engaged them with high explosive and shrapnel; the raiders flew through a flurry of white, black and green bursts. The Martinsyde dropped a bomb fair in the centre of the aerodrome; two bombs hit tents; others made direct hits on the railway to Beersheba and the station. A Fokker and an Aviatik took to the air but were driven off. After photographing Beersheba and the damage caused by the bombs, the airmen returned, reconnoitring Khan Yunis and Rafah on the way. All machines arrived safely, after having spent seven hours in flight. Two days later a German aeroplane retaliated by bombing Cairo. Railway building: Sinai On 17 November EEF railhead reached east of Salmana from Kantara, the water pipeline with its complex associated pumping stations built by Army Engineers and the Egyptian Labour Corps had reached Romani. Bir el Mazar, formerly the forward base of the Ottoman Army was taken over by the Anzac Mounted Division on 25 November 1916 the day before railhead. By 1 December the end of the most recently laid railway line was east of Mazar from Kantara. The Ottomans constructed a branch railway line running south from Ramleh, on the Jaffa–Jerusalem railway, to Beersheba, by relaying rails taken from the Jaffa–Ramleh line. German engineers directed the construction of stone ashlar bridges and culverts when the line was extended from Beersheba. It had almost reached the Wadi el Arish in December 1916 when Magdhaba was captured. Battle of Magdhaba, December 1916 On 21 December, after a night march of , part of the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade and the Anzac Mounted Division commanded by Chauvel entered El Arish, which had been abandoned by the Ottoman forces, who retreated to Magdhaba. The Turkish outpost of Magdhaba was some to the southeast into the Sinai desert, from El Arish on the Mediterranean coast. It was the last obstacle to the Allied advance into Palestine. The Desert Column under Chetwode also arrived that day. Chauvel, with the agreement of Chetwode, set out to attack the Turkish forces at Magdhaba with the Anzac Mounted Division. Leaving at about midnight on 22 December, the Anzac Mounted Division was in a position by 0350 on 23 December, to see Ottoman campfires still some miles away at Magdhaba. With the 1st Light Horse Brigade in reserve, Chauvel sent the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade and the 3rd Light Horse Brigade to move on