Mounted patrol at railhead

Mounted patrol at railhead

A patrol from the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment at the railhead near Romani, 1916. In the background are workers from the Egyptian Labour Corps, who were used by the British to help build the railway and water pipeline through the Sinai between March and December 1916.

The pace of the construction of the railway and the water pipeline determined how long it would take for General Murray's army of British, New Zealand, Australian and Indian troops to advance across the Sinai Peninsula and drive the Ottoman Turks back into Palestine. Murray expected the Turks to try and do all they could to disrupt and delay the railway's construction - it was the job of the New Zealand and Australian mounted troops to make sure that the Turks did not get close enough to it to carry out such threats.

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Posted: 29 Apr 2014

Hi Christopher - if you can give us his name and / or service number we should be able to confirm this. Regards, Jamie Mackay

christopher storey fawcett

Posted: 27 Apr 2014

Can you confirm my grandfather in this regiment -auckland mounted rifles