Princess Royal Fortress Military Museum > Records

First World War Black and White Photograph 10th Light Horse Regiment at Railway Bridge Beersheba

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1917

Overview

A small black and white photograph showing a group of mounted 10th Light Horse Troopers waiting by the railway bridge at Beersheba. The bridge, which is in the background, has 5 central arches with walls either side. All the troopers are mounted and the photograph has been taken close to one horse whose partial head and ears are seen at the bottom right corner. The terrain appears to be very stony. The reverse of the image has the proforma printing of part of a postcard and an inscription noting the location. The photograph has a small border and although in good condition, the image has many spots and marks which can be clearly seen when it is enlarged.

Historical information

The 10th Light Horse were part of the Desert Column that advanced into Palestine. The Regiment participated in the bloody battles to break the Gaza-Beersheba line and helped capture Jerusalem. An account of the regiment’s actions at Beersheba includes “the regiment left its Beersheba bivouac on the afternoon on November 4… Passing under the stone arches of the partially destroyed railway bridge across Wadi Saba.” It is possible that this photograph depicts this.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-12-2022.1.63

Item type

Photographs

Themes

War and Conflict > World War 1

Material

Photo Paper

Width

88 mm

Height or length

66 mm

Inscriptions and markings

On back “ADDRESS ONLY / CARD” machine printed with “Bursheeba Bridge” written in black ink.

Contextual information

The Battle of Beersheba took place on 31 October 1917 as part of the wider British offensive collectively known as the third Battle of Gaza. The final phase of this all day battle was the famous mounted charge of the 4th Light Horse Brigade. Commencing at dusk, members of the brigade stormed through the Turkish defences and seized the strategic town of Beersheba. The capture of Beersheba enabled British Empire forces to break the Ottoman line near Gaza on 7 November and advance into Palestine.

Keywords

First World War

10th Light Horse Regiment

Battle of Beersheba

Place made

Egypt

Year

1917

Primary significance criteria

Historic significance

Comparative significance criteria

Interpretive capacity