World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Turkey -- Gallipoli Peninsula; World War, 1914-1918 -- New Zealand
About a mile in a south-easterly direction from Lala Baba was the
tactical feature christened "Chocolate Hill." The gorse and grass on
this hill caught fire during the fighting, and one part of it became
a more pronounced reddish-brown than ever. The southern portion was
not burnt, and is distinguished on the map as Green Hill. Standing
on Chocolate Hill and looking towards the east, one saw, half left,
the high ground called Scimitar Hill, and half right, the ill-starred
Ismail Oglu Tepe, known to our men as "W" Hills. The "W" Hills looked
down on to the valley of the Asmak Dere, which ran into the sea about
two miles south of Lala Baba, and running generally in a westerly
direction towards Biyuk Anafarta, threw out two forks, one to the foot
of Abdel Rahman Bair, the other towards Kaiajik Aghala (Hill 60). The
latter fork was the Asma Dere, which, running up past Hill 60, drained
the watershed of Abdel Rahman Bair. Just to the south of the Azmak
Dere, and between Kaiajik Aghala and the sea, was the high ground of
Damakjelik Bair.
So it was intended that the Suvla Army, pushing on across the flat
plains of Suvla in the early morning, should get in touch with their
New Army comrades on Damakjelik and prolong the right of the new Anzac
line held by General Travers's and the 4th Australian Brigades.
The Landing Beaches.
The day before the battle the component parts of the Army Corps were
widely scattered. Part was at Mitylene, 120 miles away; part was at
Mudros, 50 miles away; the remainder at Kephalos, on Imbros, about 16
miles away. As soon as it was fully dark, these three bodies of troops
were speeding on their way to Suvla. Three beaches were to be used.
Beach A was in the centre of Suvla Bay. Beaches B and C were to the
south of Nibrunesi--B for infantry and C for the disembarkation of
artillery.
At 8 o'clock on the night of the 6th, the force sailed from Kephalos
with its collection of water boats, barges and lighters. At 9.30 p.m.,
the flotilla silently crept towards Nibrunesi, and the disembarkation
commenced. The 32nd and 33rd Brigades got ashore expeditiously at Beach
B and rushed Lala Baba.
Then occurred the first disaster. Beach A was not reconnoitred, and the
barges containing the 34th Brigade ran aground. Men jumped into the
water and waded ashore. A few Turkish snipers on Hill 10 and Lala Baba
crept among the troops, who were new to war. In the dark, confusion
reigned. When daylight came the troops were ashore, but that was about
all. There was no pressing on. The men were shaken by their experience
of the night. The line ran round from Lala Baba across the flat ground
to Hill 10.
Trouble at the Beaches.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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