Battle of Broken Hill
| Battle of Broken Hill | |
|---|---|
| Part of home front during World War I | |
The White Rocks Reserve at Broken Hill, the location of Mahomed and Abdullah's last stand after their attack on the picnic train on New Year's Day 1915. | |
| Location | Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia |
| Date | 1 January 1915 |
| Target | Australian civilians |
Attack type | Mass shooting |
| Deaths | 6 (including both perpetrators) |
| Injured | 7 |
| Perpetrator | Gool Badsha Mahomed Mulla Abdullah |
| Motive | Support for the Ottoman Empire |
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The Battle of Broken Hill was a fatal incident which took place in Australia near Broken Hill, New South Wales, on 1 January 1915. Two men fired with rifles at a passing picnic train, killing four people and wounding seven more, before being killed by police and military officers. Though politically and religiously motivated, the men were not members of any sanctioned armed force and the attacks were criminal. The two men, Mulla Abdullah and Gool Badsha Mahomed, were later identified as Muslim 'Ghans' from colonial India who believed they were fighting a holy war under the proclamation from Mehmed V.
The events at Broken Hill on New Year's Day 1915 represent the only documented engagement with the enemy to take place on Australian soil during World War I.