On January 1917, World War I, the British advanced from South and got closer to Beer Sheva.
The Turks tried to build a defensive line and recruited Jewish workers from all of Eretz Israel. When Beer Sheva came in to the range of English cannons the workers were evacuated to the north. On Monday night January 15, 1917 , a group of workers waiting to be transported the next day entered a train car to get warm. They played cards and lit a small light in the car.
A British airplane spotted the light and bombarded the train. 16 workers were killed, some were wounded.
A Month later a British airplane was shot down, it’s pilot, Lord Seshin, a Jew from London, asked what damage he caused to the Turks a month earlier when bombing the train in Beer Sheva. When hearing that he killed 16 Jewish workers he was devastated to hear the results.
On 1987, Seventy years after the event, a memorial was held in the old Turkish train station in Beer Sheva, a plaque was placed on the station wall near the place of bombing.