HISTORY:
** The Battle of Romani was fought between Britain's Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) and the Ottoman Empire's Sinai Expeditionary Force in the Sinai Desert in early August 1916. The Ottoman objective was to disrupt and cut off the Suez Canal, while the EEF needed to protect the Canal and the flow of materials that were struggling to keep the war economies of Britain, France and Italy working. The two sides came to a head on 4–5 August. The battle resulted in the defeat of the Ottomans, and the EEF continued to advance to the edge of the desert. With this defeat, not only did British Empire secure its supply lines, but it was also the first major land victory of the war against the Ottomans. The tide was finally turning in the war between the empires.
Historian Stuart Hadaway provides an in-depth look at the much-overlooked Sinai Campaign, which was a victory of immense strategic importance in World War I. However, it was a hard-won battle with critical mistakes made on both sides. Illustrated with period photographs, detailed maps and stunning artwork, this book examines the fight for the Canal, the lessons the EEF failed to learn, and how the courage and bravery of the troops, particularly the Australians and New Zealanders, saved the campaign on many occasions. **
** Quoted from the back cover of the book.
THE BOOK:
Osprey Publications has released Sinai 1916-17, The Fight for the Suez Canal as Number 421 in their Campaign series. It is a soft cover book with 96 pages and is the standard Osprey Publishing size of 7 1/4 x 9 3/4 inches. Included with the text are black and white and color photographs, color illustrations, full-color maps and 3-dimensional ‘bird’s-eye-views’, detailed captions, and more. It has a 2025 copyright, a publication date of September 25, 2025, and the ISBN is 978-1-4728-6779-7.
THE CONTENTS:
- Introduction
- Chronology
- Opposing Commanders
- Ottoman
- British
- Opposing Forces
- Ottoman
- British
- Orders of battle
- Opposing Plans
- Ottoman
- British
- The Campaign
- Building their logistics
- Affair at Qatia
- Digging in at Romani
- Battle of Romani
- Pursuit from Romani
- Bir el Mazar
- Border battles
- Aftermath
- The Battlefield Today
- Bibliography
- Index
THE TEXT:
Author Stuart Hadaway has written an informative history about the combat that took place in the Sinai Desert between British and Ottoman forces over control of the Suez Canal which was a vital supply route. The text nicely details all areas that are outlined on the contents page, please refer to the list of contents that I have provided for the areas that are covered. The actions listed regarding the campaign as a whole are greatly detailed with information provided on specific military units and their movements and actions, the time frame of each specific action, and the successes, failures and outcomes of the battles, locations, weaponry used, and such other information that the reader would expect to find in a well written historical publication. The author does not take a one-sided stance on the subject and provides information equally and unbiased when detailing both the Britain's Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) and the Ottoman Empire's Sinai Expeditionary Force and their actions. Personally, I like that type of narration as it is more factual than opinionated. Along with his own words, Stuart Hadaway has also provided quotes from individuals directly involved with the campaign such as Lieutenant A. Briscoe Moore of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles, commander of the 2nd Light Horse Regiment Lieutenant Colonel G. Bourne, gunner Anthony Bluett, Geoffrey Inchbald, Lieutenant E. T. Cripps of D Squadron RGH, the historian of the 5th Highland Light Infantry and others. As I read through the text, I didn’t notice any spelling or grammatical errors. Grammar and spelling might not be an important factor to everyone however it is something that I take notice of and pass on my findings. As a reader that was not that knowledgeable about the fighting that took place in Sinai in 1916 and 1917, I found myself to be well informed on the subject upon finishing the book. This is a well-written history that will be of great use and interest to the reader that is knowledgeable about the fighting that took place in 1916 and 1917 to control the Suez Canal, as well as the individual that is new to this subject and wants to learn about its history. Anyone wanting to add an excellent reference and history book on the military operations in Sinai during World War I to have control of the Suez Canal, an important supply route, to their personal library will be pleased with this very informative book.
THE PHOTOGRAPHS:
A total of 63 black and white photographs and 6 color photographs are included in this volume. The photographs range from wide angle photographs to close-up detailed photographs. They are a combination of in-action photographs, photographs removed from motion pictures to photographs that were staged for the photographer as well as official profile studio portraits of uniformed individuals. Most of the photographs are clear and easily viewable; however, a few have an out-of-focus look to them, and some are quite dark, which makes it difficult to view some of the details, and others appear too light. This is typical for the discussed period of history, and the quality of the photographs is no fault of the author and does not take anything away from the book. Something to take into consideration is that the period photographs are over one hundred years old. One thing that I was appreciative of with the photographs is that they are not overused photographs of the same subject matter that tend to turn up in numerous publications. The close-up photographs show items such as uniforms to include helmets, soft caps, footwear, pistol belts and ammunition pouches and ammunition belts, military medals and ribbons. Other subjects shown are small arms to include rifles and machineguns, observation and signaling equipment, artillery pieces, aircraft, trains, horses and camels and various items of equine tack such as saddles, bridles and rifle scabbards, trench works and other such period subjects. Author Stuart Hadaway stuck to the title of the book and chose subject specific photographs and did not include photographs that strayed from the main subject. The majority, if not all, of the photographs will prove to be excellent reference material for the scale modeler due to the details they contain. The military historian as well as the military uniform and smalls arms enthusiast will benefit from the excellent photographs as will anyone that is interested in the fighting that took place to control the Suez Canal during World War I.
THE ILLUSTRATIONS:
There are 3 illustrations by illustrator Graham Turner provided in this volume. Each of the color illustrations is accompanied by a smaller black and white copy of the same illustration on the following page with a very informative caption that describes the scene and points out and details key areas of interest. The illustrations are very well done, nicely detailed and are of:
Plate A
Decision at Quatia, 1330HRS, 23 April 1916
- A two-page action color illustration showing officers and men of the QOWH (Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars-Yeomanry) in combat with Ottoman forces. Having dismounted, the men of the QOWH were easily pinned in place and outgunned by the Ottomans.
Plate B
Night Retreat, Romani, 0200HRS, 4 August 1916
- A two-page action color illustration showing men and horses of the 1st Australian Light Horse Brigade conducting a fighting retreat in the dark while being pursued by Ottoman troops that greatly outnumbered the Australians.
Plate C
Taking the Reduit, El Magruntein, 9 January 1917
- A two-page action color illustration showing dismounted cavalry of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles attacking and capturing Point 265, the center of the Ottoman defensive positions which led to the start of the surrender of the Ottoman forces. (A portion of this illustration is shown on the front cover of the book).
THE CAPTIONS:
The captions are well written and explain the accompanying photographs and illustrations in great detail eliminating any doubt as to what is shown. The captions go into very specific detail as to the specific individuals shown and their military rank and military unit they are assigned to, various uniforms accoutrements such as slouch hats, various small arms such as rifles as well as rifle scabbards, various equipment items, different types of machineguns being used, aircraft types shown, artillery types shown, dates and locations and other such pertinent information. I was impressed by Stuart Hadaway’s captions as they are very helpful to the reader due to their detailed content as opposed to other captions that I have seen that were lacking in detail.
THE MAPS:
There are six full-colored maps by Bounford.com included in this volume. The maps all come with map/cartographic distance scales. The third and fourth maps come with listings of events in step-by-step chronological order.
The maps are of:
- The Sinai Desert, 1916
- The western Sinai Desert and the Qatia basin, 1916
- The Battle of Romani, 4 August 1916
- Pursuit from Romani, 7-12 August 1916
- The eastern Sinai Desert, late 1916
- The action at El Magruntein/Rafa, 9 January 1917
THE 3D BIRDS-EYE-VIEWS:
There are three high-angle 3-dimensional ‘bird’s-eye-view’ maps by Paul Kime included in this volume. All three of the ‘bird’s-eye-views’ have a listing of events detailing in chronological order the actions of the British forces and the Ottoman forces as well as informational keys for the British, Ottoman and Ottoman/German forces.
The ‘bird’s-eye-view’ maps are of:
- The Affair at Qatia, 23 April 1916
- Shown are the actions taken when the Ottoman forces moved to isolate and overwhelm the smaller and scattered British outposts.
- Attack on Bir El Mazar, 15-17 September 1916
- Shown are the actions taken when the Egyptian Expeditionary Force attempted to coordinate a three-dimensional attack with air, land and sea forces across large areas over several days against Ottoman/German forces.
- The Capture of Magdhaba, 23 December 1916
- Shown are the actions taken when British forces, with inadequate reconnaissance and planning, surrounded and assaulted a strongly positioned Ottoman force.
INFORMATION CHARTS:
There are 3 informational charts included in this volume, and they are:
- Key to military symbols
- Key to unit identification
- Listing of 26 military abbreviations
CONCLUSION:
As with the other Osprey Publishing titles I was impressed with this book. This is a very nice reference book that contains well written informative text, many subject specific photographs and illustrations, well detailed captions and more, all detailing military operations in Sinai during World War I to have control of the Suez Canal. As with the other Osprey Publishing titles, I have no hesitation recommending this book to others as it will be a welcome addition to one’s personal reference library.
Osprey Publishing also offers Sinai 1916-17, The Fight for the Suez Canal as:
Ebook (Epub & Mobi) ISBN: 978-1-4728-6780-3
and
Ebook (PDF) ISBN: 978-1-4728-6781-0
Osprey Publishing’s, Sinai 1916-17, The Fight for the Suez Canal is also available as a Kindle version through Amazon.
PRICE:
UK £16.99 / US $25.00 / CAN $33.00
This book was provided to me by Osprey Publishing. Please be sure to mention that you saw the book reviewed here on the KitMaker Network when making your purchase. Thank you.
