AFTER the Turks had failed in their attempt in May to drive the Anzacs into the sea the fighting died down and there was no big battle for some months. The Turks, who were fighting to defend their homeland, realized that if they could stop the
Anzacs from getting any further inland they would realize the struggle was hopeless and would go away.
The British generals thought there was still a chance of driving the Turks back to Constantinople, and that the British Navy could then go through the Dardanelles to defeat them. This would be a great help to the British and French armies then fighting in France and Belgium. So the generals decided to make one more big attack.
The place chosen was the northern end of the Anzac line where the ground was so rough and mountainous that the Turks would not think it was possible for the British and Anzac soldiers to succeed and it was likely that the Turks would be taken by surprise if the intended attack was kept a secret.
There was, much work to be done at Anzac before an attack could be made. Before the many thousands of new soldiers could be landed, trenches, dugouts and camping places had to be dug for them in gullies and hills where they would be out of
sight of the Turks.
This work was all done by the tired Anzac soldiers who were said to be resting from the firing line but the resting meant several hours of digging with picks and shovels every day and often in the night too. During
the whole of July the Anzacs worked hard at this digging.
Fresh water for the new troops had also to be arranged, so many large tanks were brought from Egypt and hauled up the
hills. There were no horses or tractors to do this work and over one hundred men were
needed to haul each tank. When the tanks were in position they were filled with water pumped up from the beach.
The new soldiers began to arrive in the first week in August. They could be landed at night only as they had to be hidden in their dugouts before daylight. Six thousand soldiers were landed every night for nearly a week. The ships that brought them had to be away from Anzac before daylight so that the Turks would not know what had been going on during the night. Most of the new soldiers came from England but there were some from India also, including a brigade of Gurkhas, who were renowned fighters, especially in rough mountainous country. Before August 6th, the day fixed for the first attack, there were 37,000 fresh soldiers and 72 guns hidden waiting for the battle to start.
The first attack on August 6th was to be made from the centre of the old Anzac trenches against the strong Turkish position known as Lone Pine. This daylight attack was to make the Turk think the main battle was to be there and cause him to put many of his troops into the fight.
Then on August 7th, well before daylight, the main attack on the left, up the steep mountains, would be made by other Australian and New Zealand troops, followed by some English troops and the Indians.
A third attack was to be made entirely by British forces who would land from ships at Suvla Bay, four miles north of Anzac, march inland for three miles, and then attack Turkish trenches and guns. |
