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As the day
wore on Turkish counter attacks forced the ANZACs to retreat from lightly
held positions on Third Ridge and Baby 700 and by nightfall
they were occupying an area of little more than a square kilometre with a
front line no more than 900m from the sea.
The troops began to dig in to
the soft, yellowish, sandy precipitous ground. 
Farther south at Cape Helles the
British 29th Division landed at five beaches, codenamed S, V, W, X and Y,
grouped around the toe of the peninsula. Resistance at S, X and Y was
negligible and troops were soon established ashore. At the other two
beaches, where the main effort was directed, there was fierce fighting and
heavy casualties.
The 1st Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers landed at W Beach
under heavy fire and only gained a foothold after bitter fighting. The
battalion was awarded six Victoria Crosses and the beach became known as
'Lancashire Landing.'
At V Beach the converted collier SS
River Clyde, containing 2,000 men, was used to land close to the old fort
at Seddulbahir. Many troops were cut down as they attempted to land
and it was not until the next day that the Turks were driven from the
fort. The opportunity to advance from the established footholds was not
taken by local commanders, nor was it insisted upon by Hamilton.
A diversionary landing was made by the
French at Kum Kale, on the Asian side of the straits, inflicting
losses on the Turks and withdrawing after 24 hours. The French then took
over the right flank of the Cape Helles line on 27 April.
At Anzac the troops were
clinging to the tiny beach head. On 28 April the RND began landing to
relieve the sorely pressed Australian battalions. The 1st Australian
Division had suffered almost 5,000 casualties.
Turkish counter attacks
were repulsed; and the ANZAC Division, supported by the RND, attempt to
capture Baby 700 on 2 May was unsuccessful. From Russell's Top
and Walker's Ridge in the north, the ANZAC line ran across the head
of Monash Valley, then south west along McLaurin's Hill to
the seaward side of the 400
Plateau, then followed Bolton's
Ridge to the sea.
The situation at the head of Monash
Valley was the most critical. Here a series of posts were occupied on
the edge of the valley wall, in some places with the Turks overlooking
them. At Quinn's Post the Turks could actually fire into the rear
of the defenders. Unable to break out the ANZACs improved their defensive
positions.
At Cape Helles by late on 26
April there were few Turkish soldiers remaining. On 28 April - the first
battle of Krithia (now Alcitepe) - tiredness and poor
planning left the troops well short of their objective. Achi Baba (Alci
Tepe), designated to be captured on the opening days of the campaign,
was still over six km away. The Turks were able to reinforce this area and
launch counter attacks on the nights of 1-2 and 3-4 May.
Although the
Turks suffered considerable casualties the British and French were unable
to continue the offensive until reinforced. From Anzac General
Birdwood released two of his strongest Brigades (the 2nd Australian, and
the New Zealand Brigade) for the resumed offensive on 6-8 May - the second
battle of Krithia. This advance along a 1.3 km front was one of the
quintessential moments of the campaign and advanced the line to the site
of the present Redoubt Cemetery at a cost of over a thousand
casualties.
At Anzac the Turks launched a
major counter attack along the entire ANZAC front on 19 May. By evening
thousands of Turkish dead lay in no-man's-land, and five days later a
truce was called to bury the bodies rapidly decomposing in the summer
heat.
At Cape Helles the British
continued to push forward. The third battle of Krithia was
conducted on 4 June, Haricot Redoubt on 21 June, Gully Ravine
between 28 June and 5 July, and Achi Baba Nullah on 12-13 July,
where although gaining local success the Allies failed to achieve a
breakthrough. As August approached casualties and sickness in all armies
increased.
Faced with deadlock a daring scheme
was developed. There is some contention about which offensives were
diversionary attacks and which were points of main effort, however, what
was attempted was a landing at Suvla Bay and a march through the
comparatively undefended country north of Anzac, then an advance up
the ridges leading to the heights of the Sari Bair (now Kocacimen
Dagi) range.
If successful the entire Turkish position at Anzac
would be outflanked and the Allied advance across the peninsula to the
'Narrows' could be resumed. At Suvla Bay the IX Corps under the
command of Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Stopford would land and
capture a cluster of hills several kms inland. Several feints were planned
at Anzac and Cape Helles to prevent the Turks from moving
reserves to the threatened areas.
The offensive opened on 6 August. At Cape
Helles the British 29th Division suffered badly in a diversionary
attack. In another diversion carried out by Australian troops against the
Turkish positions at Lone Pine - opposite the centre of the ANZAC
bridgehead - a substantial section of trench was captured provoking
repeated counter attacks over the next four days. Seven Victoria Crosses
were won in this action and thousands of men on both sides were killed.
On the evening of 6 August, after
overcoming the Turkish outposts in the area, the columns from Anzac
began their night march. The Australian troops of the 4th Brigade became
lost and were delayed in a maze of ridges and gullies. By daybreak part of
the New Zealand Brigade managed to climb within striking distance of their
objective, Chunuk Bair (now Conkbayiri). When the New
Zealanders attacked later that morning they were repulsed.
The failure to
capture Chunuk Bair had unfortunate consequences for the
Australians who were to carry out the diversions for 7 August. The Light
Horsemen of the 8th and 10th Light Horse were shot down in droves when
they attacked the full strength (and secure from the rear) Turkish
trenches at the Nek.
In the early hours of 8 August the Navy
laid down a heavy barrage on the heights of the Sari Bair range and
the New Zealanders gained a foothold. Ghurkhas and British troops also
occupied positions close to the summit of Hill Q (now Besimtepe).
The Australians who were to seize Hill 971 were well short of their
objective and receiving increasing Turkish opposition. On Chunuk Bair
the New Zealanders were subjected to ferocious counter attacks and were
forced back to positions just off the summit.
On 9 August efforts to
recapture the summit failed and a successful attack on Hill Q was
thwarted when the troops were shelled by their own guns and forced to
retire. On 10 August a massive counter attack drove the Allies from their
positions near Chunuk Bair to the slopes below. The vital heights
were now beyond reach, and the last offensive on the Gallipoli peninsula
had failed.
Stopford's IX Corps began landing at Suvla
Bay on the night of 6 August and by the next morning almost 20,000 men
were ashore. The Turks were taken by surprise but the advantage was not
followed up. The inexperienced troops stayed close to the beach and when
Turkish reinforcements counter attacked on 9 August the hopes for a
British advance were dashed. Hamilton relieved Stopford of his command on
15 August. On 21 August a major effort was made to capture the heights
inland from Suvla Bay, beginning with Scimitar Hill (now Yusufcuktepe).
It was the greatest battle of the Suvla Bay area but it failed.
British, Australian, New Zealand and
Ghurkha troops were engaged in heavy fighting around Hill 60 (now Bombatepe)
between Anzac and Suvla Bay until the end of August. At this
time the Anzac and Suvla Bay fronts were now linked. The
fighting subsided while the future of the campaign was debated. The Turks
had virtually exhausted their reserves, however the lack of any decisive
achievements on the peninsula convinced the Allies to consider withdrawal.
In the middle of October Hamilton was
recalled. His successor, General Sir Charles Monro was instructed to
ascertain whether or not the campaign should continue.
Monro concluded that evacuation was
the best option. Kitchener visited the peninsular and agreed Monro's
assessment. After much prevarication the British government informed Monro
on 7 December to proceed with the evacuation of Anzac and Suvla
Bay.
The evacuation was planned to occur in
three stages. All troops, animals and munitions not required to maintain
the bridgehead would be withdrawn; the garrisons would then be reduced to
minimal strength; and finally, the remaining troops would be removed
quickly. Ingenious ruses were devised to give the impression that the
front line was still strongly held. The withdrawals were made at night and
the garrisons at both Anzac and Suvla Bay were slowly
reduced.
On the nights of 18-19 and 19-29 December the last troops were
evacuated. Apparently the Turks were thoroughly deceived (although aware
that 'something was up' it is also possible that the Turks did not wish to
intervene in the withdrawal which after all achieved what they had tried
so hard to do).
The forces at Cape Helles remained.
On 27 December the British government decided that it too should be
abandoned. The same basic plan was followed, although it was placed in
some jeopardy by a Turkish attack on 7 January 1916. Before daybreak on 9
January the last British troops left the peninsula from Lancashire
Landing. The Gallipoli campaign was over.
In the eight and a half month
campaign the British Empire and its French allies suffered over 250,000
casualties. Estimates of Turkish casualties vary from 250,000 to
approximately 500,000.
In November 1918 the war came to an end
and the Allies returned to occupy the Dardanelles. When the Greeks
sent troops to Smyrna (now Izmir) in May 1919, a new
revolutionary government emerged under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal. In
the war that followed Kemal drove the Greeks from Turkish territory. In
September 1922 the British and Turks again faced each other at the Dardanelles.
At Canakkale fighting appeared likely, but was averted. By 1923 the
modern Turkish state came into being with Mustafa Kemal Ataturk as its
first president.
On the peninsula the Commonwealth
War Graves Commission (CWGC) maintains 31 cemeteries, one isolated grave
and five memorials to those who have no known grave. In all, 48,427 men,
who died either in the campaign or later in the war, are commemorated.
Others who died of wounds or disease were buried in CWGC cemeteries in Canakkale,
Istanbul, Limnos, Egypt, Malta and England.
Under the terms of the 1923 Treaty of
Lausanne the ground occupied by the cemeteries at Gallipoli is a permanent
resting place for those buried there. At Anzac the entire
battlefield is preserved as a park and military and commercial activity,
camping, lighting fires and picking flowers are prohibited.
Where possible, each headstone is
inscribed with the person's rank, name, unit, date of death, age and the
appropriate religious emblem. Often an inscription chosen by relatives has
been added. Where graves could not be positively identified Special
Memorials were made for those believed to be buried in the cemetery. In
some cases the remains were identified only as belonging to a particular
country, in others the headstone bears the inscription 'A SOLDIER OF THE
GREAT WAR.'
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note. The author appears to have made a small mistake here.
Unlike the CWGC War Cemeteries in France/Flanders the unidentified
graves at Gallipoli have NO headstone. If they did almost all of
would be of that type. The decision was made to leave as plain
grassy areas those gravesites that could not be identified.
The
high number of "unidentified" was a result of there
being no opportunity between 1915 and 1919 to preserve the
original timber grave markers and the absence of a Graves
Registration Unit at Gallipoli in 1915. Also creating a problem
was the original non-metal identification disks worn by troops of
the British Empire & Commonwealth. They were pressed fibre and
over time they simply disappeared.
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Almost all Turkish dead were buried in
mass graves and there appears to be no authority that can assist in
identifying individuals' final resting places.
For three and a half months in 1915,
until the landing at Suvla Bay early in August revived expectations
of a breakout from Anzac, Cape Helles at the southern tip of
the peninsula was the only front that appeared to offer any real
opportunity for victory. British and French commanders believed they could
roll the Turk's southern front line north to beyond the hill Alci Tepe (Achi
Baba - Plaster Hill). It was never captured. The dashed hopes of the
25 April landings (Alci Tepe was the objective of the 29th Division
on 25 April) were rekindled several times during the summer before it was
completely appreciated that the Helles front was as hopelessly
stuck as the front at Anzac. The stalemate remained until Helles
was evacuated early on the morning of 9 January 1916.
Unlike the wild terrain of Anzac the
Helles battlefield had been cultivated by farmers for over two
thousand years. In appearance it was similar to the 1914 battlefields in
France and Belgium. Only Gully Ravine is reminiscent of the terrain
of Anzac. The southern tip of the peninsula can be viewed from the
Asiatic shore near Kumkale. The Helles battlefield is
dominated by Alci Tepe, the 217m hill east of Alcitepe (Krithia)
village. Except for pockets of pine trees the landscape has reverted to
what it was like before the campaign; other than cemeteries and monuments
there are few signs that anything of significance ever took place here.
It
is an area of natural beauty, but more like European fields than the
rugged beauty of Anzac. Wheat, corn, barley and sesame are the
major crops grown, and there are many olive trees interspersed throughout
the fields. The locals use a combination of mechanical (small and/or old
tractors) and manual means to tend the fields and their vegetable plots.
Cape Helles Memorial to the Missing.
The Helles Memorial is built on a small hill several hundred metres
north east of the Cape Helles Lighthouse. The memorial offers good views
of Alci Tepe and Alcitepe to the north, the area around Lancashire
Landing Cemetery to the west, and the Aegean Sea to the south.
On a clear day it is possible to see Bozcaada (Tenedos) to
the south, and Imroz (Imbros, Gokceada) to the south
west. The memorial is both a memorial to the Gallipoli campaign and to the
20,763 men (including 248 Australian soldiers) who died in the campaign
and whose graves are unknown or who were lost or buried at sea. It
includes the names of all units that took part in the campaign. Four
Victoria Cross winners are represented. It is 46m above sea level, 32.9m
in height and was completed in the summer of 1924. In 1926, T. J.
Pemberton wrote:
"[It] is a symbol of triumph - the
triumph of human nature over fearful odds; a great nation's willing
sacrifice for an idea. Having suffered this splendid failure, Britain has
had the courage to ignore the defeat and commemorate in stone those who
never questioned the worth or wisdom of the idea. The sacrifice and valour
were things far greater than the un-acquired victory."
V Beach. The landing at V
Beach soon after 6 am on 25 April was one of the bloodiest and most
heroic episodes in the campaign. Two thousand men were hidden aboard the
SS River Clyde which was run aground at the foot of the Seddulbahir
fort. Six Victoria Crosses were awarded on the first morning. Those
reaching the shore took shelter beneath the sandbank at the water's edge.
The troops remaining on board landed after nightfall. The following day
more died when the Seddulbahir fort, the village and a fort (Fort
Ertugral - Fort No 1) at the top of a slope from the beach were
assaulted and captured in hard fighting. A further three Victoria Crosses
were earned. V Beach was then handed over to the French, in whose
hands it remained for the remainder of the campaign.
To appreciate V Beach as a
battlefield it is best to approach it from the Helles Memorial,
900m to the west. From the heights above the beach there is a splendid
view of the ruins of Seddulbahir , Seddulbahir village, Ertugral
Bay (where a line of rocks marks the position of the SS River Clyde),
and, in the foreground, V Beach Cemetery. In the background, to the
east, across the straits is the old fort of Kumkale.
Fort Ertugral. This is one of
five gun emplacements that constituted the outer defences of the straits
at the outbreak of the war. It was designated as Fort No 1 by the
British. By the time of the landing it had largely been destroyed. The
fort is on the heights that overlook the beach. Nearby there is a memorial
to some of the Turkish defenders and a recreation of some Turkish trench
that highlights how a single company could cause such devastation to an
attacking force. The memorial is called Yahya Cavus Aniti (Sergeant
Yahya Memorial).
V Beach Cemetery. Located on Ertugral
Bay, it almost touches the sand. There are few headstones - only 20
graves are known. There are special memorials to 196 men and a further 480
are unidentified. There is one Victoria Cross winner buried here, Captain
Garth Walford.
Seddulbahir. Built in 1659, the
fort completed the system of forts guarding the Dardanelles begun
by Sultan Mehmet II in 1453. Although obsolete by 1914 the Turks made it
an integral part of their outer defences. It was designated Fort No 3 by
the British. It was largely destroyed during the Allied bombardment on 3
November 1914, and by 18 March it had been eliminated as a serious threat
to the Allied fleet. On 25 April a machine gun and snipers located in the
rubble helped to stall the landing from the SS River Clyde.
The fort was
only captured by the British on the following day. The French later used
it as a hospital. Today the fort is again a Turkish army installation
(although we did not see any signs of their presence). It has not been
reconstructed so the evidence of its systematic destruction by the Allied
fleet is obvious.
The French War Cemetery. It is
located at Morto Bay, just inland of S Beach and a short
distance from the Canakkale Martyrs' Memorial complex on the bay's
eastern promontory. The cemetery is built on a slope, 30m above sea level.
Construction and the task of locating over 3,000 French dead began in
January 1919, however it was not until July 1926 that it was completed.
The cemetery faces due south, towards Kumkale across the straits
where the Corps Expeditionaire d'Orient first went ashore on 25 April. One
of the largest on the peninsula it is a rectangle measuring 76m wide by
140m long. Trees screen three of its sides, with the open southern side
facing Morto Bay.
The cemetery includes four ossuaries
each containing the remains of 3,000 unknown soldiers. The central obelisk
is also an ossuary, inscribed on it are the words ' LA FRANCE A SES
ENFANTS 1915' (France to Her Children, 1915). The maternal message is
repeated elsewhere. There are 3,236 individual graves. Most are marked by
a cross made of black painted metal stake with the tips wrought in the
shape of the Fleur-de-lis.
The graves of the non-Christian have either a
crossed stake without the fleur-de-lis, or a vertical stake. Attached to
all the grave markers is a metal plate with each man's service number,
name and the words 'Mort pour la France.' A somewhat stark but moving
approach to a cemetery.
S Beach. The beach where the 2nd
South Wales Borderers landed is at the foot of the eastern promontory on Morto
Bay. Looming over it is the Canakkale Martyrs' Memorial.
The road from the French War Cemetery to the Canakkale Martyrs'
Memorial passes through a pleasant picnic spot (complete with kiosk)
in a grove of trees on the foreshore.
Canakkale Martyrs' Memorial (Canakkale
Sehitleri Aniti). The memorial is located on Eskihisarlik Burnu (Old
Fortress Point) about three km north east of Seddulbahir and
consists of the memorial itself, a flagstoned area for official
ceremonies, a cemetery and a museum. On the point itself, built into the
steep slope, are the ruins of an earthwork known in 1915 as De Totts
Battery. From the point there is a magnificent panorama westwards to the
British Helles Memorial, Cape Helles Lighthouse, the fort and
village of Seddulbahir, the straits, Kumkale and Asia. The
view to the north towards Alci Tepe is blocked by trees.
The memorial is erected in the memory of
the 87,000 'martyrs' killed during the Gallipoli campaign, known in
Turkey as the Battle of Canakkale. The first stones were laid in
April 1954 and it was completed in August 1960. It is 41.7m in height and
when floodlit at night makes an impressive entrance to the straits. The
museum houses numerous items of equipment and other relics found on the
battlefields. Artefacts include shell and cartridge cases, rusted weapons,
shrapnel balls, bayonets, shovels, buttons, cutlery, bottles, tins, belt
buckles, unit insignia, and even pieces of bone, false teeth and a skull.
There are a number of guns outside near the door, constituting the best
way to actually find the museum.
Lancashire Landing Cemetery. It
is located about 500m inland of W Beach on the eastern slopes of Hill
114 west of the Helles Memorial. W Beach was defended by
approximately 90 Turks in well sited trenches. By the evening of the first
night over half of the 1st Lancashire Fusiliers (533 men) were casualties
and six Victoria Crosses were awarded. The cemetery contains 1,253 (27
Australian) graves, 97 of which were relocated here from the Aegean
Islands after the Armistice.
Most of the Australians were Victorians
of the 6th, 7th and 8th Battalions, casualties of the Second Battle of Krithia
on 8 May. The Zion Mule Corps, reputedly the first Jewish martial unit
raised in two thousand years, is also represented. There is one Victoria
Cross winner here.
Pink Farm Cemetery. This is one
of the four cemeteries in what was the British sector, the others are Skew
Bridge (seen but not visited), Redoubt (not visited) and Twelve
Tree Copse (see below). There are only three Australian graves here
(out of 602). One of the most moving headstones is that of a 16 year old
(Pte T. H. Bull, 8th Royal Welsh Fusiliers) who died two days before the
evacuation.
Twelve Tree Copse Cemetery. Five
major battles were fought on the spur upon which this cemetery is located
between April and August: the 3 battles of Krithia, an assault to
cover the 29th Division's right flank in the battle of Gully Ravine,
and a frontal assault on the Turkish front line as a diversion for the
landings at Suvla Bay. All these battles ended with objectives
unachieved and high casualties. Two Victoria Crosses were won within 500m
of this cemetery. It was named after a stand of pines situated south of
the present cemetery. Twelve pines have been planted to recall the
original copse.
In November 1918 isolated graves and
graves from three other cemeteries (Geoghegan's Bluff - 925
graves and situated about 600m north west on Gully Spur), Fir
Tree Wood and Clunes Vennel were concentrated here. It faces
south east and has a total of 3,360 graves (12 are Australian) of which
1,953 are unidentified. Most of the dead were killed on 28 June in the
attack of the 156th Brigade and on 6 August diversionary attack. One
Victoria Cross winner is thought to be buried here. Within the cemetery
there is a memorial to the New Zealanders killed in the Second Battle of Krithia
from 6-8 May.
Alcitepe (Krithia). Approaching
the Helles battlefields from the north (from the motel at Kum),
with the heights of Alci Tepe rising to the east, the village of Alcitepe
is reached. There is an army barracks on the northern outskirts,
complete with a memorial to Mustafa Kemal. The village is small, with
narrow roads and a muddy run-down appearance. Approximately two km south
of the village the road crosses the old front line at an area known as the
Vineyard, which was the scene of savage fighting in June and
August.
Whilst it is possible that small
isolated parties of British entered the village significant numbers of
Allied troops never reached it during the campaign. When the campaign was
over and the Turkish army departed, the village lay destroyed. The rubble
lay dormant for almost two decades. In the mid - 1930s the village was
rebuilt and settled by ethnic Turks, who renamed the village after the
nearby hill.
Sargiyeri Sehitligi. This Turkish
memorial is located at the head of Gully Ravine (Zigindere),
approximately one km west of Alcitepe. Nearby is the site of a
field ambulance and a Turkish cemetery. There is a memorial (Zigindere
Sargiyeri Aniti - Zigindere Field Dressing Post Memorial) to Turkish
wounded who were killed here by a British artillery barrage.
The Irony of Alci Tepe. The hill
was seen as the key to the Helles front from the beginning. If the
Allies had reached the summit they would have noticed that there was no
view of the 'Narrows.' Charles Bean visited the summit in 1919 and noted
that to the north the hill 'commanded nothing else except an excellent
view of Anzac.' Alci Tepe was the first in a chain of rugged
hills, valleys and plateaux extending to the Kilitbahir Plateau.
From Canakkale the battlefield is
reached by a 20 minute car ferry ride to Eceabat, then a nine km
vehicle ride to Kabatepe. Crossing the straits is interesting with
views of bustling towns and quaint villages, ancient forts and modern
ships travelling to and from Istanbul and the Black Sea. On
a slope just north of Canakkale is an inscription ' 18 MART 1915'
as a memorial to the Turkish victory over the Allied fleet. On the
opposite shoreline, high on a hill beside Kilitbahir, is a figure
composed of white stones and the inscription of part of a poem by
Necmettin Halil Onan (a number of translations are available):
Shortly after leaving Eceabat
the road turns westwards and crosses the Kilye Ovasi (Kilye
Plain). It is a wide, flat valley stretching from Kilye Bay almost
to Kabatepe. In the original plan for the landing, the covering force
was to capture the heights on the northern side of the plain. Farther north
of the plain are the more rugged ridges and spurs that fall from the Kocacimentepe
Range. The main force would then push eastwards towards the 'Narrows.' Maltepe,
the conical hill two km north west of Kilye, was its goal. South of
the plain is the Kilitbahir Plateau.
Kabatepe Tanitma Merkezi (Kabatepe
Information Centre). The complex
is located on the southern end of Gun Ridge (Third Ridge). The
complex is still under development, with the main feature being a museum.
The exhibits include such battlefield relics as shell and cartridge cases,
weapons, water bottles, buttons, badges, bones, and a skull with a bullet
still embedded. There is a raised viewing platform from which much of the
battlefield is visible. We were fortunate that the thick scrub and pine
growth had been destroyed by bushfire a couple of years previous.
Although
regrowth has commenced the view available now is very similar to that of
1915. On the skyline is the white stone of the Lone Pine Memorial, to
the north east is the Turkish memorial at Kemalyeri (Scrubby Knoll),
on the road south of Lone Pine is a Turkish cemetery and memorial,
and there is a symbolic statue marking the entrance to the battlefield
itself. The broad sweep of the Aegean Sea and draws the eye towards Brighton
Beach (which was the intended landing beach for the Australian covering
force) and Anzac Cove, which is hidden behind Hell Spit.
From here there are four
roads: one heading south to Kum, Alcitepe, and the Helles battlefield;
a short road leading to the Kabatepe ferry terminal; one leading to Brighton
Beach, Anzac Cove, North Beach, and onwards to Suvla
Bay; and the final one heading inland along Pine Ridge along the
former front line, stopping at the main Australian memorial at Lone Pine,
the cemeteries along the ridge, detouring to the Nek and Walker's
Ridge, continuing to the main New Zealand memorial at Conkbayiri (Chunuk
Bair), and reaching Kocacimentepe (Hill 971).
Anzac. Near the middle
of Brighton Beach, one km from Kabatepe, is a marker
delineating the southern boundary of the battlefield (Chatham's Post located
at the southern end of Bolton's Ridge). Before reaching Anzac Cove
the road passes tracks into Shell Green and Schrapnel Gully
Cemeteries. Anzac Cove is three km north of Kabatepe.
There is quite a transition in the terrain in that distance such that by the
time Anzac Cove is reached the hills are steep, eroded, and in some
places sheer. There were three main geographic divisions to the Anzac battlefield:
the beach upon which the troops landed and which became the base area for
the campaign; the front line which changed little during the eight months of
the campaign; and the small, crowded valleys and slopes which housed the
soldiers.
The 3rd Brigade, AIF, was
first to land around Ariburnu, on the northern end of Anzac Cove,
at 4.30 am. The troops were initially under heavy fire from the small
Turkish forces located on the slopes and hills dominating the beach. Within
15 minutes the Turks had been driven inland. The boats had not landed in the
order planned, units were intermingled and men were often out of touch with
their officers. The troops climbed Plugge's Plateau (pron Pluggey's
it is named after Colonel Arthur Plugge, 37, Commanding Officer the
Auckland Battalion) in pursuit of the enemy.
Small groups reached as far
inland as Third Ridge (approximately two km), but as the Turkish
counter attack developed fighting concentrated on Second Ridge (approximately
one km inland). This became the front line for the eight months of the
campaign. By nightfall on the first day 16,000 men and vast quantities of
supplies had been landed on the 600m of beach.
Many soldiers found it hard
to believe that they were abandoning something so desperately fought for,
and there was great sadness at leaving behind comrades in the small,
scattered cemeteries. One man commented to General Birdwood on the final day
"I hope they won't hear us marching to the beach tonight." Anzac
was evacuated on the night of 19-20 December with no loss of life.
Anzak Koyu (Anzac Cove).
The first view of Anzac Cove comes at a small sign beside the main
road on the southern end of MacLagan's Ridge (named after Lieutenant
Colonel Ewen Sinclair-MacLagan, 46, Commander of the 3rd Brigade). The name Anzac
Cove was popularly used after 1915, but only made official in 1985.
Viewed from the sea it is a small almost insignificant indentation in the
broader curve of the west coast of the peninsula. The cove is a small,
gently curved beach 3.5 km north of Kabatepe. It is enclosed by the
two arms of Plugge's Plateau, which form the two promontories, the
northern one Ariburnu, the southern one Kucuk Ariburnu (Lesser
Bee Point).
The beach is only 600m long and 10m wide, although in 1915
it was approximately 25m wide. The land above the beach was designated First
Ridge: behind Ariburnu is Plugge's Plateau, with MacLagan's
Ridge at the southern end and Anzac Gully between. Headquarters
staff for the Corps, and the Australian and ANZAC Divisions were located in
dugouts in Anzac Gully, and several hospitals were dug into the bank
above the beach. The slopes of MacLagan's Ridge were also covered
with dugouts until the area resembled a goldrush mining camp. There is
nothing on the beach that would provide an indication of the momentous event
it has witnessed.
Beach Cemetery. The
cemetery is entered along a gravelled road from the main beach road and lies
on the western side of Queensland Point (named for the troops of the 9th Battalion, raised in
Queensland, who were the first to land here). The cemetery was a burial
ground from the first day of the campaign. It is just above the point of Hell
Spit, facing the sea. It contains the graves of 285 soldiers from
Australia, 50 from the UK, 21 from New Zealand, three from Ceylon, and 21
whose units are unknown. It is believed that an additional ten Australians
and one New Zealander are buried here.
As well as those killed on the beach,
it contains the graves of many mortally wounded brought to the Casualty
Clearing Station on the beach side of MacLagan's Ridge. Represented
are beach workers, Engineers, Field Artillery and stretcher bearers and
hospital staff. There are many graves of those who fought at Lone Pine
on 6-10 August. The British include sailors, RND and Royal Naval Air Service
(RNAS). The Ceylonese were from the Ceylon Tea Planters contingent who
served as General Birdwood's personal escort and camp guard.
Private John Simpson
Kirkpatrick, 22, 3rd Field Ambulance, AIF, (The Man with the Donkey) landed
with his unit north of Ariburnu early on the 25th. By the following
day he had virtually established himself as an independent unit, leading a
donkey carrying wounded from the front down Monash and Shrapnel
Gullies to the beach. In the first three weeks of the campaign he was a
familiar sight, cheerful and oblivious of danger.
He was killed by machine
gun fire near Steele's Post on 19 May. Although recommended for a
Distinguished Conduct Medal and later a Victoria Cross, no single act of
heroism could be isolated. He was however Mentioned in Despatches for
gallant and distinguished service in the field.
Lieutenant Colonel George
Braund, 48, Commanding Officer 2nd Battalion, AIF at the landing is also
buried here. He was accidentally killed on 4 May by a sentry when he did not
respond to a challenge. Nearby there is a concrete bunker that dates from
well after 1915. Most likely it is of World War II vintage, when Turkey was
neutral.
Shrapnel Valley Cemetery.
The cemetery is a short walk off the main beach road inland from Queensland
Point. It is an irregular shape and is located near the mouth of Shrapnel
Gully (variously referred to as either valley or gully). It was made
mainly during the campaign, with some isolated graves being added after
1919. It contains the graves of 527 men from Australia, 56 from New Zealand,
28 from the UK, and 72 whose units are not known. Of these 85 are unnamed. A
further 21 Australians and two from the UK are believed to be buried here.
Major Hugh Quinn, 27, 15th
Battalion, AIF was killed on 29 May. Quinn's Post was named after
him.
Shrapnel Gully. It was
the main means of communication from the beach supply base to the front
line. As a result of bushfire the gully is not overgrown. It is an easy walk
up the gully to Braund's Hill, where it forks north and east to
become Monash Valley and Bridges' Road respectively. After
exploring Shrapnel Gully in 1976 Peter Weir said
"I feel like an archaeologist wandering
through the ruins of some earlier Australian civilization."
Shell Green. Shell
Green is an area of comparatively flat ground and was within the area
captured on the first day, throughout the campaign it was always behind the
front line. The sides of the gullies here were covered with dugouts. The
right flank of the Allied position was only 500m south, at Chatham's Post.
Today it is a peaceful spot, with excellent views of the Aegean. On
its southern side, where it slopes towards Bolton's Ridge, is the Shell
Green Cemetery.
Shell Green Cemetery.
There were two cemeteries at Shell Green during the campaign. In 1919
they were joined and enlarged by the concentration of 64 graves from the
battlefield and from four smaller burial grounds. It contains the graves of
408 Australians and one from the UK; 11 are identified only as Australian
soldiers. There are also the graves of 20 sailors and soldiers who died in
1922 and 1923, removed from Kilye Bay and reburied here in
1927.
There are three plots within
the cemetery; the first contains graves principally from the 9th Battalion
and the Light Horse (the Light Horse held the extreme right around Chatham's
Post), the second mostly contains graves from the 11th Battalion (the
9th and 11th Battalions held Bolton's Ridge from May until December),
and the third contains several graves of the 8th Battalion killed 25 to 29
April (this Battalion occupied Bolton's Ridge on the first day).
The
cemetery also contains graves of the Australian Field Artillery and the
Australian Engineers (artillery batteries were concentrated in the area near
Shell Green, especially on Bolton' Ridge and at the rear of Lone
Pine).
Plugge's Plateau and
Cemetery . A small sign on the western wall of the Shrapnel Valley
Cemetery provides directions to a walking path to Plugge's Plateau
Cemetery. The steep walk along the seaward slope of MacLagan's Ridge
provide views south east along Shrapnel Gully to Lone Pine and
west over Anzac Cove to the islands of the Aegean Sea. The
lines of terraces in Anzac Gully and Shrapnel and Monash
Gullies are still discernible. The remains of trenches and strong
points are beside the path.
The plateau is actually the
northern end of MacLagan's Ridge. The plateau is triangular in shape,
about 200m on its northern side, narrowing at its southern end. All sides
are steep, and there are commanding views of Anzac and Suvla.
The remains of some trenches are still visible, particularly on the eastern
side, overlooking Rest Gully, Monash Valley and Second
Ridge. The northern end overlooks North Beach and has views to
the Sphinx and the pine trees around the area of both the Nek and
Lone Pine.
On the north west corner of
the plateau, facing south west towards the sea, is the cemetery. It is a
dramatic place for what is the smallest cemetery at Anzac. It
contains the graves of 12 soldiers from Australia and eight from New
Zealand. Three of these are unidentified, whilst there is an additional
headstone for one soldier totally unknown. Eleven were killed on 25 April,
and three of those killed later on were artillerymen who served the guns of
the field battery located here. To be up here with only a couple of other
people, as the sun was getting low over the Aegean was a uniquely
quiet and moving experience.
Turkish Memorial to the
Anzacs. On the northern end of Anzac Cove stands the stone memorial
shaped something like a curved, open page. In bas-relief are the words
attributed to Kemal Ataturk, delivered to a group of visitors from
Australia, New Zealand and the UK in 1934:
Ari Burnu Cemetery.
The cemetery is located 20m north of the Turkish memorial and is entered
from the main beach road. It is located on the small cape that forms the
northern end of Anzac Cove around which the first boatloads of
Australians landed on 25 April. The cemetery was made during the campaign on
land that was overlooked by Turkish outposts and therefore unsafe for any
other purpose. There are 151 soldiers from Australia (82 of whom belonged to
the Light Horse), 35 from New Zealand, 27 sailors and soldiers from the UK,
and 37 whose units are not known.
Three soldiers from Australia and two from
New Zealand are believed to be buried here. Additionally there is one member
of the Maltese Labour Corps. Three Indian soldiers who were originally
buried at Kilitbahir, 11 graves from the Kilitbahir Anglo-French
Cemetery and three from the Gelibolu Consular Cemetery were
concentrated here in 1926 and 1927. They were members of British units
occupying Turkey after the Armistice and died of illnesses such as influenza
and pneumonia.
The Light Horsemen are
predominantly from the 8th and 10th Light Horse killed in the charge at the Nek
on 7 August. The graves of two brothers, Lance Corporal Lindsay Chipper,
28, and Trooper Ross Chipper, 31, killed on the same day, are only separated
by three graves.
The cemetery is the site of
the Anzac Day Dawn Service where the attendees gather amongst the headstones
with their backs to the ocean facing the dark shape of Plugge's Plateau.
The heights seem even more towering than in the daylight and must have been
a foreboding sight to the soldiers in 1915.
North Beach. The beach
is two km north of Anzac Cove. Here the coastal strip is wider than
at Anzac Cove and Brighton Beach and is edged to the east by
the steep sandy spurs of the Kocacimentepe Range. The main ridge
above the beach is Russell's Top (named after Brigadier Andrew
Russell, 47, commander of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles).
Several steep
spurs fall seaward, the most spectacular and steep being the Sphinx. Walker's
Ridge (named after Brigadier Harold Walker, 53, Commander of the New
Zealand Infantry Brigade) is 300m north of the Sphinx is another
spur. Walker's Ridge connects onto Russell's Top, and both
connect onto the Baby 700 feature at the Nek. There is also a
knife-edged piece of ground connecting Russell's Top onto Plugge's
Plateau.
Part of the covering force,
mostly the 11th and 12th Battalions, landed north of Ariburnu and
climbed up to Russell's Top, the Nek and Baby 700. By
late afternoon on the first day, the Turks had retaken the ridge as far
south as the Nek and overlooked much of North Beach. Until
August Walker's Ridge marked the northern flank of the Anzac position,
although the New Zealanders had established three outposts (north of the
CWGC Cottages) closer to the coast and farther north. The beach itself was
not used until after the August offensive, when Turkish snipers were cleared
from the spurs of Baby 700. It was from here that most of the troops
were finally evacuated.
Canterbury Cemetery.
The cemetery is located east of the main beach road, north of Ariburnu and
below Walker's Ridge. It was made after 1919 from several smaller
nearby cemeteries and individual graves. It faces the sea and is located in
an area that was part of the New Zealand sector for the entire campaign.
Sixteen of the 22 known graves are men from the Canterbury Mounted Rifles
Brigade. The remainder belonged to other New Zealand units, there are also
four unidentified graves, and one grave is wholly unidentified.
From the
cemetery there are excellent views of Plugge's Plateau, the Sphinx
and the skyline northeast to Chunuk Bair (Conkbayiri). On
the beach below the cemetery are the remains of a landing craft, one of the
few signs along the entire coast of a military presence, let alone of the
evacuation.
Commonwealth War Graves
Commission Cottages. North of the Canterbury Cemetery is the
small, neat CWGC complex of work area and accommodation, surrounded by pine
trees. It is the only accommodation located within the national park. It
would be a sobering, humbling experience to stay there. North of the CWGC
complex there are the
No. 2 Outpost Cemetery,
the NZ No. 2 Outpost Cemetery, the Embarkation Pier Cemetery and
the 7th Field Ambulance Cemetery. We didn't stop at any of these
cemeteries. Embarkation Pier Cemetery marks the boundary of the Anzac
battlefield. The 7th Field Ambulance Cemetery is named after an
Australian unit that landed in September 1915. Of the 433 graves, 353 were
brought in after the war from earlier cemeteries, and most are not
Australian (only 21 identified and a further 47 known or believed to be
buried here). We did not detour up to the Hill 60 region and the Hill
60 Cemetery.
Lone Pine. The Lone
Pine Memorial and Cemetery is three km from Kabatepe. The
road climbs Pine Ridge to the southern half of the 400 Plateau.
Approximately half way up there is a symbolic Turkish statue that
effectively serves as an entrance to the battlefield along Pine Ridge (Mehmetcice
Derin Saygi). East of Pine Ridge is Legge Valley (named
after Major General James Legge, 51, Commander 1st Division, AIF). Beyond
that is Third Ridge, also called Gun Ridge because the Turks
placed most of their artillery behind it on the first day. The Turks called
it Topculuk Sirt (Artillery Ridge). The Turkish name for Lone
Pine is Kahnsirt (Bloody Ridge) given after they lost
heavily there on 19 May.
Australian troops fought
across the plateau on the first day, but it was not held. The front line
remained at the plateau's western edge until 6 August. In the August battles
Australian infantry attacked the Turkish trenches at Lone Pine as a
feint to draw Turkish attention away from the main assaults on the Kocacimentepe
Range. The battle lasted for four days, and 7,000 Turks and Australians
were killed or wounded. The position was captured by the Australians and
held until the evacuation.
In a period of two and a half
days seven Victoria Crosses were won by Australians. Four were members of
the 7th Battalion (9 August): Corporal Alexander Burton, 22; Corporal
William Dunstan, 20; Lieutenant Frederick Tubb, 33; and Lieutenant William
Symons, 26. During 7-8 and 9 August respectively, Lance Corporal Leonard
Keysor, 29, and Captain Alfred Shout, 33 both of the 1st Battalion, AIF,
also won Victoria Crosses. The seventh Victoria Cross was awarded to Private
John Hamilton, 19, 3rd Battalion, AIF, on 9 August. Some of the trenches
captured from the Turks were simply filled in as mass graves and became the
basis for a 'battle cemetery' later incorporated into the Lone Pine
Cemetery.
Lone Pine Memorial.
The memorial is to 3,269 Australian and 456 New Zealand soldiers who fought
on Gallipoli and who have no known grave, and to 960 Australians and 252 New
Zealanders who incurred mortal wounds or sickness and were buried at sea. It
is the main Australian memorial on the peninsula and one of four New Zealand
memorials (the rest being at Twelve Tree Copse, Chunuk Bair
and Hill 60). The memorial is a thick tapering stone column that
stands 14.3m high on a square base 13m wide. In front of the column is a
long wall with panels set into both sides. These panels contain the names of
Australian dead listed by units. The memorial stands over the site of the
fiercest fighting in August, the Turkish trenches and tunnels captured by
the Australians. The names of the Victoria Cross winners Captain Shout and
Corporal Burton are inscribed on the panels.
Lone Pine Cemetery.
The cemetery stands in the centre of the 400 Plateau. Remains of
Turkish and Australian trenches surround the memorial and cemetery. The
cemetery is bounded on all sides by a low wall, and the Lone Pine
Memorial is located at the eastern end of the cemetery. There is a
single pine planted in the cemetery. It was planted at the presumed location
of the original tree, in the Lone Pine plot, from seeds gathered from
the ground nearby. The eastern half of the cemetery, closest to the
memorial, was formed from the original battlefield cemetery of 46 graves and
scattered graves concentrated after 1919.
Many of the graves are unnamed.
The Lone Pine plot contains many graves of those killed in the first
day's fighting. Amongst those believed to be buried here are many men from
the 2nd Battalion killed in the fighting during 6-11 August. Many of the
graves bear the dates 6-9 August or 7-14 August, a poignant reminder of the
confusion of that fight and the difficulty of knowing when men died.
The western half consists of
the Brown's Dip plots. Brown's Dip (named after Major Alfred
Bessell-Brown, 37, Officer Commanding 2nd Brigade Australian Field
Artillery, AIF) is a depression at the rear of the cemetery. During the
campaign there were two cemeteries there. In 1919 these were moved, along
with isolated graves, to the plateau. Many of the Brown's Dip graves
are those of the 5th Connaught Rangers killed during the period 8-11 August.
The Brown's Dip plots contain the marked graves of 403 Australians,
New Zealanders and British Marines. Many of the graves at the eastern end
are men of the 23rd and 24th Battalions, AIF who garrisoned Lone Pine
after September. On 29 November Turkish guns bombarded the plateau just as
the 24th Battalion was relieving the 23rd, causing many casualties.
Two Australians who were
amongst the youngest soldiers to fight at Gallipoli are buried here. They
are Private Hughie O'Donnell, 16, 11th Battalion, killed 12 May; and Private
David Smith, 17, 2nd Battalion, killed 27 May. There are 504 unidentified
graves in the cemetery. Of these three are Australians, two from the UK and
499 are wholly unidentified.
On the northern side of the
cemetery is a track to Shell Green. The route follows a firebreak
down Bolton's Ridge (named after Colonel William Bolton, 53,
Commanding Officer 8th Battalion, AIF) to Shell Green. The main
Australian front line of the southern flank was established along Bolton's
Ridge on 25 April and remained unchanged for the duration of the
campaign. The majority of the trench line is still evident, and old tins,
cartridge clips and bones were found. After about one km there is an
excellent view over the Shell Green Cemetery.
Johnston's Jolly Cemetery.
Located on the northern half of the 400 Plateau east of the road and
therefore on ground held by the Turks throughout the campaign. The position
was so named because Colonel George Johnston, 45, Commanding the 2nd
Australian Division Artillery, had field guns located opposite to 'jolly up
the Turks.' The Turks called it Kirmizi Sirt (Crimson Slope)
after their attack there on 19 May. The cemetery was made after 1919 from
isolated graves in the vicinity. Only one grave is identified. Special
memorials record the names of 36 Australians believed to be buried there,
most killed on the attack on Lone Pine which is only a couple of
hundred metres to the south. There are 144 unidentified soldiers, of whom
two are Australian and one is a New Zealander. To the immediate west are the
remains of Australian trenches amongst a small pine forest.
MacLaurin's Ridge. The
one km long stretch of Second Ridge between Johnston's Jolly and
Quinn's Post was known as MacLaurin's Ridge (after Colonel
Henry MacLaurin, 37, Commander 1st Brigade, AIF). On the first day soldiers
were able to reach and hold the seaward slopes of the Second Ridge,
but throughout the campaign were never able to advance beyond it. The
present road along the ridge line marks the former no mans land. The western
slopes of MacLaurin's Ridge were so precipitous that a series of
posts and interconnecting trenches were established to hold the front line.
These were some of the most infamous places at Anzac. A number of
cemeteries were established behind the ridge and in 1919 these were
concentrated into present locations. The first Victoria Cross to be awarded
at Anzac was won on 1 May at the southern end of the ridge by Lance
Corporal Walter Parker, 33, a stretcher bearer with the Portsmouth
Battalion, RND.
4th Battalion Parade
Ground Cemetery. The cemetery is on the southern slope of Braund's
Hill. It is reached by a track from the main road just north of Johnston's
Jolly. The cemetery can also be reached by following Shrapnel Gully
and Bridge's Road from the beach. Three cemeteries were made near Bridge's
Road during the campaign. Most of the graves are men of the 3rd and 4th
Battalions killed in the fighting in May. At the time of the Turkish counter
attack on 19 May, the 3rd Battalion held the position opposite Johnston's
Jolly, and the 4th Battalion held the line at the head of Bridge's
Road.
The 4th Battalion, AIF,
buried 34 of its dead and six from other units on the site of this cemetery.
Farther south on the opposite side of the small valley, was the 3rd
Battalion Parade Ground where 31 soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, AIF, were
buried. To the southeast, behind Johnston's Jolly, was the 22nd
Battalion Parade Ground cemetery which contained the graves of 13 soldiers
of the 3rd Battalion, AIF, and three others. In 1919 the two smaller
cemeteries were concentrated into the 4th Battalion cemetery, and isolated
graves from the area were also added.
The cemetery faces south
southwest and nestles into a sloping hillside, and viewed from above
presents one of the prettiest sights at Anzac. A very peaceful place
for a cemetery. The cemetery contains the graves of 107 Australian soldiers,
three marines of the RND, and six whose graves are unidentified. The graves
include that of Colonel MacLaurin, killed on 27 April. The original
Commanding Officer of the 4th Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Onslow
Thompson, 50, killed on 26 April at Johnston's Jolly, was reburied
here in 1919.
Courtney's and Steele's
Post Cemetery. The southernmost of the three posts on MacLaurin's
Ridge was officially known as Steele's Post, although it was
named after Major Thomas Steel, 36, 14th Battalion, AIF. Steel and a company
of the Battalion occupied the position on 27 April. Courtney's Post is
the central of the three posts and was named after the Commanding Officer of
the 14th Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Courtney, 44. The Battalion
was established there on 27 April although the position had been first taken
by the 11th Battalion on the morning of the 25th.
The first Victoria Cross to
be awarded to an Australian serving with the AIF was won at Courtney's
Post on 19 May. Lance Corporal Albert Jacka, 22, 14th Battalion, AIF,
was awarded the decoration for recapturing a section of trench. Jacka served
at Anzac until the evacuation, and later served in France. By the end
of the war he had achieved the rank of Captain and had twice been awarded
the Military Cross.
The cemetery is west of the
road, facing south east, along the former front line and was built after
1919 over the tunnels south of Steele's Post . It contains the graves
of six identified Australians, one identified Marine of the RND, and 160
officers and men whose names and units are unknown. Special memorials record
the names of 54 Australians, three members of the RND and one New Zealand
soldier believed to be buried here. Many of the dead belonged to the 14th
Battalion from the fierce fighting of the first days.
Quinn's Post Cemetery.
Quinn's Post was named after Captain Hugh Quinn, 26, Officer
Commanding C Company, 15th Battalion, AIF. The position was occupied on 29 April, and Quinn was
killed there a month later. The Turkish name for the position is Bomba
Sirt (Bomb Ridge). At Quinn's Post, one of the most
dangerous places on Anzac, the two fronts were only 15m apart.
The cemetery is sited over
the trenches and tunnels of the southern half of the post, west of the main
road. It was built in 1919 by gathering 399 isolated graves in the area and
73 from Pope's Hill Cemetery, which was made in Monash Valley.
It is an irregular shape. The Pope's Hill (named after Lieutenant
Colonel Harold Pope, 41, Commanding Officer 16th Battalion, AIF) plot is its
northern end and it contains 79 named graves. Most graves are of
unidentified soldiers, with 60 Australians, three New Zealanders and one RND
believed to be buried here. At the southern end are 36 identified graves.
The burials are an indication of the different units and phases of the
campaign.
Between 25-27 April, the 4th
Brigade (consisting of 13th - 16th Battalions, AIF), occupied the line from
Pope's Hill to Steele's Post. They met the force of the Turkish
counter attack. On 2 and 3 May the 4th Brigade units suffered heavy
casualties at the nearby features of Bloody Angle, Dead Man's
Ridge and Pope's Hill. There are also graves from the 1st and 2nd
Light Horse Regiments, AIF, killed in diversionary attacks at Quinn's and
Pope's Hill on 7 August.
The cemetery is sited on the
edge of Monash Valley, giving excellent views down the valley, and
north the Pope's Hill and the Nek. It can be seen how Baby
700 dominated both Quinn's Post and the main communication along Monash
Valley. Immediately north of the cemetery the eastern branch of Monash
Valley cuts a deep gully into the Second Ridge, called Bloody
Angle. There is a short, steep spur jutting between Bloody Angle and
Pope's Hill, called Dead Man's Ridge because it was exposed to
direct fire from Baby 700.
Monash Valley. This
was the main communication between the beach and the front line. It was
named after Colonel John Monash, 49, Commander 4th Brigade, AIF. On
27 April Monash placed his
headquarters in the valley at the foot of Steele's Post. With the
undergrowth cleared by fire the walk down Monash Valley to Shrapnel
Gully and then the beach is relatively easy. The hardest part is
actually climbing down the almost sheer walls at the head of the valley. We
climbed down the eastern arm of the head of Monash Valley, up and
across Dead Man's Ridge, down Waterfall Gully and up onto Pope's
Hill, then down into the western arm of Monash Valley itself. We
saw cartridge clips, tins, trenches, and some bones.
We walked down Monash
Valley, around the western end of Braund's Hill and linked up
with Shrapnel Gully. The walls of Monash Valley are covered by
the remains of terraced bivouacs. Before reaching the Shrapnel Valley
Cemetery we climbed up onto Plugge's Plateau for one of the most
impressive views of the beach and inland to Second Ridge.
Turkish Cemetery and
Monument. Located just north of the Quinn's Post Cemetery there
is a statue, memorial and cemetery. They are all recent additions and are
particularly well cared for. On the day before Anzac Day some of the Turkish
Gendarmerie involved in traffic control visited the cemetery and monument to
pray.
The Nek. Five hundred
metres north of Quinn's Post there is a road junction with the left
turn heading to Russell's Top, Walker's Ridge and the Nek.
The Nek is formed where Monash Valley on the eastern side, and
Malone's Gully (named after Colonel William Malone, 56, Commanding
Officer of the Wellington Battalion) on the western side, cut deeply into
both sides of the south western side of the Baby 700 feature.
At its
narrowest point it is approximately 30m wide. The position was taken by the
11th and 12th Battalions, AIF, early on 25 April. During the day fighting
see-sawed on Baby 700, and by late afternoon the Turks had pushed the
Australians back to the edge of Russell's Top. The front line
developed just short of the Nek, and despite the charge on 7 August,
remained almost unchanged until the evacuation.
The attack at 4.30 am on 7
August was a feint to draw Turkish attention and reserves away from the main
attack on Conkbayiri (Chunuk Bair). Four waves of Light
Horsemen, 150 in each wave, attacked uphill towards heavily entrenched
Turkish positions. For some reason, possibly the synchronisation of watches,
the supporting bombardment ceased seven minutes before the time set for the
attack. The first two waves were men of the 8th Light Horse, and the final
two waves were from the 10th Light Horse. Six hundred men charged; 234 were
dead and 138 were wounded.
Mehmet Cavus Aniti (Sergeant Mehmet's
Memorial). On the northern end of the Nek there
is a memorial to Sergeant Mehmet who fought here in the days prior to his
death. He is reported to have said "I die happily for my country, and
you, my comrades, will avenge me." After the evacuation the Turks built
three monuments to their victory. This one is the only one to survive. The
base is original, but the monolith is a more recent addition. The location
of the memorial marks the point at which all Allied attacks, including the
charge on 7 August, were stopped at the Nek.
The Nek Cemetery. The
cemetery is built over the former no mans land, at this point between 15 and
40m wide. The burials here (and also at Ari Burnu Cemetery) represent
only a small proportion of those killed on 7 August, most lay out in no mans
land until 1919. Over 300 Australians were buried from a strip of land the
size of three tennis courts. There are 316 men whose units are not known.
These are almost certainly men of the 8th and 10th Light Horse Regiments
killed on 7 August. Their names are recorded on the Lone Pine Memorial.
Only five graves are known; four New Zealanders and one Australian killed
earlier in the campaign. There are special memorials to four Australians
killed on 7 August and known to be buried in the cemetery, and another of
the 3rd Battalion killed on 19 May. There are excellent views north over
Malone's Gully towards Suvla and the Kocacimentepe Range,
and along Walker's Ridge . Many old trenchlines remain, and some
bones were found.
Walker's Ridge Cemetery.
The cemetery is on the eastern end of Walker's Ridge, where it joins
onto Russell's Top. It was made in 1915, and unlike the cemetery at
the Nek, most of the graves have been identified; 40 are New
Zealanders, 12 are Australian and one belonged to the RND. Eighteen
Australians and eight New Zealanders are unnamed, and 12 are not identified.
There is a track along Walker's Ridge providing impressive views
south over Mule Gully and the Sphinx, and west over the
beautiful bay and sea to two large islands, Imbros (or Gokceada -
Turkish) and Samothrace (Greek).
Baby 700. The main
communication between the beach and the front lay along Monash Valley,
which was overlooked by the Turks on Baby 700. It was within the
objective for the covering force of Australians to capture on 25 April, and
several small groups did occupy it in the early morning. This constituted
some of the easternmost points reached by Australians, not only in the first
rush from the beach, but also throughout the entire campaign.
Baby 700 Cemetery. The
cemetery lies east of the main road. It was made in 1919 over part of the
line established by the 1st Battalion, AIF, on 25 April. The burials in the
cemetery reflect the first day's fighting. There are graves of men from the
11th and 12th Battalions, the first onto the hill, and men of the 1st and
2nd Battalions, the Auckland and Canterbury Battalions as well as some of
the 16th Battalion sent up to nearby Pope's Hill. There are
headstones for 33 men, mostly Australians and New Zealanders killed on 25
April. There are ten special memorials to men believed to be buried here,
and 450 graves are unidentified. Although we drove past the cemetery a
number of times we did not visit it.
Conkbayiri (Chunuk Bair).
After the initial landing neither side made any serious attempt to fortify
the heights of Kocacimentepe Range, most particularly the highest
summit in the range, Kocacimentepe (Hill 971). In the plan
adopted for the August offensive, two columns would march along North
Beach, turn inland through the foothills and capture the Kocacimentepe
Range by the morning of 7 August. The left column, the 4th Brigade, AIF,
never reached the point for launching its attack on Kocacimentepe.
The right column, consisting of the New Zealand Infantry Brigade, was
delayed in the gullies leading to Rhododendron Ridge, from which it
was to launch its attack on Conkbayiri.
When the New Zealand troops
attacked it was broad daylight and they were severely mauled. Early on 8
August the Wellington Battalion captured Conkbayiri. The New
Zealanders were reinforced and the summit was held for approximately 48
hours. A Victoria Cross was awarded to Corporal Cyril Bassett, 23, New
Zealand Divisional Signal Company. On the night of 9 August the New
Zealanders were relieved. On the morning of 10 August a Turkish counter
attack pushed the Allies back to the lower slopes of the range. The Turks
entrenched the crest and no more attempts were made to capture the heights
of the Kocacimentepe Range.
Mehmetcik Park Aniti
(Turkish Soldiers' Memorial). The memorial stands beside the main road
just south of the summit to Conkbayiri and is only about 200m distant
from the New Zealand memorials and cemetery on Conkbayiri (Chunuk
Bair). The memorial was built in the mid 1980s as a memorial to the
Turkish soldiers who died fighting at Conkbayiri. It consists of five
stones in a circle, representing a hand turned upwards to God. A translation
of the wording on each stone is as follows:
Memorial 1.
"After learning of the enemy landing at Ariburnu on 25 April 1915,
Staff Officer Lieutenant Colonel Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk), Commander of the
19th Infantry Division, on his own initiative, despatched the 57th Regiment
to this sector. At this time, a small number of soldiers, whose ammunition
was finished, were guarding the shore. They made a bayonet charge and gained
enough time to successfully prevent the enemy reaching Conkbayiri."
Memorial 2.
"On the morning of 25 April 1915, Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) gave his
order to the 57th Regiment, just before the regiment's attack on the enemy
nearing the Conk Slope: "I do not order you to attack. I order you to
die. In the time which passes until we die, other troops can take our places
and other commanders can master the situation." This order angered the
Mehmetciks, who continuously and undauntedly attacked the enemy under thick
and impressive fire of the naval artillery and threw the enemy back to
Cesarettepe [Russell's Top]."
Memorial 3."Again,
enemy forces in the Ariburnu sector, which were strengthened by
reinforcements, began to attack Conk Slope on 6 August 1915. At the end of
the bloody battles, which continued uninterrupted during the day and night,
both sides suffered heavy casualties and the Turkish soldiers stopped the
enemy in 25 metres to the line of hills around Conk Slope on the evening of
9 August 1915."
Memorial 4. "The
continuous attacks of the enemy forces, which aimed to capture Conk Slope,
the most important area and the peak point of the Gallipolli Peninsula, and
to divide the Turkish forces into two parts and so to conquer the
Dardanelles, was unsuccessful due to the courageous defence operation and
zeal of the heroic Turkish soldier. During the battles which were fought in
this sector, the Turkish Army suffered 9 200 casualties and the enemy 12
000."
Memorial 5. "The
Turkish counter attack, due to the narrowness of the land between the
trenches of the two sides, began as a bayonet charge on the morning of 10
August 1915. During these battles of Conk Slope, which became hellish under
the thick fire of the enemy's naval artillery, Colonel Mustafa Kemal,
Commander of the Anafarta Group, did not leave the observation point even
for a minute. His life was saved by his watch in his breast pocket which was
shattered by a piece of shrapnel. And so, at the end of this attack, the
enemy was thrown back as far as Agilderesi."
Between here and the New Zealand
National Memorial the Turks have reconstructed some of the old
trenchlines. It is most likely that these trenches were originally dug by
the New Zealand troops on 8-9 August.
New Zealand National
Memorial. The main New Zealand memorial to those who fought at Gallipoli
is on the summit of Conkbayiri. It is a tall, tapering pylon, visible
from many parts of the peninsula. The ground on which it stands is about 50m
north of the left flank of the trenches held by the Wellington Battalion on
8 August.
New Zealand Chunuk Bair
Memorial. This memorial is a low stone wall set into the east slope of Conkbayiri,
directly alongside the main roadway. Opposite, on the eastern side of the
road is the Chunuk Bair Cemetery. On it are recorded the names of 856
officers and men of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force who died in the
August offensive and in subsequent operations between August and December,
and whose names are not recorded on other memorials on the peninsula.
Chunuk Bair Cemetery.
After August the Turks buried some of the New Zealand, British and Ghurkha
dead on Conkbayiri, and their graves form the basis of the present
cemetery. The cemetery is entered directly from the road and follows the
steep slope of the hill. There are ten graves identified, eight New Zealand,
one Ghurkha and one British. Two unidentified are known to be New
Zealanders, and 620 are wholly unidentified.
The Farm Cemetery.
From the north western side of the New Zealand National Memorial is a
view of The Farm Cemetery on the lower slopes of Conkbayiri below.
Nothing remains of the original Farm, however the small plateau upon
which it stood is now the site of the cemetery. The cemetery was made after
1919 by gathering the many bodies scattered near the Farm and on the
slopes of Conkbayiri and Hill Q. There are 11 unnamed British
soldiers and 634 whose units are unknown. There are seven special memorials
to six British and one New Zealander believed to be buried in the cemetery.
We didn't visit the cemetery, however the view of it from Conkbayiri,
shows it to have one of the most peaceful locations on Anzac.
Kocacimentepe (Hill of the
Great Pasture) (Hill 971). From Conkbayiri the main road
continues on the east side of Hill Q for 1.5 km before reaching Kocacimentepe.
As far as is known the Allies did not capture Hill Q, although
Ghurkha and British equipment was found there in 1919, from groups that
reached there in August 1915.
The view from here is quite
stunning. It includes views eastwards to the 'Narrows' and beyond to the
snow capped mountains on the Asian side of the Straits. To the south the
view is back down the main road showing memorials and cemeteries as far as Lone
Pine (thereafter the shape of the ground hides the Second Ridge and
beach areas). To the west is the Aegean, including, on a clear day,
the islands of Imbros (Gokceada) and Samothrace. To the
west northwest is Suvla Bay. This view takes in the bay itself, Salt
Lake, the twin peaks of Chocolate Hill (the western crest) and Green
Hill, W Hills, Scimitar Hill, a low rounded spur jutting
into the plain; other hills as well as some of the cemeteries and memorials
for that part of the campaign.
Kemalyeri (Scrubby Knoll).
Approximately 1.5 km south east of Conkbayiri, on the Third Ridge (Gun
Ridge) is a small knoll marked today by a Turkish monument. Scrubby
Knoll was the name given to the knoll by the Allies. It was the
objective for the 11th Battalion, AIF, on 25 April. At least two groups of
Australians reached the vicinity of Scrubby Knoll on 25 April. From
here there is a view of the 'Narrows.'
The Turkish name, Kemalyeri
(Kemal's Place), was given in the early days of the campaign
because Kemal placed his headquarters here on the evening of 25 April, where
it remained for the duration of the campaign. The knoll provides an
excellent view of the Anzac front line from Courtney's Post to
Lone Pine. The inscription on the monument is the fifth paragraph of
a Divisional order signed by Kemal on 3 May 1915, and reads:
"All soldiers fighting
here with me must realise that to carry out completely the honourable duty
entrusted to us there must not be one step towards the rear. Let me remind
you all that your desire to rest does not merely mean that you are being
deprived of your rest but may lead to our whole nation being so deprived
until eternity."
Suvla Bay Overview.
On the night of 6-7 August, IX Corps landed on the curved beach south of Nibrunesi
Point and on the beach adjacent to Lala Baba in Suvla Bay.
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