Raid on the Suez Canal

The raid on the Suez Canal, also called the actions on the Suez Canal, took place between 26 January and 4 February 1915, when a German-led Ottoman force advanced from southern Palestine to attack the Suez Canal, which the British Empire protected. It marked the beginning of the Sinai and Palestine campaign of World War I. Substantial Ottoman forces crossed the Sinai Peninsula and a few managed to cross the canal. Their main objective was not to capture British Egypt but to seize the canal, which would have cut British communications with East Africa, India and Asia and kept British Empire troops from reaching the Mediterranean Sea and Europe. The defence was led by Major-General Sir John Maxwell with mostly British Indian Army divisions. The Ottoman attack failed, with the loss of nearly 2,000 troops.