World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Turkey -- Gallipoli Peninsula; World War, 1914-1918 -- New Zealand
The rum ration was a boon at this time, as it engendered a little
warmth, and enabled one, if off duty, to get a little sleep. "Stand-to"
was at 4 o'clock, half an hour before dawn, when the entire force in
the trenches and on the beach stood to arms in readiness for an attack.
The First Landing at Suvla.
The front line having been made fairly secure, attention had to be
turned to the flanks. A glance at the map will show Nibrunesi Point,
near Suvla Bay, about four miles to the north of Ari Burnu, and Gaba
Tepe about two miles south. On both these promontories the Turks had
look-outs, from which their observers spotted the effect of artillery
fire. As with glasses they could see all that occurred in Anzac Cove,
it was considered necessary to destroy both look-outs.
[Illustration:
_[Photo by the Author_
THE FIRST TRENCHES ON THE CLIFF-EDGE NEAR RUSSELL'S TOP.]
For the Gaba Tepe cutting-out expedition Australians were detailed.
Nibrunesi Point was assigned to the New Zealanders. Three officers and
fifty men of the Canterbury Battalion (13th Westland Company) and an
officer and two N.C.O.'s of the N.Z.E. were employed.
The party left Anzac Cove in the dark early one morning and steamed
up the coast in a torpedo-boat destroyer. The plan was to land on
the northern side of the Peninsula and work upwards to the highest
point--Lala Baba. Two destroyers came close in and commanded each side
of the Peninsula, whilst the old "Canopus" stood further out to sea and
supported the whole. If the Turks at Anafarta behaved badly they would
receive chastisement by the guns of His Majesty's Navy.
The observation post itself had some attention from the big ship the
day before; but it was not known whether opposition would now be met
with. The instructions were to destroy the station, get any prisoners
for the Intelligence Officers, and to seek for and destroy a gun that
the naval airmen had reason to suspect was being placed there.
The party got ashore without mishap. Day had now broken, and in three
groups the attackers crept up the gullies towards the crest. It was a
dewy morning, and the fresh, clean smell of the Turkish meadow flowers
mingled with the scent of the wild thyme crushed with the soldiers'
hobnailed boots.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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