The second phase began at 03:00 on 2 November when the 156th Brigade of the 52nd (Lowland) Division launched the first attack on the El Arish Redoubt. This attack was aimed at breaking the line of defensive fortifications consisting of three groups of trench complexes and redoubts. These were the El Arish, Rafa, and Cricket redoubts, which were connected by a "series of trench lines several layers thick, and backed by other trenches and strong points" stretching along the seaward defences to the west of Umbrella Hill. The attack on El Arish redoubt was to be supported by two of the six available tanks of the Palestine Tank Detachment's eight tanks.