The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
El Arish was a large village on the coastal route across the Sinai desert about forty-five miles south west of Gaza. In 1916 El Arish had been under Turkish rule for two years,and was captured by the British on 21 December 1916 and became a centre of operations from which blows were struck at the nearby Turkish garrisons, such as Magdhaba. George Lambert wrote in 1918: "Reluctantly leaving the delights of the desert and touching lightly on the one clean, though ancient town of El Arish, where I was sumptuously entertained by the Colonel and Officers of the 1st Battalion of the British West Indies Regiment."
Depicts the Remount Camp at Moascar, North Egypt. The view of the camp is from Major 'Banjo' Paterson's tent. Andrew Barton ('Banjo') Paterson, poet and journalist, was in charge of the Remounts Sect
The bleached arid landscape extends beyond the horizon where a dense cityscape marks the viewer's entry to El Arish, on the Sinai Peninsula. In late December 1916 troops from the ANZAC Mounted Divisio
A sandy desert scene with an avenue of tall palm trees in the left foreground, white tents, troops, a horse and a mosque in the middle ground, and a narrow stretch of dark blue - probably the Mediterr
Depicts a view of Wadi el Arish with sand hills and mountains at Magdhaba. Lambert visited this area in March 1918 during his first tour of Palestine. Magdhaba was the scene of a battle on 23 December
AWM25 519/9 - [Written records, 1914-18 War] Operations, 20-24 December 1916, including the occupation of El-Arish and the action at Bir-El-Magdhaba
Depicts a sand hill landscape, a camel kneels while a soldier lies on the right of the flat stream bed in the foreground. The Wady El Arish marks the end of the desert sands of Sinai and the beginning
An officer, possibly Lieutenant Leon Maurice Lyons, mounted on a pony that was captured from the Turks when British forces crossed the Sinai Desert and captured El Arish in Palestine in December 1916.
