World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Turkey -- Gallipoli Peninsula; World War, 1914-1918 -- New Zealand
This morning--the morning when Malone stood triumphant on the crest of
Chunuk Bair; when the Australians were pluckily attempting to carry
Abdel Rahman--passed strangely inactive at Suvla. Following on their
exhaustion and the heat of the midday sun, the men undoubtedly suffered
agonies from thirst. There was water in the Suvla Plain, but no proper
provision was made to take advantage of it. Instead, much effort was
directed towards getting the supplies known to be somewhere at hand in
ships and lighters. So one thing reacted on another--the bad landing
beach at A caused exhaustion in the troops disembarked there, and was
the cause of greater confusion when the troops for the left flank
were landed on the right. This caused delay, which meant that more
of the precious water was consumed than was allowed for. As a matter
of fact, such was the lack of ordinary supervision, numbers of men
landed without any water in their water-bottles at all! Those who had
water consumed it during the waiting of the day. So General Stopford
brought off mules to carry water in preference to artillery horses, and
created a further excuse for delay--not enough supporting artillery!
At the Anzac landing horses could not be landed, but willing men
manhandled the guns up precipitous cliffs to their positions. No one
seemed to think of this at Suvla. But the Generals in command seemed
fairly satisfied with the progress of things. General Hamilton, over at
Imbros, from where he could best keep touch of his widely-scattered
army, got so uneasy that he could not resist hurrying to Suvla to see
why the advance had been hung up. Nothing was done, but one battalion,
the 6th East York Pioneers, occupied Scimitar Hill and dug in for the
night. It was decided to make an advance early in the morning. Then an
extraordinary incident occurred. The higher command evidently did not
know where the battalions were. The 6th East Yorks were considered to
be the freshest, and were ordered to the attack on another hill in the
morning. This battalion had taken Scimitar Hill, but those in command
did not seem to know it. Accordingly, the 6th East Yorks abandoned
their position on this valuable hill without an effort and marched back
to Sulajik!
[Illustration:
[_Lent by Rev. Wainohu, C.F._
THE ROLL CALL OF THE MAORIS AFTER THE AUGUST FIGHTING.]
The Next Day--August 9.
Early in the morning the 32nd Brigade attacked the hills towards
Anafarta, but were repulsed and continued to occupy a line running
north and south through Sulajik.
This day the New Zealanders clung to the ridge of Chunuk Bair, the
Ghurkas and 6th South Lancashires struggled on to Hill Q, but the
Suvla Army, worn out with fatigue and thirst, lay along the low ground
stretching from the Chocolate Hills towards Kiretch Tepe Sirt.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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