Division tasked with taking Ali Mansur and the adjoining hills. 157th Brigade slipped quietly into its positions before 01.00, and at 04.45 (before dawn) it advanced up the El Burjaliye Ridge to attack the cliffs of Ali Mansur, with 1/7th HLI advancing in the centre led by Lt-Col Galbraith. As the light grew, the Turks opened fire, and the British artillery bombardment began. When the bombardment ended, HLI patrols scaled the cliffs and were soon at the top, firing down on retreating Turks. By 07.00 the brigade was in complete possession of the objective, with patrols pushing out across the plain behind. Consolidation was carried out under Turkish shellfire. The second phase of the attack on 19 April against Ali Muntar, for which 157th Bde was in reserve, was less successful. The Turkish positions known as 'the Labyrinth' had not been sufficiently suppressed by the bombardment and although 155th (South Scottish) Brigade took a lunette on Outpost Hill, it could not be held, and changed hands several times. It was finally abandoned at 18.20, just as 1/7th HLI arrived to reinforce the position. 1/7th HLI then helped 156th (Scottish Rifles) Brigade to establish a line across the ridge. They dug all night in the hard ground, but by daybreak on 20 April the trench was less than 1 metre deep and came under mortar fire. Several men of the 1/7th HLI were killed trying to get water through to the men pinned down in this trench; the battalion lost 34 men by sniping during the day. At midnight the advanced line was withdrawn to a stronger defence line in rear. During the four-day battle the 1/7th HLI lost 4 officers and 14 ORs killed, 1 officer and 7 ORs missing, and 3 officers and 115 ORs wounded. Most of the missing were in fact dead, and many of the wounded also died. By the autumn of 1917 the EEF had been revitalised by the arrival of Sir Edmund Allenby as commander-in-chief, and the next operation (the 3rd Battle of Gaza, 31 October–7 November) was much better planned and successful. 52nd (L) Division down on the coast carried out a holding action while the Desert Mounted Corps swept round the Turkish flank. The Turks withdrew to defend the Wadi el Hesi, with 52nd (L) Division well up in pursuit. 157th Brigade led this pursuit, having been in reserve, and made for