The Capture of Tel el Saba

The Battle of Beersheba (Be’er Sheva in modern Israel) took place on 31 October 1917. The New Zealand Mounted Rifles, supported by the 1st Australian Light Horse Regiment and the Somerset Battery, were tasked with capturing the heavily fortified high ground of Tel el Saba (now known as Tel Beer Sheva). The assault was successful and the Tel’s capture cleared the way for the Australian Light Horse Brigade to make their now famous charge on Beersheba. Lieutenant Colonel Hamish Gibbons, Commanding Officer of Queen Alexandra’s Mounted Rifles, visits the battlefield one hundred years later to reflect on the battle as part of New Zealand’s centenary commemorations. Historical moving image: Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision Historical images: National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, Alexander Turnbull Library, Auckland War Memorial Museum, Library of Congress #Beersheba100