 Just before midnight on 3 / 4 August , three columns of the German Pasha I and the 4th Ottoman Army , consisting of about 8 @,@ 000 men , began their attack on an outpost line held by the 1st Light Horse Brigade three and a half hours after the return of the 2nd Light Horse Brigade from their regular daytime patrol . In addition to the usual officers patrols left out overnight to monitor the enemy 's positions , Chauvel decided to leave out for the night the whole of the 1st Light Horse Brigade to hold an outpost line of about 3 miles ( 4 @.@ 8 km ) , covering all entrances to the <unk> plateau which formed the Romani position and which were not protected by infantry posts . A shot or two fired out in the desert to the south @-@ east of their position put the long <unk> line of the 1st and 2nd Light Horse Regiment ( 1st Light Horse Brigade ) on alert about midnight , when the 3rd Light Horse Regiment ( 1st Light Horse Brigade ) was called up to the front line . The Austrian , German and Ottoman advance paused after finding the <unk> held by the light horsemen , but at about 01 : 00 , a sudden heavy burst of fire along the whole front began the attack of the considerably superior Ottoman and German forces , and by 02 : 00 they had in many places advanced to within 50 yards ( 46 m ) of the Australian line . 
