mustafa kemal led the turkish counterattack at chunuk bair.
mustafa kemal led the turkish counterattack at chunuk bair.
who led the turkish counterattack at chunuk bair?
mustafa kemal
however, the main assault aimed at the peaks of chunuk bair and hill 971 was less successful. the force striking for the nearer peak of chunuk bair comprised the new zealand infantry brigade. it came within of the peak by dawn on 7 august but was not able to seize the summit until the following morning. this delay had fatal consequences for another supporting attack on the morning of 7 august, that of the 3rd light horse brigade at the nek which was to coincide with the new zealanders attacking back down from chunuk bair against the rear of the turkish defences. the new zealanders held out on chunuk bair for two days before relief was provided by two new army battalions from the wiltshire and loyal north lancashire regiments. a massive turkish counter-attack, led in person by mustafa kemal, swept these two battalions from the heights. meanwhile, the landing at suvla bay was only lightly opposed but the british commander, lieutenant general sir frederick stopford, had so diluted his early objectives that little more than the beach was seized. again the turks were able to win the race for the high ground of the anafarta hills thereby rendering the suvla front another case of static trench warfare.
military history of australia during world war i
in august 1915, russell's brigade participated in the battle of sari bair, an attempt to break the stalemate that existed at gallipoli. commanding a contingent of maori pioneers in addition to his own brigade, the turkish positions at no. 3 outpost, table top hill and bauchop's hill, guarding the approach to the sari bair ridge, were captured in a well organised attack on the night of 6 august. russell took care to ensure his men fully understood their roles and the tactics to be used. originally, russell's brigade was to have been the spearhead of the attack on chunuk bair itself but was shunted into the supporting role of securing the approach. the capture of the turkish positions cleared the way for the new zealand infantry brigade to make its way up the slopes of chunuk bair. heavy losses were incurred amongst the infantry making an initial attack during daylight hours. a nighttime attack was planned using two squadrons of russell's command together with the wellington infantry battalion. this succeeded and the peak of chunuk bair was captured in the early hours of 8 august. the peak was exposed to gunfire from neighbouring hill q, which made it difficult to dig in. the battalion held chunuk bair for a day until relieved by the otago infantry battalion and two more squadrons of russell's mounteds. the peak was lost the following day after it was handed over to two british battalions and the sair bair ridge remained in turkish hands. later, godley regretted the change to the original plan, considering that russell, after taking the approaches to the sari bair ridge, could have proceeded on and secured chunuk bair and hill q with his brigade.
andrew hamilton russell