Chapter 10 of The Anzac Story: The Battle of Sari Bair

Chapter 10 of The Anzac Story: The Battle of Sari Bair

THE attack on Lone Pine was raging fiercely when just after dark on August 6th the New Zealand Mounted Rifle Brigade moved along the Anzac beach to the north, and then striking in to the foothills, attacked several Turkish outposts which were quickly overrun and captured. This was the first stroke in the great battle on the northern flank, which was called the Battle of Sari Bair, and from which so much was hoped.

It is not possible in a short story to tell of all the fighting that took place and of the heroic deeds of the Anzac and other soldiers who took part in this terrible battle which raged for several weeks. Many peaks in the high, rough mountain country were captured from the Turks and many prisoners were taken, but after three days and nights of fierce fighting it was evident that the peak of Sari Bair, known as Hill 971, could not be captured.

A body of New Zealand soldiers almost reached the top and held on gallantly for some hours, with the help of some Gurkhas and English troops. The Turks brought up fresh troops and greatly outnumbered our soldiers who, fighting bravely, were forced to fall back. During this fighting two more Victoria Crosses were won by Anzac soldiers, Captain Throssell of the Australian Light Horse and Signaller Bassett, a New Zealander. In many other parts of the battlefield our soldiers bad been given too great a task and were not able to push on as bad been hoped.

The advance from Suvla Bay did not achieve the results that bad been hoped for, and there was little chance left of it ever being possible to drive the Turks from Gallipoli.

Perhaps the chief factor in the gallant defence by the Turks was the leadership of their famous general, Mustapha Kemal Bey, who commanded the Turkish troops opposing the Anzacs from the landing to the end of the campaign. After the war Mustapha Kemal Bey became the ruler of Turkey, with the title of Kemal Ataturk, and ruled the country wisely for many years.

The many hard battles fought in August had increased the ground held by the Anzacs and by the British soldiers at Suvla Bay but the Turks were still barring the way to the Dardanelles and the Turkish capital of Constantinople. Both sides had suffered very heavy losses and the fighting again settled down to trench warfare.

The British generals now had to decide whether they would fight still more battles to drive the Turks back, or whether it would be wiser to give up the fight and leave Gallipoli.

Britain and her ally, France, were not only fighting at Gallipoli but also in France, Africa, and Mesopotamia. These other war theatres required many thousands of soldiers and it was very difficult to provide enough soldiers to fight on all fronts at the same time.

There were still several thousands of English, French, Indian, Australian and New Zealand soldiers at Gallipoli. If they were taken away, they could be sent to help in the war in France and Belgium.

In order to decide what was the best thing to do, the British Government sent their most famous soldier, Field Marshal Lord Kitchener, from England to Gallipoli to talk with the other generals there. Lord Kitchener visited Anzac, Suvla Bay, and Cape Helles in November, 1915, and saw the trenches which the troops were occupying. From these trenches he could see how difficult it would be to drive the Turks back. Thousands of fresh strong soldiers would be required which he knew could not be spared, as they were needed for the fighting in Europe. So be advised the British Government that the armies leave Gallipoli. The Government took Lord Kitchener's advice and decided upon what is called in military language, an evacuation.

That meant that they decided to take all the soldiers away from Gallipoli and give back to the Turks the rugged strips of coastline at Anzac, Helles, and Suvla they had fought so hard to win and to which
they had held on, against great odds, for so many months. It was a hard decision to make and a difficult operation to carry out.

There was much planning to be done; ships had to be found to take the troops away, jetties to be built for embarkation, and camps formed at Lemnos and other places to accommodate the soldiers when they left Gallipoli.