So the harassing conflict continued. It continued all next day under the burning sun. The loss was extreme. Many of the very best officers fell. The 5th and 6th Royal Irish Fusiliers were almost exterminated. During the night of the 16th-17th the shattered brigades were withdrawn from the untenable position. It was never recovered. Jephson’s Post and the steep slopes leading down on either side, one to the sea, the other to the plain, remained the farthest points held by our lines along the Kiretch Tepe Sirt. This attack of August 15 was General Stopford’s last order. That evening he gave up the command of the IXth Corps, and Major-General De Lisle took his place, awaiting the arrival of Major-General Julian Byng. Brigadier-General H. L. Reed, however, remained as Chief of Staff to the Corps. Meantime, in place of De Lisle, Major-General W. R. Marshall (87th Brigade) took command of the 29th Division. A few days later, Major-General Lindley (at his own request) gave up the command of the 53rd (Welsh) Division, and was appointed to the military command at Mudros. Major-General Hammersley retired from command of the 11th Division owing to serious illness. The same cause unfortunately removed Major-General F. C. Shaw from the 13th (Western) Division, which he had commanded with such skill and firmness during the assault on Sari Bair. Brigadier-General Sitwell was succeeded in command of the 34th Brigade by Brigadier-General J. Hill. Soon afterwards the command of the 31st Brigade was taken over by Lieut.-Colonel J. G. King-King in place of Brigadier-General F. F. Hill, who fell seriously ill. It became known that, besides General Julian Byng, Major-General E. A. Fanshawe and Major-General F. Stanley Maude (afterwards the hero of Bagdad) were coming out. _Note._--Subsequent Turkish information gives the Turkish forces on the Peninsula on August 6 as follow:-- At Helles, 4 divisions in the line, and 1 in reserve (_c._ 40,000 men) with 94 guns; at Anzac, 3 divisions and 1 regiment in the line, with 2 regiments in reserve (_c._ 20,000 men) with 76 guns; at Suvla, 3 battalions (_c._ 2000 men) and 20 guns; between Helles and Anzac, 1 division on guard, and 1 in reserve (_c._ 10,000 men); at Bulair, 3 divisions (_c._ 20,000 men) and 80 guns; on the Asiatic coast, 3 divisions. Total on the Peninsula, _c._ 92,000 men and 270 guns. CHAPTER XIII THE LAST EFFORTS