When the 62 Punjabis Saved the Suez Canal

(Note-62nd Punjab is now known as Ist Punjab

Battalion of Pakistan Army

Major Agha H Amin (Retired)

1999
The British Indian Army played a central and decisive role in
the defence of Suez Canal when attacked by the Ottoman
Army in February 1915. When the 62nd Punjabis along with
Allied Warships saved the Suez Canal

A H AMIN

How many people in todays Pakistan know that there is one

battalion in the Pakistan as well as Indian Army which played a
major role in saving the strategic jugular vein of the British
Empire i.e The Suez Canal. The reasons for this ignorance
can be squarely ascribed to lack of interest in military history
in Pakistan and to the fact that the British as an habit always
downplayed battles in which non-White troops had performed
well albeit under White Officers!

It was through the memorable poetry of Ex Brigadier Siddique

Satti MC of the Pindi Conspiracy fame that I discovered what
the Indian Army had gone through in the First World War.

My brother was blown to bits in Flanders, my cousins died of

Maggots in their wounds at Kutalmara so ran Siddiques
verses.

Siddique had spent some years of his life incarcerated in the

notorious Mach Jail and it was a treat to spend an evening with
him!

His anecdotes, recollections and yarns were a finer substitute

for a chemical substance of another kind! It was through
Siddique that I discovered that the Indians had done
something at the Suez Canal in the First World War! Initially I
thought that this was one of those yarns that is the result of
senility that finally overcomes all men at a certain stage in life!

Later research, however, proved that Siddique had a point!

The 62nd Punjabis a battalion of Punjabi, Jat, Sikhs and
Muslims had done something in Egypt! They had saved the
Suez Canal from being captured by the Turks in February 1915
!

THE BATTLE OF SUEZ CANAL FEBRUARY 1915

Background

The Ottoman Army was lucky to have many Germans who

were as patriotic as many Turks. These Germans fought for
Ottoman Turkey in many theatres in Europe, Asia and Africa. It
was an interesting contest! Christian Europeans fighting for the
Ottoman Muslim when Indians including a very large number
of Muslims fought against the Ottoman Empire as part of the
British Indian Army!

The bulk of the Turkish forces were concentrated in Caucasus

against the Russians or in Mesopotamia against the British-
Indian Army. Turkey had very few troops to spare for the Suez
Canal but they possessed one German who had the vision and
the courage to plan an operation aimed at threatening the
British Empires jugular vein with just 25,000 men! This was
Colonel Baron Friedrich Von Kessentein, a blueblooded German
from Bavaria.
The reader may note that as early as 1881 out of total of
2,727 vessels which crossed the Suez Canal some 2,250 were
British. Thus the British presence in Egypt which at least
theoretically was a part of the Ottoman Empire as late as
1911!

Allied Dispositions
The Suez Canal at this time was defended by a relatively
stronger British-Indian Land-Naval force comprising eight
Allied Warships (Floating Batteries). Major General Wilson was
commanding the British Force with the designation GOC Canal
Defences. He had about 70,000 troops which included a large
number of Indians.

These included the 10th and 11th Indian Divisions, Imperial

Service Cavalry Brigade, Bikaner Camel Corps. The Indians,
some 25,000 or more were assigned the task of defending the
Suez Canal while the 42nd East Lancashire Division, British
Yeomans, some Australian and New Zealanders were held in
depth as reserve/counterattack force.

The artillery supporting this force consisted of three batteries

of Indian Mountain Artillery (now illustrious self propelled
artillery units of the Pakistan Army), one battery of Egyptian
Artillery and some other units.
To beef up this lack of artillery eight British and French
Warships were positioned in the Suez Canal. These included
HMS Ocean (armament-Four 12 Inch, Twelve 6 Inch, and 12
Twelve Pounder Guns), HMS Swiftsure a former Chilean Navy
ship (armament-Four 10 Inch, Fourteen 7.5 Inch, Fourteen 14
Pounders), HMS Minerva (Second Class Cruiser), HMS Clio
(Sloop), HMS Himalaya (armed merchantman), Royal Indian
Marine Troopship Hardinge, French Cruiser D
Entrecasteaux, French Coast Guard Ship Requin etc.

The British also had about thirteen aeroplanes for recce and
surveillance. These included Maurice Farmans and some
French Seaplanes. The operating range of these aircraft was
short, hence their inability to perform medium or long range
recce.

The Suez Canal was 107 Miles long and had a width varying
between 65 to 100 Yards in 1915. It was about 34 feet deep.
The British had excellent logistics with all the resources of
Egypt while the Turkish logistics were non-existent with the
waterless Sinai Desert at their back!

Turkish Plan of Attack

Ban Von Kessentein was the German military advisor with the
Turkish Expeditionary Force tasked to capture the Suez
Canal with its base at Beersheeba in Palestine. The total
strength of this force was 25,000 men.
It was supported by nine batteries of field artillery, one 150
mm (5.9 Inch) Howitzer battery and a sizeable quantity of
mines to attack British ships stationed in the Suez Canal.

The main Turk problem was not the Britisher or Indian

defending the Suez Canal but Water ! Providence was on
their side in the sense that winters of 1914 saw very heavy
rain in Sinai and there were some waterholes and wells which
could support the otherwise arduous march across the 140
Miles Sinai Desert.
The German advisers had estimated that 5,000 camels would
be required to carry water to support the attack force. 5,000
more camels were required to carry other stores including
ammunition, ration etc!

The Turkish Arab Colonial 23rd Homs and 25th Damascus

Divisions were to lead the attack while the decisive
breakthrough after establishment of bridgehead on the West
Bank was to be made by the crack Turk 10th Infantry Division!

Surprise was the key element in Baron Von Kessenteins plan !

The traditional attack route in the Sinai was along the
Mediterranean Coast.

Baron Von Kessentein, however, decided to go through the

central route Beersheba-Jifjaffa-Tussum-Ismailia. Ismailia was
the strategic target since its loss could demobilize all shipping
in the Suez Canal.

It controlled the Canals sluice gates and the sweet water canal
that supplied water to the troops along the canal. Kressenstein
planned two diversionary attacks to deceive the British at
Kanatra in the north and Kubr-Suez in the south.

The Battle for Suez -1915

The Turks crossed the Sinai through the waterless central
route in ten days without losing a single man or animal! The
Northern and Central Diversionary Forces comprised Bedouin
Irregulars and some Turkish units.

The Central Main Attack Force consisted of some 20,000

troops.

Baron Von Kessentein was in the leading column!

The British were already clear in late 1914 that the Turkish
would attack Suez Canal. Thus their aerial recce confirmed
that the main Turkish attack was coming in the centre.

Thus they reinforced the Central Sector where the 62nd

Punjabis, later more famous as the First Punjabis was
stationed in Tussum Area. The Sector was reinforced with the
2nd Rajputs.

Naik Safdar Ali of 62nd Punjabis played a crucial role in

repelling the main Turkish attack and was killed in action.He
was awarded a posthomus Indian Order of Merit .

The advance Turkish elements reached the Suez Canal

opposite Tussum on the night of 3rd February 1915.

This was one of the strongest sectors of the British defences

and included some ten infantry companies including the 62nd
Punjabis.

Three posts containing six companies in all were deployed on

the East bank of the Suez Canal. The West Bank was held by
six more companies.
The Turkish attack commenced at 0400 Hours with Turkish
infantry dragging rafts and pontoons into the canal. The
Turkish rafts and pontoons were obsolete, extremely heavy
and difficult to handle!

Nevertheless, the Turks were Turks and they carried them!

They were engaged by the 62nd Punjabis, one of whose
subalterns was a Britisher named Claude Auchinleck and the
128th Pioneers.

Turkish pontoon

The Turks were engaged by extremely heavy fire of machine

guns and the Naval Ship Hardinge, but they pressed home the
attack, some crossing the canal and reaching the west bank.

These indomitable men were bayonet charged by the 62nd

Punjabis. Most of the Arabs (and some Turks) from 23rd Homs
and 25th Damascus Division were killed while some were
taken prisoner.

The Turks had their own revenge! Their artillery engaged the
Hardinge and forced it to withdraw. Subsequently Requin and
D Entrecasteaux came into action and destroyed the Turkish
artillery.

The ships were too much for the Turks and they withdrew the
next day! naval Guns in the final reckoning made the Turks
abandon their attack! The main Turkish attack division i.e the
purely Turk 10th Division which was supposed to launch the
main attack was never launched! The British were too
psychologically shattered to pursue and allowed the Turks an
uninterrupted withdrawal!
The Turks lost some 192 Killed, 371 Wounded and 727
Missing. The British Indian losses were 32 Killed and 132
Wounded. One of the Turkish killed included a German Staff
Officer! The Germans had preserved the tradition of leading
from the front!

Analysis

In the strategic sense the Turks were the winners. Their

tremendous feat of crossing the Sinai shattered the earlier
British belief that the Sinai was impassable for a large force
beyond 5,000 troops.

The British were forced to give greater importance to the Suez

Canal and forced to increase their garrison in Egypt to some
400,000 men!

This was a very heavy drain on the resources of the British

Empire. The Turks had crossed the Suez Canal without any six
year effort like the Egyptians in 1973!

They had done so in face of the naval guns without any MIG
aircraft supporting them!

The 62nd Punjabis also fought well! They did their duty despite
the fact that they were mercenaries and had no reason to hate
the Turks!

Baron Friedrich Von Kressentein later rose to the rank of a

general and commanded the Turkish 8th Army in the Caucasus
against the Russians in 1917 with great distinction!

Great credit goes to the British infantry battalion officers

leading the 62nd Punjabis and other Indian units. They had
prepared their defences meticulously and played a major role
in defeating the Turk infantry assault.

The infantry on both sides equally well, but the Turkish

position was far more arduous than the British in the logistic
sense and the final credit goes to the warships who destroyed
the Turkish artillery!

The infantryman however always magnifies his role while

reducing the more decisive role of artillery ! This is a human
failing in all armies !