Surafend affair

1918 CE.

Shown on the map at 31.959°, 34.839°.

The Surafend massacre (Arabic: مجزرة صرفند) was a premeditated massacre committed against inhabitants of the village of Sarafand al-Amar (modern-day Tzrifin) and a Bedouin camp in Ottoman Palestine by occupying Australian, New Zealand and Scottish soldiers on 10 December 1918. Occurring at the conclusion of the Sinai and Palestine campaign of World War I, Allied occupational forces in the region, in particular Australian and New Zealand troops, gradually grew frustrated over being subject to petty theft and an alleged murder by local Arabs without redress. On the night of 9 December, a New Zealand soldier named Leslie Lowry was killed by a thief who had stolen his kitbag. Lowry died without speaking, but alongside his body the troops found some pieces of evidence, including a piece of Arabic clothing, and (allegedly) a set of footprints leading towards Surafend. In response, around 200 ANZAC troops massacred its male inhabitants and burned down the village in retaliation. No one was ever prosecuted for the massacre.

Text from the Wikipedia article Surafend massacre, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Everything else in 1918 CE

HistoryLayer draws the world as it was in any year from 123,000 BCE to 2026. Move the slider and the borders redraw for that year; the map carries 23,890 events, 12,790 people, 837 wars and 13,183 cities, each one readable in place. Signing in is optional and lets you keep what you find.

HistoryLayer
1914CE
World Wars
123,000 BCE2026 CE
54 stops — one per surviving map on file, evenly spaced drag the pin · ←→ steps one stop the same 54 stops by true elapsed time ↑
Map & filters
Show on the map
Filter
Colour by
Polity Empire