This unsuccessful attempt to capture the hill so ominously known as “Scimitar,” and occupied, it may be remembered, without opposition by a single battalion on Sunday evening, August 8, cost little less than 6500 casualties. Most of the loss fell on the 29th Division, but the Yeomanry lost nearly 1000 of their small force, and among the killed were Brigadier-General F. A. Kenna, V.C. (formerly of the 21st Lancers), Brigadier-General the Earl of Longford (formerly of the 2nd Life Guards), whose body was never found, and Sir John Milbanke, V.C. (formerly of the 10th Hussars), commanding the Sherwood Rangers.[207] The failure of the attempt had proved that even when acting in combination with the finest Regulars, inexperienced and untried brigades cannot be hurried into the firing lines of an important attack without risk of confusion or collapse. For neither in officers nor in men had the sense of leadership, confidence, or even of direction been trained into an instinct strong enough to bear the strain of the shocks and confused impressions inevitable to a violently opposed advance. On the south or Anzac side of the broad valley leading up to Biyuk Anafarta, the action was far more successful. The main object in this region was to secure complete possession of the Kaiajik Aghala, that rough and intersected ridge partly occupied by the 4th Australian Infantry Brigade during the general attack upon Sari Bair a fortnight earlier. That brigade, reduced to some 1500 men, now held a position separated by a deep creek from the main ridge, the whole of which, and especially the broad and flattish eminence at the northern extremity, had been occupied by the Turks and strongly fortified. The white lines of their trenches were visible from Suvla and the whole district, the earth being whitish there, as though mixed with chalk. The eminence, which we knew as Hill 60, was chequered with these lines, and resembled the back of a large tortoise with the markings picked out in white. It was, indeed, converted into a fortress commanding the broad and flattish valley between it and W Hill about one and a half miles away. As before explained, the possession of Hill 60 was essential for the security of communication between Anzac and Suvla. If W Hill had been occupied, Biyuk Anafarta and the northern approaches to Koja Chemen Tepe would also have lain open. [Sidenote: ATTACK ON KABAK KUYU WELLS]