Battle of Chunuk Bair
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Chunuk Bair (Turkish
: Conk Bayırı Muharebesi) was a World War I
battle fought between the Ottoman defenders and troops of New Zealand
and Britain
. Allied units that made the summit of Chunuk Bair early a.m. 8th August 1915, to engage the Turks were: Wellington Battalion (NZ) of Anzac Division, 7th Gloucestershire [39th Brigade] (UK) and 8th Welch Pioneers (UK) both of the British 13th Division; who were reached and reinforced in the afternoon by 2 squads of the Auckland Mounted Rifles (NZ) Anzac Div. These first summit holders, decimated by withering fire, were relieved at 10.30pm on 8th August by the Otago Battalion (NZ), and the Wellington Mounted Rifles (2nd Wellington MR and 6th Manawatu MR) (NZ) Anzac Div; who were in turn relieved by 8pm on 9th August by the 6th Loyal North Lancashires (UK) and 5th Wiltshires (UK) who were massacred and driven off the summit in the early morning of 10th August by Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk)'s massed attack . The capture of Chunuk Bair, "Çanak Bayırı" (Basin Slope) in Turkish (now "Conk Bayırı"), the secondary peak of the Sari Bair range, was one of the two objectives of the Allied August Offensive
that was launched at Anzac
and Suvla to try to break the stalemate that the campaign had become.
The capture of Chunuk Bair was the only success for the Allies of the campaign. However, the success was fleeting as the position proved untenable. The Ottomans recaptured the peak after a few days and were never to relinquish it again.
under the command of General Alexander Godley, who was known for his callous indifference to the plight of his troops. Two columns of troops were directed at two peaks of the dominating ridge which were expected to be captured by dawn on 7 August. Both columns were preceded by a covering force to clear the Ottoman outposts and protect the flanks of the main assaulting force.
The left, or northern, column of the Australia
n 4th Infantry Brigade and the 29th India
n Brigade, were heading for Hill 971, the highest point on the Sari Bair range. They had the furthest to travel over completely unfamiliar terrain and never got close to their objective. A battalion of Gurkha
s from the Indian Brigade, commanded by Major Cecil Allanson, reached a secondary objective, the neighbouring summit of Hill Q, on 9 August but were forced to retreat shortly afterwards.
The right, or southern, column was heading for Chunuk Bair. Though lower than Hill 971, this peak overlooked the north of the Anzac perimeter and was used as a base for an artillery
battery. The main Sari Bair ridge extended from Chunuk Bair down into the Anzac sector via Battleship Hill and Baby 700. From Baby 700 the ridge branched towards the beach via the Nek and south to Lone Pine via the line of tenuous Anzac positions known as Quinn's, Courtney's and Steele's Posts. The capture of Chunuk Bair would provide considerable relief to the Anzac sector.
Spur which ran from the beach to the peak of Chunuk Bair. The Ottomans had outposts along the spur at the Table Top, Destroyer
Hill and nearest the beach at Old No. 3 Outpost. There was also an Ottoman outpost on Bauchop's Hill to the north. All these outposts had to be cleared by the covering force, the four regiments of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade
, before the main assault column could proceed up the spur to the summit. The Auckland
regiment cleared Old No. 3 Outpost and the Wellington regiment took Destroyer Hill and the Table Top. The Otago
and Canterbury
regiments captured Bauchop's Hill, which was named after the Otago regiment's commander, Lieutenant Colonel
Arthur Bauchop who was killed during the attack. In all the New Zealanders lost about 100 men in clearing the outposts and while their efforts were successful, the plan was now running two hours behind schedule, making it difficult to reach the summit before first light.
The main force of the right column was the New Zealand Infantry Brigade under the command of Brigadier General Francis Johnston
. Polite accounts claim Johnston was 'ill' on the night of the attack. Other less euphemistic versions maintain that he was 'fighting drunk'. The brigade's four battalions, reduced by sickness and battle, mustered about 2800 men. The advance was initially made up the valleys, or deres, on either side of Rhododendron Spur and once past the Table Top, the New Zealanders climbed on to the ridge, leaving about 1000 yards to travel to the summit.
The three battalions travelling along the north side of the spur were in position by 4.30 a.m., shortly before dawn. They advanced to a knoll dubbed "The Apex" which was only about 500 yards from the summit where at the time there were only a handful of Ottoman infantry. The Canterbury battalion on the south side of the spur was lost and delayed. Johnston made the fatal decision to wait for the last battalion to arrive before making the attack.
The attack on Chunuk Bair was a main element in a wider offensive. At 4.30 a.m. a supporting attack was planned at the Nek against Baby 700, intended to coincide with the New Zealanders attacking from Chunuk Bair down onto the rear of the Ottoman trenches on Battleship Hill. The Battle of the Nek
went ahead nonetheless, with tragic consequences.
Lieutenant Colonel Hans Kannengiesser
, had reached the summit and was preparing its defence. In broad daylight, after an exhausting climb and faced by stiffening opposition, the prospects for a New Zealand assault against the peak looked slim. Nevertheless General Godley ordered Johnston to attack.
Two hundred yards beyond where the New Zealanders were positioned on the Apex was another knoll called "The Pinnacle" from which it was a straight climb to the summit. Off the side of the spur to the north was a small, sheltered plateau known as "The Farm".
Johnston told the Auckland battalion to attack. About 100 made it as far as the Pinnacle where they desperately tried to dig in. Around 300 fell as casualties between there and the Apex. Johnston told the Wellington battalion to continue the attack. The battalion's commander, Lieutenant Colonel William Malone refused, stating that he was not willing to order his men to carry out a hopeless attack. He said his battalion would take Chunuk Bair at night.
During the day the New Zealanders were reinforced by two battalions from the British 13th (Western) Division
; the 7th Battalion of the The Gloucestershire Regiment
and the pioneer
s of 8th Battalion, the Welch Regiment.
Shortly after 3 a.m. on the morning of 8 August, following a naval bombardment of the peak, the Wellingtonians, followed by the Gloucesters, reached Chunuk Bair virtually unopposed. The preceding barrage had driven most of the Ottoman defenders away as the ground was too hard and rocky for deep entrenchments.
Chunuk Bair would prove hard to defend. It was only possible to scrape shallow trenches amongst the rocks. The peak was exposed to fire from the main Ottoman line on Battleship Hill to the south and from Hill Q to the north. If the original plan for the offensive had worked, Hill Q would have been in Allied hands. Allanson's battalion of Gurkhas reached it briefly the following day but were in no position to offer relief to the troops on Chunuk Bair.
By 5 a.m. on 8 August the Ottomans were counter-attacking against the Wellingtonians. The slope of the hill was so steep that the Ottomans could get within 20 metres of the trenches without being seen. The New Zealander fought desperately to hold off the Ottomans, firing their rifles and those of their fallen companions until the wood of the stock was too hot to touch. When the Ottomans got up to the trenches the fighting continued with the bayonet. The Ottomans overran part of the New Zealand trench and took some prisoners. In full daylight, reinforcements were only reaching the summit at a trickle.
The fight raged all day until the trenches were clogged with the New Zealand dead. Around 5 p.m. Malone was killed by a misdirected artillery shell, fired from either Anzac or a British ship.
The Ottomans had reclaimed the east side of the summit and were reinforced by the arrival of the 8th Division from Helles. As the extent of the Allied offensive became apparent, General Otto Liman von Sanders
, the commander of the Ottoman forces in the Dardanelles, appointed his competent officer, Colonel Mustafa Kemal
, the commander for the defence of Suvla and Sari Bair.
As darkness fell on the evening of 8 August, the fighting subsided and the Wellington Battalion was relieved. Out of the 760 men of the battalion who had reached the summit, 711 had become casualties. Whereas Malone had resisted sending his men on a suicidal charge when told to follow the Auckland Battalion on 7 August, a day later the outcome would be the same. The New Army battalions had suffered the same. 417 casualties amongst the Welch pioneers and 350 amongst the Gloucesters including all the officers of the battalion. For the wounded the suffering was only beginning. Some took three days to travel from the higher reaches of Rhododendron Spur to the beach, a little over a kilometre away.
General Godley remained at his headquarters near the beach, largely ignorant of the state of the fighting. His plan for 9 August was to take Hill Q. The main force for the assault was a brigade commanded by Brigadier General
Anthony Baldwin. Baldwin commanded the 38th Brigade of the 13th Division but the situation was so confused that the force he led towards Hill Q contained only one of his normal battalions, the 6th East Lancashire
s. He also had the 9th Worcestershires and 9th Warwicks from the 39th Brigade and the 5th Wiltshires from the 40th Brigade (who would later be redirected to reinforce Chunuk Bair). Plus he led two 10th (Irish) Division battalions; the 10th Hampshires and 6th Royal Irish Rifles from the 29th Brigade. Most of the 10th Division had landed at Suvla on 7 August.
This force would climb to Hill Q from the Farm. At the same time the New Zealanders on the right from Chunuk Bair and units of General Vaughn Cox's Indian Brigade on the left would also attack the hill. The plan fell apart when Baldwin's battalions became lost in the dark trying to find the Farm which they did not reach until after dawn, around 6 a.m.. The only force to reach Hill Q was Allanson's battalion of Gurkhas. They suffered the same fate as Colonel Malone, shelled by their own artillery, and their stay on the hill was brief.
With the offensive once again stalled, the New Zealanders on Chunuk Bair had to endure another day of Ottoman harassment. As night fell the remaining New Zealanders moved back to the Apex and were replaced by two New Army battalions, the 6th Battalion of the The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment and some of the 5th Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment from Baldwin's force.
On the morning of 10 August Mustafa Kemal led an overwhelming Ottoman counter-attack. If Chunuk Bair, the one Allied success of the August offensive, was recaptured, the battle was effectively over. His plan lacked subtlety but was brutally effective - overrun the defenders by sheer weight of numbers. Unlike Godley though, Mustafa Kemal led his men from the front. During the fight he was struck in the chest by shrapnel but was saved by his pocket watch which absorbed the blow.
There were about 2000 defenders on or below the summit of Chunuk Bair. Baldwin's brigade at the Farm numbered a further 3000. The Ottomans swept over the Lancashire battalion on the summit, wiping it out to the last man. The Wiltshires were killed or driven into the steep valleys. The Ottomans headed down Rhododendron Spur towards the Pinnacle, driving the New Army troops before them. New Zealand machine gunners positioned at the Apex shot down the Ottomans as they tried to continue down the spur. The gunners could not discriminate friend from foe so they also killed many New Army troops who were amongst the charging Ottomans. The Ottomans descended to the small plateau of the Farm and annihilated Baldwin's brigade. About 1000 British were killed, the rest driven off into the surrounding gullies.
was awarded for actions at Chunuk Bair to Corporal Cyril Bassett
, who repaired phone lines while under fire.
A memorial arch, the Malone Memorial Gate, commemorating the heroic Lieutenant Colonel Malone was constructed in Stratford, New Zealand
in 1923 and a plaque unveiled in the New Zealand Parliament's Grand Hall in 2005.
The loss of Chunuk Bair marked the end of the Battle of Sari Bair
. Fighting would continue elsewhere until 21 August but there would be no more attempts to capture the heights. The Apex formed the new front line on Rhododendron Spur. In 1919 burial teams found the Farm still covered in the bones of the men from Baldwin's brigade, who were interred in The Farm Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery
when it was constructed on the site after the Armistice.
This battle cannot be sufficiently retold by using mere words. It was a time of great tragedy and valor for the Ottoman people. Many legends survive of events during the battle - such as the friendship between the aggressors and the defenders during ceasefire breaks. The only major aftermath is that all the young people who shed blood there now rest in peace together, at the same place. When observed with those days' conditions, neither ANZAC nor Ottoman soldiers had any option but to do their duty. People from both sides get together every year to remember those days and share mutual understanding.
writer Maurice Shadbolt
produced a play Once on Chunuk Bair in 1982. A film version Chunuk Bair
(Daybreak Pictures) was released in 1991.
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
: Conk Bayırı Muharebesi) was a World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
battle fought between the Ottoman defenders and troops of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and Britain
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
. Allied units that made the summit of Chunuk Bair early a.m. 8th August 1915, to engage the Turks were: Wellington Battalion (NZ) of Anzac Division, 7th Gloucestershire [39th Brigade] (UK) and 8th Welch Pioneers (UK) both of the British 13th Division; who were reached and reinforced in the afternoon by 2 squads of the Auckland Mounted Rifles (NZ) Anzac Div. These first summit holders, decimated by withering fire, were relieved at 10.30pm on 8th August by the Otago Battalion (NZ), and the Wellington Mounted Rifles (2nd Wellington MR and 6th Manawatu MR) (NZ) Anzac Div; who were in turn relieved by 8pm on 9th August by the 6th Loyal North Lancashires (UK) and 5th Wiltshires (UK) who were massacred and driven off the summit in the early morning of 10th August by Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk)'s massed attack . The capture of Chunuk Bair, "Çanak Bayırı" (Basin Slope) in Turkish (now "Conk Bayırı"), the secondary peak of the Sari Bair range, was one of the two objectives of the Allied August Offensive
Battle of Sari Bair
The Battle of Sari Bair , also known as the August Offensive, was the final attempt made by the British in August 1915 to seize control of the Gallipoli peninsula from the Ottoman Empire during First World War.The Battle of Gallipoli had raged on two fronts, Anzac and Helles, for three months since...
that was launched at Anzac
Anzac Cove
Anzac Cove is a small cove on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey. It became famous as the site of World War I landing of the ANZAC on April 25, 1915. The cove is a mere long, bounded by the headlands of Ari Burnu to the north and Little Ari Burnu, known as Hell Spit, to the south...
and Suvla to try to break the stalemate that the campaign had become.
The capture of Chunuk Bair was the only success for the Allies of the campaign. However, the success was fleeting as the position proved untenable. The Ottomans recaptured the peak after a few days and were never to relinquish it again.
Prelude
On the night of 6 August, at the same time as the British IX Corps began landing at Suvla to the north, the breakout from the Anzac sector was made by units of the New Zealand and Australian DivisionNew Zealand and Australian Division
The New Zealand and Australian Division was formed at the start of the Battle of Gallipoli as a composite division under the command of New Zealand general Alexander Godley. At the start of World War I New Zealand had mustered insufficient infantry battalions to form their own division while...
under the command of General Alexander Godley, who was known for his callous indifference to the plight of his troops. Two columns of troops were directed at two peaks of the dominating ridge which were expected to be captured by dawn on 7 August. Both columns were preceded by a covering force to clear the Ottoman outposts and protect the flanks of the main assaulting force.
The left, or northern, column of the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n 4th Infantry Brigade and the 29th India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n Brigade, were heading for Hill 971, the highest point on the Sari Bair range. They had the furthest to travel over completely unfamiliar terrain and never got close to their objective. A battalion of Gurkha
Gurkha
Gurkha are people from Nepal who take their name from the Gorkha District. Gurkhas are best known for their history in the Indian Army's Gorkha regiments, the British Army's Brigade of Gurkhas and the Nepalese Army. Gurkha units are closely associated with the kukri, a forward-curving Nepalese knife...
s from the Indian Brigade, commanded by Major Cecil Allanson, reached a secondary objective, the neighbouring summit of Hill Q, on 9 August but were forced to retreat shortly afterwards.
The right, or southern, column was heading for Chunuk Bair. Though lower than Hill 971, this peak overlooked the north of the Anzac perimeter and was used as a base for an artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
battery. The main Sari Bair ridge extended from Chunuk Bair down into the Anzac sector via Battleship Hill and Baby 700. From Baby 700 the ridge branched towards the beach via the Nek and south to Lone Pine via the line of tenuous Anzac positions known as Quinn's, Courtney's and Steele's Posts. The capture of Chunuk Bair would provide considerable relief to the Anzac sector.
Rhododendron Spur
The approach to the peak was made along RhododendronRhododendron
Rhododendron is a genus of over 1 000 species of woody plants in the heath family, most with showy flowers...
Spur which ran from the beach to the peak of Chunuk Bair. The Ottomans had outposts along the spur at the Table Top, Destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
Hill and nearest the beach at Old No. 3 Outpost. There was also an Ottoman outpost on Bauchop's Hill to the north. All these outposts had to be cleared by the covering force, the four regiments of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade
New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade
The New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, consisting usually of four units of mounted infantry, fought in World War I and World War II. Initially a milita, under the instruction of Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Henry Banks they formed the core of the New Zealand Army following successful service in the...
, before the main assault column could proceed up the spur to the summit. The Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
regiment cleared Old No. 3 Outpost and the Wellington regiment took Destroyer Hill and the Table Top. The Otago
Otago
Otago is a region of New Zealand in the south of the South Island. The region covers an area of approximately making it the country's second largest region. The population of Otago is...
and Canterbury
Canterbury, New Zealand
The New Zealand region of Canterbury is mainly composed of the Canterbury Plains and the surrounding mountains. Its main city, Christchurch, hosts the main office of the Christchurch City Council, the Canterbury Regional Council - called Environment Canterbury - and the University of Canterbury.-...
regiments captured Bauchop's Hill, which was named after the Otago regiment's commander, Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
Arthur Bauchop who was killed during the attack. In all the New Zealanders lost about 100 men in clearing the outposts and while their efforts were successful, the plan was now running two hours behind schedule, making it difficult to reach the summit before first light.
The main force of the right column was the New Zealand Infantry Brigade under the command of Brigadier General Francis Johnston
Francis Earl Johnston
Brigadier-General Francis Earl Johnston, C.B. was a New Zealand army officer of the First World War. He was commander of the 1st New Zealand Infantry Brigade in France.-Early life:...
. Polite accounts claim Johnston was 'ill' on the night of the attack. Other less euphemistic versions maintain that he was 'fighting drunk'. The brigade's four battalions, reduced by sickness and battle, mustered about 2800 men. The advance was initially made up the valleys, or deres, on either side of Rhododendron Spur and once past the Table Top, the New Zealanders climbed on to the ridge, leaving about 1000 yards to travel to the summit.
The three battalions travelling along the north side of the spur were in position by 4.30 a.m., shortly before dawn. They advanced to a knoll dubbed "The Apex" which was only about 500 yards from the summit where at the time there were only a handful of Ottoman infantry. The Canterbury battalion on the south side of the spur was lost and delayed. Johnston made the fatal decision to wait for the last battalion to arrive before making the attack.
The attack on Chunuk Bair was a main element in a wider offensive. At 4.30 a.m. a supporting attack was planned at the Nek against Baby 700, intended to coincide with the New Zealanders attacking from Chunuk Bair down onto the rear of the Ottoman trenches on Battleship Hill. The Battle of the Nek
Battle of the Nek
The Battle of the Nek was a small World War I battle fought as part of the Gallipoli campaign. "The Nek" was a narrow stretch of ridge in the Anzac battlefield on the Gallipoli peninsula. The name derives from the Afrikaans word for a "mountain pass" but the terrain itself was a perfect bottleneck...
went ahead nonetheless, with tragic consequences.
Chunuk Bair (Çanak Bayırı/Conk Bayırı)
The opportunity for a swift victory at Chunuk Bair had been lost. By 8 a.m. the Ottomans had started firing on the New Zealanders on the spur. The commander of the Ottoman 9th Division, GermanGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Lieutenant Colonel Hans Kannengiesser
Hans Kannengiesser
Hans Kannengiesser was a German military officer during World War I. He served with the Ottoman Army during the battle of Gallipoli. As opposed to being a liaison officer with the Ottoman Army, he commanded Ottoman troops in the field including the Ottoman 9th Division...
, had reached the summit and was preparing its defence. In broad daylight, after an exhausting climb and faced by stiffening opposition, the prospects for a New Zealand assault against the peak looked slim. Nevertheless General Godley ordered Johnston to attack.
Two hundred yards beyond where the New Zealanders were positioned on the Apex was another knoll called "The Pinnacle" from which it was a straight climb to the summit. Off the side of the spur to the north was a small, sheltered plateau known as "The Farm".
Johnston told the Auckland battalion to attack. About 100 made it as far as the Pinnacle where they desperately tried to dig in. Around 300 fell as casualties between there and the Apex. Johnston told the Wellington battalion to continue the attack. The battalion's commander, Lieutenant Colonel William Malone refused, stating that he was not willing to order his men to carry out a hopeless attack. He said his battalion would take Chunuk Bair at night.
During the day the New Zealanders were reinforced by two battalions from the British 13th (Western) Division
British 13th (Western) Division
The 13th Division was one of the Kitchener's Army divisions raised from volunteers by Lord Kitchener. It fought at Gallipoli and in Mesopotamia and Persia during the First World War.- 1914 - 1915 :...
; the 7th Battalion of the The Gloucestershire Regiment
The Gloucestershire Regiment
The Gloucestershire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army. Nicknamed "The Glorious Glosters", the regiment carried more battle honours on their regimental colours than any other British Army line regiment.-Origins and early history:...
and the pioneer
Combat engineering
A combat engineer, also called pioneer or sapper in many armies, is a soldier who performs a variety of construction and demolition tasks under combat conditions...
s of 8th Battalion, the Welch Regiment.
Chunuk Bair would prove hard to defend. It was only possible to scrape shallow trenches amongst the rocks. The peak was exposed to fire from the main Ottoman line on Battleship Hill to the south and from Hill Q to the north. If the original plan for the offensive had worked, Hill Q would have been in Allied hands. Allanson's battalion of Gurkhas reached it briefly the following day but were in no position to offer relief to the troops on Chunuk Bair.
By 5 a.m. on 8 August the Ottomans were counter-attacking against the Wellingtonians. The slope of the hill was so steep that the Ottomans could get within 20 metres of the trenches without being seen. The New Zealander fought desperately to hold off the Ottomans, firing their rifles and those of their fallen companions until the wood of the stock was too hot to touch. When the Ottomans got up to the trenches the fighting continued with the bayonet. The Ottomans overran part of the New Zealand trench and took some prisoners. In full daylight, reinforcements were only reaching the summit at a trickle.
The fight raged all day until the trenches were clogged with the New Zealand dead. Around 5 p.m. Malone was killed by a misdirected artillery shell, fired from either Anzac or a British ship.
The Ottomans had reclaimed the east side of the summit and were reinforced by the arrival of the 8th Division from Helles. As the extent of the Allied offensive became apparent, General Otto Liman von Sanders
Otto Liman von Sanders
Generalleutnant Otto Liman von Sanders was a German general who served as adviser and military commander for the Ottoman Empire during World War I.-Biography:...
, the commander of the Ottoman forces in the Dardanelles, appointed his competent officer, Colonel Mustafa Kemal
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was an Ottoman and Turkish army officer, revolutionary statesman, writer, and the first President of Turkey. He is credited with being the founder of the Republic of Turkey....
, the commander for the defence of Suvla and Sari Bair.
As darkness fell on the evening of 8 August, the fighting subsided and the Wellington Battalion was relieved. Out of the 760 men of the battalion who had reached the summit, 711 had become casualties. Whereas Malone had resisted sending his men on a suicidal charge when told to follow the Auckland Battalion on 7 August, a day later the outcome would be the same. The New Army battalions had suffered the same. 417 casualties amongst the Welch pioneers and 350 amongst the Gloucesters including all the officers of the battalion. For the wounded the suffering was only beginning. Some took three days to travel from the higher reaches of Rhododendron Spur to the beach, a little over a kilometre away.
The Farm
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
Anthony Baldwin. Baldwin commanded the 38th Brigade of the 13th Division but the situation was so confused that the force he led towards Hill Q contained only one of his normal battalions, the 6th East Lancashire
East Lancashire Regiment
The East Lancashire Regiment was, from 1881 to 1958, an infantry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of two 30th and 59th Regiments of Foot with the militia and rifle volunteer units of eastern Lancashire...
s. He also had the 9th Worcestershires and 9th Warwicks from the 39th Brigade and the 5th Wiltshires from the 40th Brigade (who would later be redirected to reinforce Chunuk Bair). Plus he led two 10th (Irish) Division battalions; the 10th Hampshires and 6th Royal Irish Rifles from the 29th Brigade. Most of the 10th Division had landed at Suvla on 7 August.
This force would climb to Hill Q from the Farm. At the same time the New Zealanders on the right from Chunuk Bair and units of General Vaughn Cox's Indian Brigade on the left would also attack the hill. The plan fell apart when Baldwin's battalions became lost in the dark trying to find the Farm which they did not reach until after dawn, around 6 a.m.. The only force to reach Hill Q was Allanson's battalion of Gurkhas. They suffered the same fate as Colonel Malone, shelled by their own artillery, and their stay on the hill was brief.
With the offensive once again stalled, the New Zealanders on Chunuk Bair had to endure another day of Ottoman harassment. As night fell the remaining New Zealanders moved back to the Apex and were replaced by two New Army battalions, the 6th Battalion of the The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment and some of the 5th Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment from Baldwin's force.
On the morning of 10 August Mustafa Kemal led an overwhelming Ottoman counter-attack. If Chunuk Bair, the one Allied success of the August offensive, was recaptured, the battle was effectively over. His plan lacked subtlety but was brutally effective - overrun the defenders by sheer weight of numbers. Unlike Godley though, Mustafa Kemal led his men from the front. During the fight he was struck in the chest by shrapnel but was saved by his pocket watch which absorbed the blow.
There were about 2000 defenders on or below the summit of Chunuk Bair. Baldwin's brigade at the Farm numbered a further 3000. The Ottomans swept over the Lancashire battalion on the summit, wiping it out to the last man. The Wiltshires were killed or driven into the steep valleys. The Ottomans headed down Rhododendron Spur towards the Pinnacle, driving the New Army troops before them. New Zealand machine gunners positioned at the Apex shot down the Ottomans as they tried to continue down the spur. The gunners could not discriminate friend from foe so they also killed many New Army troops who were amongst the charging Ottomans. The Ottomans descended to the small plateau of the Farm and annihilated Baldwin's brigade. About 1000 British were killed, the rest driven off into the surrounding gullies.
Aftermath
One Victoria CrossVictoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
was awarded for actions at Chunuk Bair to Corporal Cyril Bassett
Cyril Royston Guyton Bassett
Cyril Royston Guyton Bassett was a New Zealander recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces...
, who repaired phone lines while under fire.
A memorial arch, the Malone Memorial Gate, commemorating the heroic Lieutenant Colonel Malone was constructed in Stratford, New Zealand
Stratford, New Zealand
Stratford is the only town in the central Taranaki district of Stratford District, New Zealand. It lies beneath the eastern slopes of Mount Taranaki/Egmont, approximately half-way between New Plymouth and Hawera, near the geographic centre of the Taranaki region. The town has a population of...
in 1923 and a plaque unveiled in the New Zealand Parliament's Grand Hall in 2005.
The loss of Chunuk Bair marked the end of the Battle of Sari Bair
Battle of Sari Bair
The Battle of Sari Bair , also known as the August Offensive, was the final attempt made by the British in August 1915 to seize control of the Gallipoli peninsula from the Ottoman Empire during First World War.The Battle of Gallipoli had raged on two fronts, Anzac and Helles, for three months since...
. Fighting would continue elsewhere until 21 August but there would be no more attempts to capture the heights. The Apex formed the new front line on Rhododendron Spur. In 1919 burial teams found the Farm still covered in the bones of the men from Baldwin's brigade, who were interred in The Farm Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery
The Farm Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery
The Farm Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey. It contains some of soldiers killed during World War I during the battles at Gallipoli...
when it was constructed on the site after the Armistice.
This battle cannot be sufficiently retold by using mere words. It was a time of great tragedy and valor for the Ottoman people. Many legends survive of events during the battle - such as the friendship between the aggressors and the defenders during ceasefire breaks. The only major aftermath is that all the young people who shed blood there now rest in peace together, at the same place. When observed with those days' conditions, neither ANZAC nor Ottoman soldiers had any option but to do their duty. People from both sides get together every year to remember those days and share mutual understanding.
Appearances in fiction
New ZealandNew Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
writer Maurice Shadbolt
Maurice Shadbolt
Maurice Francis Richard Shadbolt CBE was a New Zealand writer and playwright. He was born in Auckland, and educated at Te Kuiti High School, Avondale College and Auckland University College...
produced a play Once on Chunuk Bair in 1982. A film version Chunuk Bair
Chunuk Bair (film)
Chunuk Bair is a 1992 New Zealand film based on the play Once on Chunuk Bair by Maurice Shadbolt.Set in 1915, the film tells of the Wellington Regiment, part of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force present at Gallipoli during World War I...
(Daybreak Pictures) was released in 1991.