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Charge at Huj
Part of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I
Charge at Huj, by Lady Butler
Date 8 November 1917 Location Huj, southern Palestine Result British victory
Belligerents
British Empire	Ottoman Empire  German Empire  Austria-Hungary
Units involved
Worcestershire Yeomanry Warwickshire Yeomanry	Part of XXI Corps
Casualties and losses
26 dead 40 wounded	100+ dead 70 prisoners 11 artillery guns 4 machine guns captured

The Charge at Huj (8 November 1917), (also known by the British as the Affair of Huj), was an engagement between forces of the British Empire' Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) and the Ottoman Turkish Empire's, Yildirim Army Group during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War. It took place during the Pursuit phase of the Southern Palestine Offensive which eventually captured Jerusalem a month later.

The charge was carried out by units of the 5th Mounted Brigade, against a rearguard position of German, Austrian and Turkish artillery and infantry armed with machine guns. The charge was successful and the British captured the position, seventy prisoners, eleven pieces of artillery and four machine guns. However British casualties were heavy; of the 170 men taking part, twenty-six were killed and forty wounded. They also had 100 horses killed.

The charge is claimed to be one of the last British cavalry charges and was immortalised in a watercolour painting by the noted British artist Lady Butler.

Background

Huj is a Palestinian Arab village located 9.3 miles (15.0 km) north east of Gaza. During the Third Battle of Gaza, under pressure from the British attack, the majority of the Turkish forces from XXI Corps, had withdrawn from the area on 5 November. At around 14:00 8 November 1917, the following British forces with the 60th (2/2nd London) Division in the lead were stopped by artillery fire from a strong rearguard position on a ridge of high ground to the south of Huj. The Turkish rearguard had been established to protect the withdrawal of the Eighth Army headquarters, and was composed of German, Austrian and Turkish artillery, around 300 infantry and six machine guns. Aware that his infantry division alone would have problems taking the position, the 60th Division commander requested assistance from mounted troops.

Attack

The only mounted troops in the area were 170 yeomanry - two full squadrons and two half squadrons from the Worcestershire and Warwickshire Yeomanry - part of the British 5th Mounted Brigade in the Australian Mounted Division. The squadrons manoeuvred under cover to a forming up point 1,000 yd (910 m) on the British right. Advancing under cover of the terrain they got to within 300 yd (270 m) of the position, drew their swords and charged. The Warwickshire Yeomanry squadron attacked the main force of Turkish infantry, then turned and attacked the gun line. The regiment's other half squadron and the Worcestershire Yeomanry squadron attacked the guns from the front, while the remaining troops attacked an infantry position located at the rear behind the main force.

The German and Austrian artillerymen carried on firing until the horsemen were around 20 yd (18 m) away then some took cover underneath their guns. Those who remained standing were mostly stabbed by the swords of the attacking British, while others running away from the guns escaped injury by lying on the ground.

The only officer of the Worcestershire Yeomanry to escape uninjured Lieutenant Mercer described the charge;

Machine guns and rifles opened up on us the moment we topped the rise behind which we had formed up. I remember thinking that the sound of crackling bullets was just like hailstorm on an iron-roofed building, so you may guess what the fusillade was....A whole heap of men and horses went down twenty or thirty yards from the muzzles of the guns. The squadron broke into a few scattered horsemen at the guns and seemed to melt away completely. For a time I, at any rate, had the impression that I was the only man left alive. I was amazed to discover we were the victors.

All three charges were successful and the main force of infantry withdrew leaving the guns undefended apart from their crews. The yeomanry captured seventy prisoners, eleven artillery guns and four machine guns. British casualties amounted to twenty-six men dead, including three squadron commanding officers, and forty wounded, 100 horses were also killed in the charge.

Aftermath

The charge opened the way for the British forces to continue the advance, as it had destroyed the last of the Turkish strength south of the village of Huj which was captured later that day. No large groups of Turkish soldiers were cut off. However both British yeomanry regiments contingents were in no position to continue the pursuit of the withdrawing Turkish forces. The pursuit was further hampered by problems with watering horses and lack of supplies, both of which were hindered by the weather. The British forces, from the Australian Mounted Division, did not follow up until the 9/10 November.

The charge at Huj has been called "the last great charge of the British cavalry." It has since been immortalised in a watercolour painting by the noted British artist Lady Butler which hangs in the Warwickshire Yeomanry Museum.

Major Oscar Teichman, the Medical Officer for the Worcestershire Yeomanry writing in the Cavalry Journal in 1936 said;

The Charge at Huj had it occurred in a minor war would have gone down to history like the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava. In the Great War when gallant deeds were being enacted on all fronts almost daily it was merely an episode, but as the Official Historian remarks, for sheer bravery, the episode remains unmatched.

Visitors to the Warwickshire Yeomanry Museum located in the Court House, Jury Street, Warwick, can inspect the 75mm Model 1903 Turkish Field Gun number 488 manufactured by Friedrich Krupp, Essen, and marked to the 1/1 Warwickshire Yeomanry. This trophy gun ended up on display at Kaitangata, New Zealand circa 1921, and was finally donated by the Fox Family of Invercargill, New Zealand, to the Warwickshire Yeomanry Museum for public display in 2001. The return of the Warwickshire Yeomanry's trophy gun also served to reinforce the enduing links between 2nd New Zealand Division and the regiment which were forged in 1942, during and after the Battle of El Alamein, when the Warwickshire Yeomanry provided invaluable tank support for the New Zealand advance.

References

Footnotes

1. At the time of the First World War, the modern Turkish state did not exist, and instead it was part of the Ottoman Turkish Empire. While the terms have distinct historical meanings, within many English-language sources the term "Turkey" and "Ottoman Empire" are used synonymously, although many academic sources differ in their approaches. The sources used in this article predominately use the term "Turkey".

Citations

1. Fewster, Basarin, Basarin 2003, pp.xi–xii
2. Bruce, p.144
3. Bruce, p.143
4. ^ Grainger, p.156
5. ^ Rickard, J. "Affair of Huj". History of war. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
6. ^ Bruce, p.145
7. Bruce, p.146
8. ^ Field Marshal Lord Carver, p.218.
9. Wavell, p.150
10. "Jack Parsons' Collection". Worcester City Museum. Archived from the original on 21 November 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
11. "Affair of Huj". Warwickshire Yeomanry Museum. Archived from the original on 7 October 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2012.

Bibliography

• Bruce, Anthony (2002). The Last Crusade: The Palestine Campaign in the First World War. London: John Murray. ISBN 978-0-7195-5432-2.
• Field Marshal Lord Carver (2003). The National Army Museum Book of the Turkish Front. London: Pan Books. ISBN 978-0-330-49108-2.
• Fewster, Kevin; Basarin, Vecihi; Basarin, Hatice Hurmuz (2003). Gallipoli: The Turkish Story. Crows Nest, New South Wales: Allen and Unwin. ISBN 1-74114-045-5.
• Grainger, John D. (2006). The Battle for Palestine 1917. Ipswich: Boydell Press. ISBN 978-1-84383-263-8.
• Wavell, Archibald Percival (1941). The Palestine Campaigns. Edinburgh: Constable. OCLC 4982054.

External links

• Diary of Yeomanry M.O. Major Oscar Teichman

v t e Ottoman battles in the 20th century
Italo-Turkish War (1911–1912)	Preveza Tobruk Benghazi Kunfuda Bay Derna Beirut Rhodes Zanzur
Balkan Wars (1912–1913)	Sarantaporo Yenidje Kırcalı (Kardzhali) Beşpınar (Pente Pigadia) Sorovich Kumanovo Kirk Kilise İşkodra (Scutari) Lüleburgaz 1st Edirne (Adrianople) Prilep Himara Monastir 1st Çatalca Varna (Kaliakra) Merhamli İmroz (Elli) Korytsa Lemnos 2nd Edirne (Adrianople) Bolayır Şarköy Bizani 2nd Çatalca
First World War (1914–1918)	Köprüköy (Bergmann) Sarikamish Ardahan Suez Canal Naval operations Katya Seddülbayır (Cape Helles) Kumkale 1st Arıburnu (Anzac Cove) Baby 700 1st Kirte Battle of Dilman 2nd Arıburnu (2nd Anzac Cove) 2nd Kirte No.3 Post 3rd Arıburnu (3rd Anzac Cove) 3rd Kirte Zığındere Manzikert Kara Killisse Kirte Bağları (Krithia Vineyard) Kanlısırt (Lone Pine) Anafartalar Conkbayır Sarıbayır Kılıçbayır (The Nek) Hill 60 Yusufçuktepe (Scimitar Hill) Selman’ı Pak (Ctesiphon) 1st Kut Sağ Sahil Erzurum offensive Wadi Felahiye (Hanna) Sabis Trebizond Mecca Erzincan Aqaba Bitlis Romani Bir el Abd Yanbu Magdhaba Rafa Nekhl Bir el Hassana 2nd Kut Samarrah Jebel Hamlin 1st Gaza 2nd Gaza Istabulat Aqaba Ramadi Wadi Musa Beersheba Khuweilfe 3rd Gaza Baghdad Hareira and Sheria Wadi el Hesi Huj Mughar Ridge Ayun Kara Jerusalem Jaffa Jericho Tell 'Asur Khan Baghdadi Hijla 1st Amman Berukin and 1st Arara 2nd Transjordan Abaran Sardarabad Karakilisa Goychay Aghsu Kurdamir Binagadi Baku Arsuf German Expedition Abu Tellul 2nd Arara Megiddo Tabsor Tulkarm Afulah and Beisan Nazareth Jenin Haifa Samakh Tiberias Irbid Jisr Benat Yakub Kaukab Damascus Kiswe Jisr ed Damieh Sharqat Aleppo Khan Ayash 2nd Amman Haritan
For the battles before 1900 see List of battles involving the Ottoman Empire

31°30′35″N 34°37′21″E / 31.50972°N 34.62250°E / 31.50972; 34.62250

• Conflicts in 1917
• 1917 in British-administered Palestine
• Battles of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign
• Battles of World War I involving the United Kingdom
• Battles of World War I involving the Ottoman Empire
• Battles of World War I involving Germany
• Battles of World War I involving Austria-Hungary
• November 1917 events