On account of the assistance rendered to the British infantry by tanks during the battle of the Somme a decision was arrived at in England to despatch a number of these machines to Egypt to assist our troops in the Sinai peninsula, especially in the neighbourhood of El Arish, south of the Turkish frontier. The number originally decided on was twelve, but this was eventually cut down to eight, and, through an unfortunate error, old experimental machines were sent out instead of new ones as intended.
The detachment, under the command of Major N. Nutt, consisted of 22 officers and 226 other ranks drawn from the original E Company, and together with its tanks, workshops, and transport, it embarked at Devonport and Avonmouth in December 1916, arriving in Egypt during the following month.
Demonstrations and schemes were at once arranged for so that the staffs of the various fighting formations could witness what tanks were able to accomplish. These schemes were carried out on the sand dunes near Gilban, some ten miles north of Kantara on the Suez Canal.
In February,[22] orders were suddenly received one day for the detachment to move with all possible speed to the fighting zone. This was carried out, and within three hours of receiving the orders the entire detachment, with tanks and accessories, had entrained at Gilban, and was speeding northwards towards the area of operations. Next day a delay occurred at El Arish, which the day previously had been captured by the Australians; but, the same evening, the train proceeded to Rafa, a frontier town, which had only just been evacuated by the Turks, and early next morning reached Khan Yunus, some fifteen miles south-west of Gaza, an old Crusader stronghold surrounded by vast fig groves and other vegetation; here the detachment remained for ten days.
During this halt the First Battle of Gaza had come to an end, our troops having been obliged to retire and take up a position to the south of the town owing to the appearance of strong Turkish reinforcements from the direction of Beersheba; these threatened the British communications.
Hostilities now ceased and preparations were begun for the Second Battle of Gaza, which was to prove one of the fiercest contests of the war in its eastern theatre. For this battle, early in March, the Tank Detachment moved from Khan Yunus to Deir el Belah.