoman lines between Gaza and Beersheba. After a summer of retraining, reinforcement, and new leadership, the EEF tried again, with a remit from Prime Minister Lloyd George to seize Jerusalem 'as a Christmas present to the nation'. The EEF shattered the line on their third attempt, leading to a whirlwind advance to Jerusalem which was captured in December, a rare shaft of light in the darkest days of the war. This talk follows the ebb and flow of the three Battles of Gaza, and the eventual advance to Jerusalem.
Stuart Hadaway is a professional historian and author of several books on the campaigns in Egypt and Palestine during the First World War.