On 1 November, the assault of Umbrella Hilla sand dune south–west of Gaza to the west of the Rafa to Gaza road overlooking the main objectiveswas to begin at 23:00. The defending garrison was "assumed to be about 350 strong". However, at 10:50 a preliminary move into No Man's Land was observed by Ottoman soldiers in Fisher's Orchard, who gave the alarm and began firing machine guns and rifles from the Ottoman trenches on Umbrella Hill. At 23:00, an intense EEF bombardment began enabling a tape to be laid, along which the attacking troops formed up to launch their attack ten minutes later. Under cover of the intense ten-minute bombardment, the 1/7th Battalion, Scottish Rifles with one company of 1/8th Battalion, Scottish Rifles (156th Brigade, 52nd (Lowland) Division) attacked Umbrella Hill. After killing many of the defenders, they quickly captured the hill, three officers, fifty-five Ottoman soldiers, three Lewis guns and numerous bombs. The attackers suffered light casualties; however the sand dune was difficult to defend because the Ottoman trencheswithout revetmentshad virtually disappeared during the previous bombardments. The following Ottoman bombardment of Umbrella Hill caused 103 casualties to the 1/7th Battalion Scottish Rifles during the next twenty-four hours. However, with the hill captured by the 52nd (Lowland) Division, the main attack could begin.