Hughes' brigade undertook defensive duties initially, holding an area around Walker's Ridge and Russell's Top. In an effort to break the deadlock they were committed to the August Offensive. Major General Alexander Godley, in command of the offensive, ordered Hughes to launch a dawn attack the Turkish positions at the Nek on 7 August 1915 with a bayonet charge as a diversion to support the attack on Chunuk Bair. From the outset the effort went awry. Efforts to destroy the machine guns enfilading the attack failed, and the supporting artillery barrage stopped seven minutes early due to a failure to synchronise watches, which allowed the defenders were able to reoccupy their firing positions before the attack. In the desperate battle that followed, four waves of light horsemen charged the Turkish trenches, only to be cut down by unsuppressed fire from at least 30 machine guns.