On its arrival in the front lines on 12 May 1915, the Mounted Rifles was deployed on the northern (or left) sector of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) perimeter and relieved a brigade of Royal Marines Light Infantry. It would remain here for three months. The area was overlooked by the Sari Bair range and the Turks dominated with snipers and machine gun fire. Russell set his men to improving the defensive arrangements of their positions, digging trenches and saps and implementing countermeasures. He made his headquarters on an elevated plateau which would become known as Russell's Top, only 40 metres from the front line and sharing the discomfort and dangers with his men. A week after arriving, the Mounted Rifles helped to fend off a Turkish night attack across the entire front line. The Turks lost 10,000 men killed and wounded, and the next morning, Godley, commanding the New Zealand and Australian Division to which the Mounted Rifles were subordinate, ordered a counterattack. Russell, aware of how exposed to Turkish machine gun fire an advance across the front lines would be, refused to order the attack. Despite insisting his orders be followed, Godley eventually conceded.