6 to 8 August 1915
Suvla: the August offensive
Mustafa Kemal, still commanding the 19th Division opposite Anzac, has warned that the peak of Chunuk Bair is open to attack, but his superiors do not strengthen the peak. On the night of 6 August columns of New Zealand, Australian, British and Indian troops climb the valleys north of the Anzac perimeter towards Chunuk Bair, Hill Q and Hill 971. At Suvla to the north the British IX Corps lands two divisions against a small detachment and takes the hillock of Lala Baba.
The landing in Suvla Bay, early morning, 7 August 1915, painting by Norman WilkinsonWikimedia Commons, Norman Wilkinson, Public domain (The Landing in Suvla Bay- Early Morning, 7th August 1915 Art.IWMART2451.jpg)
On 7 August the New Zealanders reach the Apex, 450 m from the summit of Chunuk Bair, and their attacks in daylight fail. At Suvla the new troops hardly move from the beaches. At dawn on 8 August the Wellington Battalion takes the summit after a naval bombardment and holds it through the day against counterattacks.
Sources
- Christopher Pugsley, Gallipoli: The New Zealand Story (1984).
- Andrew Mango, Atatürk (1999).
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