During the day-long assault, the Ottoman garrison defended El Magruntein's series of fortified redoubts and trenches on rising ground surrounded by flat grassland.

[1][2][3] Meanwhile, the 52nd (Lowland) Division, having marched from Romani, established a garrison at El Arish and began to fortify the town on the Mediterranean Sea, 30 mi (48 km) from the railhead.

[1][2] El Arish was 90 mi (140 km) by road from the nearest British base, at Kantara, on the Suez Canal, initially making resupply difficult.

[1][2][4][5] General Sir Archibald Murray, the commander of the EEF, was keen to complete the advance across the north of the Sinai, to put pressure on the southern Ottoman army.

Believing an attack would compel Ottoman forces to abandon their desert bases and outposts on the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula, he ordered an advance from El Arish to Rafa, a distance of 27 mi (43 km), to begin as soon as possible.

The road was found to be suitable for cars and artillery, and a further reconnaissance by the same brigade two days later to Sheikh Zowaiid, 20 mi (32 km) from El Arish, reported rolling stretches of pasture, crops and poppies.

A small advance guard moved ten mi (16 km) further, to within sight of the main Ottoman defences at El Magruntein, reporting "great activity" in the area.

1 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps (AFC), to observe 2,000 to 3,000 Ottoman soldiers digging defences south of Rafa in the area of El Magruntein.

[6] While the British air patrols were absent on 7 January, German airmen took advantage of the growing concentration of EEF formations and supply dumps, bombing El Arish during the morning and evening.

[6] Lieutenant General Philip Chetwode, commanding the Desert Column, rode out of El Arish at 16:00 on 8 January towards Rafa where a 2,000-strong Ottoman garrison was based.

For the first few miles they trekked over heavy sand dunes, which were difficult to negotiate for the doubled teams of horses pulling the guns and ammunition wagons.

Once the great shallow trough, worn down by traffic since ancient times, along the Old Road or Pilgrims' Way appeared, the guns and ammunition wagons travelled on the firm middle way while the mounted units rode on either side.

Here the first grass the horses had seen since leaving Australia was found on the edge of the fertile maritime plain, 16 mi (26 km) north of El Arish.

The regiments and motor cars would surround the Ottoman garrison position, gallop up under fire, then dismount to attack the defenders in their treble system of trenches and field-works around the earthwork redoubts on the knoll.

These strong, well prepared and sited redoubts and trenches provided all-round defence, with a clear view of the battlefield devoid of cover for some 2,000 yards (1,800 m).

Two troops of the Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars (5th Mounted Brigade) remained at Sheikh Zowaiid to protect the ammunition column, while a squadron followed the caravan road towards Rafa.

[19][21][22] By 06:45 the ANZAC Mounted Division headquarters was established 4.5 mi (7.2 km) west of Karm Ibn Musleh on the frontier to the south of Rafa and El Magruntein.

[27][28][29] With the Ottoman garrison defending El Magruntein cut off from the north and east by the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, orders were issued for all Desert Column reserves to be committed and the attack "pressed home.

To the left of the 5th Mounted Brigade, the 7th Light Car Patrol reached the Rafa road, where they found cover from which to direct fire on to the A1 and A2 redoubts 1,600 yd (1,500 m) away.

[30] Despite the initial assault, the Ottoman defenders continued to hold very strong defensive positions, with each redoubt ideally placed to provide supporting fire for others.

[Note 1] A constant stream of fire was maintained on the Ottoman parapets to suppress the defenders and prevent them from taking aim while the attack continued.

These guns were also well-positioned to provide cover if pressure by the Ottoman reinforcements from Khan Yunus and Shellal proved too strong for the two troops of Wellingtons, or if the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade was forced to retire to the coast.

The aircraft had recently been fitted with wirelesses, and during the afternoon reported the progress of the battle to the Desert Column's headquarters, assisting in command and control.

[41][42] Chetwode reported to the commander of Eastern Force, Lieutenant General Charles Macpherson Dobell, that the work of all troops engaged had been excellent, and the part played by the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade had been outstanding.

[44][49] Following the battle, a strong rearguard position manned by two light horse regiments, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Leslie Cecil Maygar, was established.

[54] During the night of 19 January, with the benefit of a full moon, German and Ottoman aircraft carried out the biggest aerial bombing raid yet, inflicted on the EEF's fast-growing and important forward base of El Arish.

With the British victory at Rafa, the steady progress of the railway and the water pipeline, and the build-up of supplies at El Arish, the EEF was able to build a firm base from which it planned to advance into Ottoman territory.

[59] To address the problem of Ottoman Army units in the rear of the advancing EEF, a raid was carried out by two columns of light horse and yeomanry at Nekhl.