Beyond the Asmak Dere, which, as described in the last chapter, formed the northern limit of the Anzac movement against the Sari Bair range, the coast continues its north-westerly trend till the sharp and rocky headland of Nibrunesi Point is reached. Inland, the plain naturally increases in area as the hills diverge towards the north-east. It is flat and open land, studded with low trees and bushes. Nearly all the surface is waste, but small farms, surrounded by larger trees and patches of cultivation, occur here and there, as at Kazlar Chair close to the Asmak, and Hetman Chair about a mile north of it (“Chair” meaning meadow). The soil becomes more and more marshy as one proceeds, and in winter the region nearest the Salt Lake is waterlogged. The bush also grows more dense, but is crossed by sheep tracks, and is nowhere impenetrable. The plain, as we have seen, forms the entrance to the broad and open valley of Biyuk (Big) Anafarta, the cypress groves of which are clearly visible about three and a half miles to the right.
Nibrunesi Point, or Kuchuk Kemikli, rises with steep cliffs on both sides, but steeper on the north, where they fall abruptly into Suvla Bay. It is the extremity of what was once a high ridge or chain of reddish conglomerate rock, hard but friable. The chain is now marked by a series of isolated knolls—first the low knolls upon the Point itself; then the broad-based rounded hill of Lala Baba, which rises to about 150 feet; then, beyond the southern end of the Salt Lake and a stretch of marsh and bushy plain, Yilghin Burnu (better known to us as “Chocolate Hill,” from its reddish-brown colour even before it was burnt), which is a similar but larger rounded hill, like an inverted bowl, rising about 160 feet; then, beyond a brief but steepish dip or saddle, Hill 50 or “Green Hill” (so called because the thick bush covering it was not burnt), rising to nearly equal height, but not so round or definite in shape; lastly, beyond a wide and distinctive break, the formidable mass of Ismail Oglu Tepe (known to us as “W Hill” from the waving outline of its crest, but more officially called “Hill 112” from its approximate height in metres). Ismail Oglu, thus rising about 330 feet, forms the rectangular corner of the high plateau on which Anafarta Sagir (Kuchuk or Little Anafarta) stands, and from the southern face it commands the Biyuk Anafarta valley and the hills across it at the foot of Sari Bair, while from the western face it commands Green and Chocolate Hills, almost the whole of the plain north of them, the Salt Lake, and the northern shores of Suvla Bay. It is, therefore, the most vital and dominating position, unless long-range guns were placed on the much loftier height of Tekke Tepe.
But of almost equal importance in the campaign was a rounded hill which projects sharply from the Anafarta ridge or plateau north of Ismail Oglu Tepe. Down the western front of this hill, which looks over the plain to the very centre of the Salt Lake, and to Suvla Bay beyond, runs a broad yellow “blaze” of bare ground, showing a marl and soft sandstone surface (the formation of this plateau being again of the same character as the Sari Bair range). This “blaze” appears from the sea to be shaped like a Gurkha’s “kukri” or an old-fashioned Turkish scimitar, and so the hill came to be called “Scimitar Hill.” But officially it was “Hill 70” from its height in metres (say 200 feet), and commonly the soldiers called it “Burnt Hill,” which was no distinction. It was connected, apparently without much break or dip, with the plateau behind it bearing the general name of Baka Baba, on which the windmills, the white minaret, and some of the houses of Little Anafarta could be distinctly seen from the beach. The minaret, however, was destroyed by the Turks on Sept. 6, as affording a sighting point for naval fire. This description covers the southern and south-east positions to be attacked in the Suvla district.
From Nibrunesi Point the coast-line curves sharply into a semicircular bay, the diameter of which is close upon two miles. The north side of the Point itself falls, as described, in steep cliffs to a narrow and rocky beach. The cliff continues till the foot of Lala Baba is passed, and then it suddenly ends in low dunes of soft and drifting sand. These in turn sink into a spit or isthmus, about 700 yards long, and some 200 yards across at its broadest part. It is all of loose sand, very tiring to walk on, though bent grass and patches of heath bind it together here and there. The shallow bay lies on the left; the large expanse of the Salt Lake on the right. The Salt Lake measures about a mile and a half at its greatest length and breadth each way, forming a kind of square with irregular sides. Its surface in summer is thinly crusted with salt deposit upon caked and fissured mud, fairly sound for walking or riding, though in places the foot sinks above the ankle, and on the south side above the knees. Consequently, the south side, thickly covered with high reeds and ending in the marshy plain, is always impassable for troops, though a track not far from the edge can be used in summer for carts and even guns.
At the end of the sandy spit is a channel, which in winter admits the sea into the lake under a strong west wind, and drains it out again. In summer, though sticky, it can be crossed on foot, but we bridged it. After crossing it, one continues upon loose and wearisome sand, the sandhills on the right combining to form a low, heathy plateau, at first mistaken for “Hill 10” (so called from its height in metres) about 1000 yards inland. The beach continues sandy, the sea shallow, and walking very tedious till nearly half-way round the northern side of the semicircle, when one strikes the rocky formation of the northern point. The coast-line then rises into rocky cliffs of no great height under a low hill called Ghazi Baba, and runs into rocky inlets or creeks. The sea becomes deeper, the land undulates and is thickly covered with heath and prickly bush. So it continues up to the final hill, where the bay ends in the jagged rocks of the extremity called by us Suvla Point, and by the Turks Biyuk Kemikli.
There the coast turns suddenly north-east, and forms the side of the Gulf of Xeros. The land rises into a steep razor-edge or whale-back of grey limestone, looking white in the sun, and bare but for shrubs and aromatic plants growing in the crannies between the rocks. This razor-edge is really continuous except for notches, knolls, and shallow scoops along the sky-line. But the Turks have given the ridge the separate names of Karakol Dagh (Coastguard Mountain) and Kiretch Tepe Sirt. This Tepe Sirt or Hill Summit rises to the height of 600 feet at the points which we afterwards called Jephson’s Post and the Pimple. Thence the ridge runs at a varying but lower level till it reaches Ejelmer Bay, where there is good anchorage and an opening into a central plain of the Peninsula. The distance from Suvla Point to Ejelmer Bay is nearly 7 miles.
The whole of this ridge is steep and rocky on the south side overlooking Suvla Bay, but is everywhere accessible by climbing, and admits of paths being cut obliquely or in zigzag. The northern side falls abruptly into the Gulf of Xeros, across which the opposite coast of Thrace, from the mouth of the Maritza eastward, can be distinctly seen. Near Suvla Point the cliffs are precipitous, and leave little or no beach. Farther along, the face of the ridge, though always very steep, becomes accessible, and spreads out at the bottom into a kind of “undercliff” above the shore, which is indented by a succession of miniature bays, like bathing coves. All this part of the slope is deeply scored by ravines, rocky, steep, and covered with thick bush. This face was commanded by the enemy’s guns only from Kartal Tepe, a barren promontory of fantastic cliffs, different in formation, and apparently of dark and slaty shale, which projects from the coast a mile or so beyond the farthest point reached by our lines.
Farther along the coast towards Ejelmer Bay the razor-edge meets almost at right angles with a mass of mountain running south towards the Anafarta plateau. The range rises rapidly to the conjoined heights of Kavak Tepe and Tekke Tepe (Saint’s Hill), each about 850 feet. It completely shuts in the Suvla region on the north-east side, presenting a steep, though not really a precipitous, western face towards the bay, and commanding the whole district from end to end. It is dark with thick scrub to the rounded summits, and always reminded me of the Wrekin’s western face, looking towards Shrewsbury, as seen from the site of Uriconium. At the southern end it falls by a similar steep slope to the Anafarta plateau, throwing up one little isolated hill above the plateau, like the spadeful of rocks which the devil dropped in his hurry to pile the Wrekin.
From these descriptions of the northern, eastern, and southern positions around Suvla, it will be seen that the heights, starting from Kiretch Tepe and running round over Kavak Tepe and Tekke Tepe to the elevated Anafarta plateau, Scimitar Hill, and Ismail Oglu Tepe, form an irregular semicircle, roughly corresponding to the regular semicircle of Suvla Bay, and commanding it from a wide circumference. This outer semicircle encloses a fairly open plain, cultivated in parts by ancient farms, such as Anafarta Ova (Plain) and Sulajik. Large trees, so rarely seen in the Near East, give that part of the plain the appearance of a park in one of the fatted counties of England. But most of it is bare except for heath and thin grass, until the foot of the hills is reached, when the prickly bush becomes thick as usual, interrupting any advance in line, effectively concealing numberless snipers, and impenetrable except by devious and isolating paths. Each farm has a well or fountain, and one of the watercourses, running into the north-east corner of the Salt Lake, contains water. There is a spring at the foot of the Karakol Dagh, not far from the bay. Two good running fountains, constructed with low bridges, stone spouts, and troughs, are to be found on the plain north-east of the Salt Lake among the large trees mentioned; and there is a smaller source just south-west of Chocolate Hill. But these wells and springs might easily be missed by troops advancing under fire across an unknown and almost pathless country.
Such was the district into which the IXth Army Corps was launched in the night of August 6–7. As has been mentioned, Lieut.-General Sir Frederick Stopford had arrived in the middle of July to take command, and for a short time had succeeded General Hunter-Weston in command of the VIIIth Army Corps at Helles, so as to gain experience in Peninsula warfare. He had entered the Grenadier Guards in the early “Seventies”; had seen the usual service of officers at the end of last century, in India, West Africa, and Egypt; during the South African War he was Military Secretary to General Buller, and entered Ladysmith with him at the relief. Since then he had occupied various military positions at home and was still on the Active List though a little over sixty. His reputation stood high as a student and teacher of military history, and long experience had given him an accurate knowledge of army routine. But he had never held high command in the field, and neither history nor routine in itself inspires to action; still less do years of official duty in the Metropolis. Rather they suppress the hopeful buoyancy of spirit and rapid fertility of resource essential for generalship, while they tend to accentuate the hesitating deliberation and cautious apprehension of risk which too often develop with increasing years. Habits mainly sedentary are also likely to reduce the enthusiasm for physical activity as middle age is passing.
At the same time it is fair to remember that the force now entrusted to General Stopford for this vital enterprise was an Army Corps only in name. Nominally it consisted of the 10th, 11th, and 13th Divisions, composed as we have seen. But the 13th Division (Major-General Shaw) had been deflected to Anzac for the assault against Sari Bair, together with the 29th Brigade (Brigadier-General Cooper) of the 10th Division. General Stopford was thus left with only the 11th (Northern) Division under Major-General Hammersley, and two brigades of the 10th (Irish) Division under Lieut.-General Sir Bryan Mahon. All the battalions in these Divisions were New Army men, and had never been in action before. Normally each Division should have possessed sixteen batteries of artillery (including the H.Q. Divisional Artillery), so that (allowing for the absence of the 13th Division and the 29th Brigade) the IXth Army Corps should have commanded twenty-eight batteries, or 112 guns; whereas, at the time of landing, it had only one Field Artillery battery and two Highland Mountain batteries of small calibre—old and useless for service—counting twelve guns in all.177 It is true that General Stopford could also command the support of naval guns, but by the nature of the case the guns had been unable to register for fear of thwarting the surprise, the maps were uncertain, and most of the Suvla plain was invisible from the sea owing to its flatness.
Of the Divisional Generals, Sir Bryan Mahon was fifty-three, was a cavalryman (8th Royal Irish Hussars), held a long record of service in India and Egypt, and had won distinction by the relief of Mafeking in 1900. Since then he had been Military Governor of Kordofan, and had commanded the Lucknow Division till the outbreak of the war. Possessing many of the fine Irish qualities, and some of the supposed Irish defects, he was regarded with patriotic affection by his Division; but, like most of our Generals, had seen no active service for fourteen or fifteen years, and then in wars unlike the present. Major-General Frederick Hammersley (Lancashire Fusiliers) had also served in India, Egypt, and South Africa, and on various Staff appointments; but owing to serious illness had recently held no military position.
As in the last chapter, on Sari Bair, it will be convenient to divide the Suvla fighting by days and nights, counting from evening to evening.
By the time darkness set in, Brigadier-General F. F. Hill was making up the Asiatic coast from Mitylene (120 miles) with his 31st Brigade and two battalions of the 30th (10th Division), which had been transhipped from their transports into ten trawlers and passenger steamers. Brigadier-General L. L. Nicol was on his way from Mudros (60 miles) with the remaining two battalions of his 30th Brigade and the 5th Royal Irish (Pioneers), accompanied by Sir Bryan Mahon and his Divisional Staff. At Imbros, the three brigades of the 11th Division (the 32nd, 33rd, and 34th, under Brigadier-Generals Haggard, Maxwell, and Sitwell) were embarked in destroyers and “beetles” (motor-lighters), about 500 men being packed in each destroyer and “beetle.” The “beetles” were under charge of Captain Unwin, the hero of the River Clyde. Three of each kind of vessel were allotted to each brigade, the destroyers towing the “beetles.” Two cruisers (“blister ships”) also carried 1000 men apiece, to be landed by the “beetles” as soon as their own contingents and those on the destroyers had been discharged. Behind the infantry followed trawlers towing horse-boats with horses and guns;178 and the sloop Aster with 500 men, presumably gunners, towing a lighter with eight mountain-guns, and four water-lighters specially provided by Brigadier-General Lotbinière, then Director of Works.
Each of the water-lighters carried about 50 or 60 tons, and was to be refilled from two water-ships, the Krene and Phido, each carrying 250 tons of water brought from Alexandria. The men embarked with full water-bottles, and each “beetle” and destroyer was supplied with water for refills on landing, and for the wants of beach-parties. It was also confidently expected that plentiful water would be discovered during the advance. But, though some water was there, it was not discovered, or was not accessible. Inexperienced soldiers might be expected to drain their water-bottles soon, and in the excitement and confusion of landing to neglect the precaution of refilling. So it happened, and to this natural carelessness must be added the absence of the Prah, an Elder Dempster vessel of 3000 tons, carefully equipped with water-pumps, hose, tanks, troughs, and the implements required for the development of wells or springs—exactly the stores which the experience of the April landings had proved essential to relieve the torture of thirst among men exhausted by the nervous excitement of battle, and by the heat, which in August had risen to glaring intensity. The danger of thirst had always been present in the minds of General Headquarters and the Administrative Staff. Petrol tins, milk cans, camel tanks, water-bags, and pakhals for mules had been provided in large quantities from India and Egypt. More than 4000 mules for carrying water as well as rations and ammunition were by this time collected for Anzac and Suvla, about 600 being allotted to Suvla alone for the first landing. Critics after the event suggested that the men should have carried half a dozen water-bottles apiece instead of their packs. But, as a matter of fact, the 11th Division, at all events, carried only their haversacks with two days’ iron rations, and left their packs at Imbros. As to carrying more water-bottles, no one could have foreseen the partial failure of the most elaborate precautions, partly owing to the inexperience of a New Army Staff.179
The naval side of the whole landing—the organisation of all transport until each detail came ashore—was in charge of Rear-Admiral Arthur Christian, on board the sloop Jonquil, together with General Stopford and his Chief of Staff, Brigadier-General H. L. Reed, V.C. Vice-Admiral de Robeck, with his Chief of Staff, Commodore Roger Keyes, was also present on the light cruiser Chatham, and on the light cruiser Talbot was Brigadier-General S. C. V. Smith, R.A., in command of the guns. Soon after 8 p.m. the flotilla began to glide northward through the winding narrows of the netted and buoyed passage from Kephalos Bay. The last of the vessels except the Prah and water-lighters cleared about 10 p.m. We heard the firing round the Vineyard at Helles, and the perpetual whisper and rumble of rifles and guns at Lone Pine. On our right front as we advanced past Anzac the New Zealanders were standing mustered for the great assault. The water was dead calm, which was a mercy for the soldiers crowded on the destroyers and “beetles.” No lights were shown. There was no light but the brilliant stars. No one except the Generals and Admirals knew our destination.
Sir Ian’s original design had been to land the whole of the 11th Division at the continuous beach just south of Nibrunesi Point. Here the shore is “steep to,” and the water comes up deep. A large part of the force would be concealed or sheltered by the cliffs and hills, but the beach itself is level and wide enough for mustering. The brigades, after capturing the Lala Baba promontory, could then have advanced in unison along the marshy but practicable ground south of the Salt Lake, or before dawn even over the centre of the Lake itself, to the assault upon Chocolate and W Hills. Meantime, we must suppose, Sir Ian had intended the two brigades of the 10th Division to land on the north side of the bay near Suvla Point and occupy the commanding razor-edge of Kiretch Tepe Sirt. Most unfortunately, as it turned out, against his better judgment he accepted General Stopford’s desire to land one brigade inside the bay itself, apparently with the intention of advancing across the plain on the north of the Salt Lake. Accordingly, the navy was directed to put the 34th Brigade (Sitwell’s) ashore on the sands of the north-east segment of the bay, while the 32nd (Haggard’s) and the 33rd (Maxwell’s) were to land on the beach south of Nibrunesi Point. This beach was divided into C (nearer the Point) for the artillery, and B for the infantry, but it was one and continuous. The navy originally chose the south-east arc of the bay for landing, hence called “Old A Beach.” Among the rocky creeks near Suvla Point, A East and A West were found on the 7th, and A West ultimately became the main landing-place. But the true A Beach on which the 34th Brigade was ordered to land was the long and sandy stretch just beside the entrance or “cut” into the Salt Lake; and there the 34th Brigade landed.
Together with the two brigades of the 10th Division the total number of all ranks and arms, including transport and supply, was from 25,000 to 27,000 to be landed. There was no wire entanglement along the shore; the entrenchments were few and slight; the Turkish force holding the district was estimated under 4000, apart from possible reserves behind Sari Bair; and the actual bay was guarded, as was believed, only by about 1000 gendarmes—700 on Lala Baba, 300 on Suvla Point. Sir Ian confidently expected, therefore, that the two Divisions, though short in numbers (showing a total of about 20,000 rifles or rather less), almost destitute of guns apart from the fleet, and unavoidably destitute of experience in actual war, would certainly be able to occupy the inner semicircle of the bay and the outer semicircle of the commanding heights, or at all events the vital points of Kiretch Tepe and W Hill, by the following morning.
But, like nearly every movement in war, the landing took longer than was expected, and the customary delay was increased by partial confusion. In the darkness of midnight the 32nd and 33rd Brigades approached the shore at B Beach south of Nibrunesi Point. The destroyers stopped and slipped the “beetles,” which crept ashore under their own power. Driving close in, they dropped their elevated drawbridges right on the beach itself, and the crowded men swarmed over them as over a landing-stage. The “beetles” then returned to the destroyers for their second load, and so the two brigades came to shore in good time and without mishap. As soon as the battalions were formed up, two from the 32nd Brigade (the 6th Yorkshire and the 9th West Yorkshire) were instructed to occupy Lala Baba. Advancing in that order along the beach and up the hills from the south, they stormed the trenches with the bayonet in the darkness, but the 6th Yorks lost heavily. Colonel Chapman, in command, was killed while cheering on his men. Fifteen officers fell and 250 men, but apart from that battalion the loss was not great, and the occupation of the Hill gave us command of the southern side of the bay.
With the 34th Brigade things did not go so smoothly. The navy brought up the destroyers with the “beetles” in time with the rest; but after the “beetles” had been cast off as they approached the shore in the middle of the bay, it was found that they could not make A Beach at all, but went aground with their weight on the sandy shallows. The disaster might have been anticipated even from the distant appearance of shelving shore, which possessed all the familiar features of a children’s bathing-place. Led by their officers, the men plunged into the water, which in places came up to their armpits, and struggled ashore. Dripping wet, they reached the sands well below the centre of the bay’s arc, and south of the entrance to the Salt Lake, considerably south of the appointed position. Both in the lighters and on shore they were exposed to considerable fire from Lala Baba (not yet occupied) and the rocky promontories towards Suvla Point. Many Turks even crept into their midst in the darkness, and at close quarters killed them unawares. Nearly the whole of the northern shore had also been sown with land-mines, exploding on contact and causing some casualties.
The delay and confusion due to the oversight of obvious shallows were serious. They were the first step in failure. For by the time the brigade got ashore and sorted itself out it was useless to think of reaching W Hill, or even Chocolate Hill, under cover of darkness. In fact, by the time the battalions were reorganised it was nearly dawn. To protect the left, one battalion (11th Manchester) was now sent up the rocky steep of Karakol Dagh, which it succeeded in clearing of the concealed parties of gendarmes. The Colonel was wounded, the second in command killed, and nearly half the strength put out of action.180 But its service in saving the rest of the brigade from enfilading fire was inestimable. The 5th Dorsets appears to have followed the Manchesters by mistake of direction.
About the same time another of the battalions (9th Lancashire Fusiliers) succeeded in the task of clearing the low eminence of heath-covered sandhill which stood close at hand to the left front of the landing beach, and was mistaken for Hill 10. The Turks had a strong outpost there, and the loss to this battalion was also considerable. In fact, the brigade stood in an isolated and unsatisfactory position when, just as the eastern sky began to show streaks of brown among the purple, the 32nd Brigade (Haggard’s) began to appear along the sandy spit, coming from Lala Baba, which it had seized and left in charge of the 33rd Brigade (Maxwell’s). As it approached it opened fire upon the low plateau, where confused fighting was still going on. The 9th West Yorks (32nd Brigade) also joined in the attack, and suffered considerable loss.
Brigadier-General Sitwell, as senior in command, had now two brigades, half of each still untouched by action. It was the moment for him, one would have thought, to advance at all hazards upon Chocolate and W Hills. Yet he hesitated. Perhaps he thought it went beyond his orders to cross the open plain now that daylight was increasing every minute. Perhaps he was deterred by a brief counter-attack which the Turks, noticing the confusion or supineness of the brigades, attempted against the plateau, though the 9th Lancashire Fusiliers again drove them off with the bayonet, compelling them to retreat through the low bushes on the north edge of the plain. Now that the sun was rising, shrapnel from the two Turkish batteries posted on the hills across the Salt Lake began to burst over his position, and the naval guns, attempting to harass the groups of enemy as they stole away, set fire to a large area of bush straight in his front and to the left.181 Perhaps he thought enough had been done by battalions already thirsty, tired after a sleepless night, and probably shaken by their first losses in battle. At all events he allowed at least one battalion to gather in crowds under the shelter of some high sand dunes along the shore north of the spit, and there for many hours they lay immovable. The second step in failure had been taken.
The third was already preparing. About an hour before dawn, the ten trawlers and steamers bringing Brigadier-General Hill’s six battalions from Mitylene punctually arrived off the bay. As they all belonged to Sir Bryan Mahon’s 10th Division, General Stopford had intended them to land near A Beach, to seize the whole length of the razor-edge on the north of the bay, to occupy the Kiretch Tepe Sirt, and advance as far as possible towards Ejelmer Bay, whence the great hills of Tekke Tepe could be turned. They were, of course, to be joined by Sir Bryan Mahon’s other three battalions on their arrival with their General from Mudros. But the General had not yet arrived: the navy had witnessed only too plainly the failure of A Beach as a landing-place owing to the shallows, and they had not yet discovered the practicable creeks among the rocks near Suvla Point. Accordingly, General Stopford was advised to land them at B Beach, and after the delay of more than two hours this was done.182 That is to say, five of the six battalions were landed there with Brigadier-General Hill; but before the 5th Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (of Hill’s own 31st Brigade) had disembarked, Sir Bryan Mahon put into the bay from Mudros with the remaining three, and was landed in the creeks which the navy had now discovered among the rocks east of Suvla Point. Accordingly, the Inniskilling Fusiliers were counter-ordered to join him there. Thus the 10th Division was now divided into three entirely different parts: the 29th Brigade was at Anzac; three battalions of the 31st and two of the 30th were with Hill at B Beach; two battalions of the 30th, one of the 31st, and the 5th Royal Irish (Pioneers) were at Suvla Point, where the Divisional General landed with nothing of his Division left under his command except these four. Confusion of command and position was inevitable.183
Confusion immediately resulted. As Hill with his five battalions was landed in the sphere of the 11th Division on the right, instead of being with his own 10th Division on the extreme left, he was ordered by General Stopford to put himself under the command of Major-General Hammersley. His battalions did not begin to disembark till 5.30 a.m., when it was nearly full daylight. The enemy’s shrapnel was bursting over his boats and the beach. Two of our mountain-guns were hurried up into the Turkish trenches on Lala Baba, though the battery of Field Artillery did not come into action from behind the cover of that hill until evening. The ships also maintained a heavy but ineffectual fire upon invisible or unregistered positions. But the loss at the landing was considerable while Hill was away looking for the Divisional General and new orders. This was a long process. Finding at last that his orders were to combine with the 32nd and 34th Brigades, now under Sitwell’s command upon the dunes near Hill 10, and then to attack Chocolate Hill and advance to W Hill, he mustered the five battalions behind the slopes of Lala Baba, and ordered an advance along the sandy spit. The march round by Hill 10, and then along the north side of the Salt Lake, and again south-east to Chocolate Hill, would describe three parts of a circle. An advance from B Beach along the south side of the Salt Lake would have followed an almost straight line to Chocolate Hill; the ground, though marshy in places, was better going than loose sand, and the apprehended wire was afterwards found to be negligible. By this route General Hammersley could have brought these five battalions into action many hours earlier, could have occupied Chocolate Hill by noon, and pushed on to W Hill before night. It is true they would not then have co-operated with the brigades under Sitwell, but the value of that co-operation was not great.
As it was, owing to the delay of changed command, and to co-operation with a Brigadier in another Division, with whom Hill, having just come from Mitylene, was probably unacquainted, Hill’s column did not begin to leave Lala Baba for the sandy spit till noon. The march across that unprotected spit was a trying passage. The Irishmen (6th Inniskilling Fusiliers, 5th and 6th Royal Irish Fusiliers, of the 31st Brigade, and 6th and 7th Royal Dublin Fusiliers of the 30th Brigade) had started closely packed together for their long sea voyage on the previous afternoon; except for a cup of tea at 3 a.m. and a snatch of their rations after landing, they were empty of food; for some hours they had stood uncertain under a blazing sun and exposed for the first time to shrapnel, often fatal and continually unnerving. The Turkish guns on Anafarta and W Hills had carefully registered the sandy spit, and now swept it with shrapnel from end to end. For sleepless, hungry, and miserably thirsty men, loose sand is the worst of trials. They crossed in batches, or “by a section at a time rushing over.”184
As each battalion arrived after this ordeal, it formed up under the slight cover of the sand dunes about Hill 10, but it was 3 p.m. before all the five mustered there and Hill could organise the attack upon Chocolate Hill, which was to have been completed before dawn. Keeping only the 6th Dublin Fusiliers in reserve, he pushed the other four battalions forward across the dry bed of the Asmak on the north side of the Salt Lake, and began the difficult movement of wheeling the whole force southward through the open country round the lake shore. It was thus marching across the enemy’s front—an operation of proverbial risk. The farther it advanced, the more exposed the left flank became. Sitwell, as senior officer, was, as we have seen, in command of the 34th and 32nd Brigades, which had lain so many hours under the sand dunes. He was now, indeed, in sole command, since Haggard had been seriously wounded at noon. But he considered he was justified in sparing only two battalions in support (6th Lincolns and 6th Borders, which, however, belonged to the 33rd Brigade and must have been sent over from Lala Baba by their Brigadier-General Maxwell under General Hammersley’s order). Even these two appear to have been moved too late to protect the left flank, for Hill was compelled to defend it, as it was “in air,” by deploying the 5th Royal Irish Fusiliers (Colonel Pike, an excellent officer, who was with the regiment in Ladysmith) and advancing them so as to face half-left. An increasing gap was thus formed between left and right as the force slowly wheeled round the lake, and the 7th Dublins had to be brought up to fill it.
As the rough country in front of Anafarta plateau was thus being crossed, the line was continually harassed by an enfilading fire from swarms of snipers concealed in the bushes on the left, as well as by copious shrapnel and high explosives from the hills. Contact mines also exploded, and a Taube dropped a few bombs. Fortunately, about 4 p.m. a sudden squall and shower of rain swept over the bay and plain, obscuring the enemy’s view, and refreshing the troops, who were suffering greatly from the extreme heat and from thirst, though they were passing close to two excellent water-sources, had they but known it. Their Brigadier Hill, a man of almost excessive indifference to danger, as I observed on several occasions, did not follow them in person till midnight. By 5 p.m. they had reached a line within 300 yards of Chocolate Hill, and there they lay down while the ships and the few batteries on land bombarded.185
The moment the bombardment ceased, the men rose and charged up the steep and bushy slopes of that rounded hill with fixed bayonets. The two Royal Irish Fusilier battalions were on the left (the side of greatest danger), the Dublins in the centre, the Inniskillings on the right. The 6th Lincolns and 6th Borders then passed through the line, and were, in fact, first in the charge. The hill was fortified by an old trench which ran completely round the circumference some yards below the summit. One long communication trench afterwards ran down the saddle or neck connecting the hill with “Hill 50” or “Green Hill” beyond, and probably followed the line of an old excavation. The Turks poured rifle-fire from the parapets, and fought gallantly with bayonets. But they were at last all killed or chased away. Just as the sun set over the distant peaks of Samothrace, the summit was gained. If only it had been gained as that sun rose!
The battalions spent the night in sorting themselves out, burying the dead, trying to collect the wounded in the darkness, bringing up what supplies they could find on the beach (all of which had to be carried on men’s backs), and, above all, in the endeavour to bring up water. A certain amount was being distributed on the beach, more than 2 miles off by the nearest way, which probably no one could find in the dark. And every drop had to be carried by hand in camp kettles or even in ammunition boxes or in water-bottles strung by the dozen round one man’s neck. The night was thus occupied, but thirst was not appeased. Before sunrise the 6th Lincolns and the 6th Borderers were withdrawn to rejoin their own brigade, the 7th South Staffords replacing them.
To return to the remaining battalions of the 10th Division. As we have seen, the Divisional General, Sir Bryan Mahon, arrived from Mudros with only three battalions—the 6th and 7th Munster Fusiliers of the 30th Brigade (Brigadier-General L. L. Nicol), and the 5th Royal Irish (Pioneers). In addition he was able to retain the 5th Inniskilling Fusiliers (31st Brigade) before it disembarked with Hill’s force. Ordering it to follow, he landed soon after 11 a.m. with the three battalions among the rocks near Suvla Point, where his men suffered much from contact mines. He then proceeded to climb Karakol Dagh, and passed through the shattered companies of the 11th Manchesters, who had early occupied this part of the rocky razor-edge. Deploying the Munsters in two lines, he advanced to the attack on Kiretch Tepe Sirt, the more lofty but continuous edge beyond. The ground is very difficult, being a steep hillside broken into rocks and craggy ravines, the lower slopes covered with high bush. The enemy delayed the advance along the whole mountain-side by accurate and concealed fire, causing many wounds and deaths, especially among officers. It was past sunset when the attacking force of Munsters, supported by the Royal Irish, came within about 100 yards of the highest knoll, which the Turks held strongly. Here the battalions, wearied and tormented by thirst, like the whole army corps, lay for the night. But next morning (August 8), the 6th Munsters under Major Jephson took the knoll by assault. It was afterwards known as Jephson’s Post, was fortified, in spite of its rocky and exposed position, and, but for a few hours in the next week, remained the farthest point in our lines along the north side of the bay.
Thus, on the late evening of the 7th, we held the bay and both extremities, the Salt Lake, Hill 10, a point near Jephson’s Post on the north, and Chocolate Hill on the south-east. We had not even attempted W Hill, or Scimitar Hill, or the Anafarta plateau, or the Tekke Tepe mountain, and from all those points the bay was commanded. Except along the shore we had established no connection with Anzac, and could give no support at Sari Bair. Still, something had been gained. The landing had been effected punctually and with small loss. The 32nd and 34th Brigades had certainly lost much time in hanging about Hill 10, as though their work was done. The 31st Brigade had been hampered and delayed by confused commands and the varied positions allotted to it apart from its own Division. But the situation seemed fairly hopeful, and with energy and organisation all might be retrieved. Some battalions had lost heavily, but as a whole the loss was not great—for so large a movement. Only a little over 1000 wounded were taken off to the hospital ships.
So satisfied was General Stopford with the situation that he telegraphed to Sir Ian that in his opinion Major-General Hammersley and his troops deserved great credit for the result attained. Anxiously awaiting news in General Headquarters at Imbros, Sir Ian replied with congratulations to General Stopford, stating also how much was hoped from Hammersley’s bold and rapid advance. The message must have been prompted by Sir Ian’s inborn optimism or by official courtesy and a desire to encourage action. For even before the telegram was sent, tormenting doubts intruded. It was Sunday morning. The Wellingtons and 7th Gloucesters had climbed the shoulder of Chunuk Bair; the 4th Australian Brigade was advancing to the assault up Koja Chemen Tepe by way of Abdel Rahman Bair; at Lone Pine the battle still raged desperately. If ever help from Suvla was called for, it was now. But from Suvla came only silence. Hardly a gun could be heard. No further message arrived.
In Suvla Bay itself a Sabbath peace appeared to reign. No shells burst; no bullets whined. It was evident that the Turks had withdrawn both guns and infantry during the night. We could walk at leisure round the whole beach from Suvla Point to Lala Baba. We could examine the surface of the Salt Lake, or climb Karakol Dagh and view the calm prospect over the Gulf of Xeros with equal security. Men whom good fortune had stationed near the beaches enjoyed the enviable refreshment of bathing in the sandy shallows. No attempt was being made seriously to push forward the advance, although W Hill, the most vital point, could have been occupied by little more than marching, and the distance even from the beach was 4 miles at most. There was no Turk along the whole range of Tekke Tepe.
The Divisional Generals reported to the Corps Commander that they were unable to move owing to the exhaustion of their men.186 Undoubtedly the men were exhausted. The sea journey, the sleepless nights, the great heat, the excitement of their first battle, the toilsome marching upon loose sand, and the rations of hard biscuit and salt “bully” had exhausted them. The 11th Division from Imbros was also infected with the prevailing diarrhœa, and in a few cases with dysentery. But the worst exhaustion came from thirst. In spite of all those elaborate precautions, the water supply broke down. Plenty of water was there. The water-lighters had arrived on the 7th. One was at A West; one went aground at “Old A,” and men swam out to her; but Commodore Keyes towed her near enough ashore for the hose to reach the men that afternoon. A third was on C Beach, and probably the fourth, for the Krene had tugged in two, and was there herself, her stem on the shore. What was wanting was not water, but the troughs and receptacles for issuing and distribution. Men came with nothing but water-bottles, sometimes a dozen or more, slung round their necks, and went naked with them into the sea in hopes of drawing from the tanks. When a hose was attached, they pierced holes in the cover, and drank, then leaving the water to run waste. By Sunday morning a poor and leaking trough was stuck up at one point, but it would not hold water, and the men and mules crowding round it impeded distribution. The Prah (containing all the requisites for supply—troughs, hose, and implements for well-sinking), owing to some over-scrupulous observance of regulations, did not issue them till some days later. The anguish of thirst was intolerable. Up in the firing lines some went almost mad.187 The suffering of the men exposed to the glaring sun upon the rocks of Kiretch Tepe was most severe during Sunday, though it was afterwards (perhaps that night) relieved by the kindly generosity of a destroyer (some say the Grampus, but evidence is for the Foxhound), which was deputed always to patrol that Gulf of Xeros coast, and on this occasion cut her own water-tank loose and brought it ashore. Even on the beach, where fresh water was running to waste, men filled water-bottles from the sea. So serious were the reports from the front that General Stopford ordered the disembarkation of the artillery horses to be delayed till the mules for carrying up water had been landed.188 Thus one thing acted upon another, for it was want of artillery which finally induced the Corps Commander to believe that immediate advance was impossible. Brigades and even battalions were also much confused and scattered, as we have seen. But the ultimate cause of the confusion, and of the failure in water supply, and so of the lack of guns, was the decision to land part of the force inside the bay, and at a beach where any observer might have suspected shallows fit only for wading.189