SARI BAIR

Hokitika Guardian, 13 August 1932, Page 6

SARI BAIR

17 YEAR OLD EPIC

FINAL EFFORT AT GALLIPOLI,

Seventeen years age) last Saturday

took iplace, the Battle of Sari Bair, the most heroic .struggle in. which the New Zealanders were engaged while at Anzae, Gallipoli Peninsula, in 1915. it was commemorated by the giving of-a special recital on the National War Memorial carillon. Ey May, 1915, it bad become evident

that the Dardanelles campaign was doomed to. failure , unless the orignal force- was substantially augmented. In June the British Government finally

decided to provide the necessary reiitforceilyents, .and Sir lan Hamibon was . advised that they would •reach Gallijoli by the beginning of August. THE PLAN OF ATTACK. ■Sir lan now determined to attack as eai'iy as possible in August. Brief ly his plan of attack vvas as follows; In the south the Helles force was to attack with the main object of holding, the Turkish troops in that area and attracting reserves. At Anzac Birdwood was to attack between L.,-lie Pine and the Nek with much the same object; The. hulk of liis force, however, was to be employed further north :.n the decisive blow against Koja Clwiqeh Tepe. It was expected that this operation, in conjunction with .a. fresh landing at Suvla B.ay, .would carry our troops to the Narrows and so .10 victory. , . . . , v , ..

The decisive attack from Anz.ac war. to commence after, dark:, '„hei colu.i'is moving yia the.Sazli Beit, the.C'lmvlak. and the Aghyl Deres . The. slfigo was .to be. the seizure, by, tfie ,two. columns cf the covering. fprce, ,of jhe, lower ridges of the. Sarji Ehm system from Old No 3 Post to Pamakjelik; Bair.. Then moving via the ~.Sazli ,Beit and, the Chailak Peres, ’ the. right. . assault ing’colmpn was tp push through the .covering force and seize Chunuk Bair,, At the. sarrje time the.lpft a saulting colutn.n,,, issn.ing! from the Aghyl Pore, was to take Ivo n: Chemen TepO.. , V' COVERING FORCE MOVES OFF., On August .4 a slow,. . bombardment was commenced from Anzac agpipst l the Tur’risli ~ centre and ; ; continued r tilfl’ the. attack- commenced e,n .’August 6., On. .the., qf ternopn. jQf ..that, day the subsidiary were delivered. At! Hellos. the l attack only just ..a nticipated a Turkish, attqch, and led to bitter,,flighting,,; which continued till Aiigusi;, ,H.V Little ground , was gained, but . the Turkish garrisons were held, round Holies, throughout the critical period. . At Anzac much .the same thing,happened,. . . V, At 9.30 p, m. on. August 6 the right column of the . covering force .(N.Z. JLR. Brigade) , moved off. In co-opera-tion with,the destroyer Colne,,which had' bombarded tips, arpa every, night for some time past, the Aucklanders .quickly secured Old. No. 3 Post., lol,{owing .closely, the Wellington Mounted Hides, after a. hard tussle, soon, had ..Table Top. Further ...north, Canterbury.and Qtago Regiments, after spme hard and fighting, secured Bauchpp’s Hill,. ..Thereupon. the left covering ” column skirting the lower slopes of Bauchop’s Hill., They, were. sopn ,undW fire ? ..b; t pressing on resolutely,,were', in pot session of their, objective pet long after midnight.'.’:. . .... t : MAIN ASSAULT PELIVEREP. / The two assaulting' - columns mow moved off.. The lift.column (including ,29th. Indian arid 4th Australian .Infam try Brigades), pushing, tip ti e. Aghyl Dure., met' strenuous opposition., The Australians, by dawn, ' wfere east of Pqmakjelik Bail: on a ridge overlooking ilie .Asma Pere ready to join .up with Suvla Bay troops. The Indiuis and . the right column (New Zealand Infantry . Brigade), , however, delayed by the abnormally . difficult country and the' intermittent flighting through-, 'out the ...night, . were . Some distance short df . theiif objectives when dawp broke. The right ooluipn, delayed, .at the oii’bset by thick wire - across .the mouth of ; the. Chailak Pere, did .net. Peach Rhododendron Spur tjli. after, dawnk ...

In the meantime Turkish reinforcements had been ' directed to Chtin.uk Bair. There was still fime to. attack .Chuiiuk Bair before these troops were in position,’but troops of the. asaulting columns were so* exhausted that it was impossible, ‘to . organise an attack before 9.30 a.m. The effort was made hut our infantry was too weary to be effective. . *

SUVLA BAY OPERATIONS. Operations on August ,8 commenced at 4.10 a,in. At‘that hour Bird wood’s troops, reorganised into column'moved’off—the Right, and Centre Columns against ChunuM Bair, and the Left against Kill jQ. General Bnat; wood thus.had decided. to i;estrr.t ins objectives,' as. compared! with th ■ *.j----igina-1 plan. After a severe ' struggle the Right Column (New Zealand Infantry) secured the- sputh-western end of Clmnuk Bair The other tv o columns, however, met with , stout •resistance .and. made.>little, if any, pro-

gress. Further north except for some slight gains toward, Kuckuk Anafa da. He troops .about Sulya ' Bay, 'n spite > f tint personal., intervention of Sir I«t» Hamilton, remained nracfffally, ~t‘ti.onar.v. One more effort was decide 1 on for August 9, to fie .rarrmcl out hv the same three cohimiio which had been fighting incessantly in this area since the evening of. Augurt 0. • “COULD SEE THE NARROWS.”

The early hours of August' 9 saw the climax of the struggle. The L ft Column, delayed bv the ground, was late ; the Centre Column, on the other

jjan/1 waf ,dicing • its objective^—jt}ie col which they could see eaoW rretsb, . p h which the could see the Narrows. But deprived of >• support, on the, left they lost heavjly . and \ were -. , counter-attacked fly the .Turks. -At the height of this, struggle, a salvo of shells fiVm one of our orvn. ships crashed among them, and , ..the .. .rfijlT nants of the 6th Gurkas and South Lancashire^—the units .which had iried the col—yvere flung hack on toe of the Left Column. The Turkish .counter-attack'. now\ increased, and the Right Column yvas hard put to it to maintain its position. At Bay, after some.•progress .had bepn made,) Turkish hoiinter-attacks; developed, and l>y cur .tropes wferie. back practically, to their starting line.' ’ • •: -. •: .U i SWEPT OFF THE HEIGHTS,

During the nighty: August 9-10, the troops yvho had fought so long and gallantly to secure uChuiiiilv -Ba r and Kojar Chemen Tope were relieved and brought into reserve. Early on .the following morning the Turks again counter-attacked, .and the relieving troops were swept off the heights"'ith severe loss. The Turkish rountciviattac.ks yvere eventually halted by the concentrated l fire of every gun available, but not before they had won hack most, of the ground yve had yveri on August 7. .This ended the fighting in this quarter. .After four days of. revere struggle the main object of the attack had not been achieved, and in suite of the Mob rownge and dogged endurance of the troops, Sari Bair still remained in the hands of the Turk-