Battle of Chunuk Bair The Battle of Chunuk Bair ( ) was a World War I battle fought between the Ottoman defenders and troops of New Zealand and Great Britain . Allied units that made the summit of Chunuk Bair early a . m . 8 August 1915 , to engage the Turks were : Wellington Battalion of New Zealand and Australian Division , 7th Battalion , Gloucestershire Regiment and 8th Battalion , Welch Regiment both of the British 13th ; who were reached and reinforced in the afternoon by two squads of the Auckland Mounted Rifle Regiment , New Zealand and Australian Division . These first summit holders , decimated by withering fire , were relieved at 10 . 30pm on 8 August by the Otago Battalion ( NZ ) , and the Wellington Mounted Rifle Regiment New Zealand and Australian Division ; who were in turn relieved by 8pm on 9 August by the 6th Battalion , Loyal North Lancashire Regiment and 5th Battalion , Wiltshire Regiment who were massacred and driven off the summit in the early morning of 10 August by Mustafa Kemal ( Atatürk ) ' s massed attack . The capture of Chunuk Bair , " Çanak Bayırı " ( Basin Slope ) in Turkish ( now " Conk Bayırı " ) , the secondary peak of the Sari Bair range , was one of the two objectives of the Allied August Offensive that was launched at ANZAC and Suvla to try to break the stalemate that the campaign had become . The capture of Chunuk Bair was the only success for the Allies of the campaign . However , the success was fleeting as the position proved untenable . The Ottomans recaptured the peak after a few days and were never to relinquish it again . Background . On the night of 6 August , at the same time as the British IX Corps began landing to the north , the breakout from the Anzac sector was made by units of the New Zealand and Australian Division under the command of General Alexander Godley , who was known for his callous indifference to the plight of his troops . Two columns of troops were directed at two peaks of the dominating ridge which were expected to be captured by dawn on 7 August . Both columns were preceded by a covering force to clear the Ottoman outposts and protect the flanks of the main assaulting force . The left , or northern , column of the Australian 4th Infantry Brigade and the 29th Indian Brigade , were heading for Hill 971 , the highest point on the Sari Bair range . They had the furthest to travel over completely unfamiliar terrain and never got close to their objective . A battalion of Gurkha s from the Indian Brigade , commanded by Major Cecil Allanson , reached a secondary objective , the neighbouring summit of Hill Q , on 9 August but were forced to retreat shortly afterwards . The right , or southern , column was heading for Chunuk Bair . Though lower than Hill 971 , this peak overlooked the north of the Anzac perimeter and was used as a base for an artillery battery . The main Sari Bair ridge extended from Chunuk Bair down into the Anzac sector via Battleship Hill and Baby 700 . From Baby 700 the ridge branched towards the beach via the Nek and south to Lone Pine via the line of tenuous Anzac positions known as Quinn ' s , Courtney ' s and Steele ' s Posts . The capture of Chunuk Bair would provide considerable relief to the Anzac sector . Prelude . Rhododendron Spur . The approach to the peak was made along Rhododendron Spur which ran from the beach to the peak of Chunuk Bair . The Ottomans had outposts along the spur at the Table Top , Destroyer Hill and nearest the beach at Old No . 3 Outpost . There was also an Ottoman outpost on Bauchop ' s Hill to the north . All these outposts had to be cleared by the covering force , the four regiments of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade , before the main assault column could proceed up the spur to the summit . The Auckland regiment cleared Old No . 3 Outpost and the Wellington regiment took Destroyer Hill and the Table Top . The Otago and Canterbury regiments captured Bauchop ' s Hill , which was named after the Otago regiment ' s commander , Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Bauchop who was killed during the attack . In all the New Zealanders lost about 100 men in clearing the outposts and while their efforts were successful , the plan was now running two hours behind schedule , making it difficult to reach the summit before first light . The main force of the right column was the New Zealand Infantry Brigade under the command of Brigadier General Francis Johnston . Polite accounts claim Johnston was ' ill ' on the night of the attack . Other less euphemistic versions maintain that he was ' fighting drunk ' . The brigade ' s four battalions , reduced by sickness and battle , mustered about 2800 men . The advance was initially made up the valleys , or " deres " , on either side of Rhododendron Spur and once past the Table Top , the New Zealanders climbed on to the ridge , leaving about 1000 yards to travel to the summit . The three battalions travelling along the north side of the spur were in position by 4 . 30 a . m . , shortly before dawn . They advanced to a knoll dubbed " The Apex " which was only about 500 yards from the summit where at the time there were only a handful of Ottoman infantry . The Canterbury battalion on the south side of the spur was lost and delayed . Johnston made the fatal decision to wait for the last battalion to arrive before making the attack . The attack on Chunuk Bair was a main element in a wider offensive . At 4 . 30 a . m . a supporting attack was planned at the Nek against Baby 700 , intended to coincide with the New Zealanders attacking " from " Chunuk Bair down onto the rear of the Ottoman trenches on Battleship Hill . The Battle of the Nek went ahead nonetheless , with tragic consequences . Battle . Chunuk Bair ( Çanak Bayırı / Conk Bayırı ) . The opportunity for a swift victory at Chunuk Bair had been lost . By 8 a . m . the Ottomans had started firing on the New Zealanders on the spur . The commander of the Ottoman 9th Division , German Lieutenant Colonel Hans Kannengiesser , had reached the summit and was preparing its defence . In broad daylight , after an exhausting climb and faced by stiffening opposition , the prospects for a New Zealand assault against the peak looked slim . Nevertheless General Godley ordered Johnston to attack . Two hundred yards beyond where the New Zealanders were positioned on the Apex was another knoll called " The Pinnacle " from which it was a straight climb to the summit . Off the side of the spur to the north was a small , sheltered plateau known as " The Farm " . Johnston told the Auckland battalion to attack . About 100 made it as far as the Pinnacle where they desperately tried to dig in . Around 300 fell as casualties between there and the Apex . Johnston told the Wellington battalion to continue the attack . The battalion ' s commander , Lieutenant Colonel William Malone refused , stating that he was not willing to order his men to carry out a hopeless attack . He said his battalion would take Chunuk Bair at night . During the day the New Zealanders were reinforced by two battalions from the British 13th ( Western ) Division ; the 7th Battalion of The Gloucestershire Regiment and the pioneer s of 8th Battalion , the Welch Regiment . Shortly after 3 a . m . on the morning of 8 August , following a naval bombardment of the peak , the Wellingtonians , followed by the Gloucesters , reached Chunuk Bair virtually unopposed . The preceding barrage had driven most of the Ottoman defenders away as the ground was too hard and rocky for deep entrenchments . Chunuk Bair would prove hard to defend . It was only possible to scrape shallow trenches amongst the rocks . The peak was exposed to fire from the main Ottoman line on Battleship Hill to the south and from Hill Q to the north . If the original plan for the offensive had worked , Hill Q would have been in Allied hands . Allanson ' s battalion of Gurkhas reached it briefly the following day but were in no position to offer relief to the troops on Chunuk Bair . By 5 a . m . on 8 August the Ottomans were counter - attacking against the Wellingtonians . The slope of the hill was so steep that the Ottomans could get within 20 metres of the trenches without being seen . The New Zealander fought desperately to hold off the Ottomans , firing their rifles and those of their fallen companions until the wood of the stock was too hot to touch . When the Ottomans got up to the trenches the fighting continued with the bayonet . The Ottomans overran part of the New Zealand trench and took some prisoners . In full daylight , reinforcements were only reaching the summit at a trickle . The fight raged all day until the trenches were clogged with the New Zealand dead . Around 5 p . m . Malone was killed by a misdirected artillery shell , fired from either Anzac or a British ship . The Ottomans had reclaimed the east side of the summit and were reinforced by the arrival of the 8th Division from Helles . As the extent of the Allied offensive became apparent , General Otto Liman von Sanders , the commander of the Ottoman forces in the Dardanelles , appointed his competent officer , Colonel Mustafa Kemal , the commander for the defence of Suvla and Sari Bair . As darkness fell on the evening of 8 August , the fighting subsided and the Wellington Battalion was relieved . Out of the 760 men of the battalion who had reached the summit , 711 had become casualties . Whereas Malone had resisted sending his men on a suicidal charge when told to follow the Auckland Battalion on 7 August , a day later the outcome would be the same . The New Army battalions had suffered the same . 417 casualties amongst the Welch pioneers and 350 amongst the Gloucesters including all the officers of the battalion . For the wounded the suffering was only beginning . Some took three days to travel from the higher reaches of Rhododendron Spur to the beach , a little over a kilometre away . The Farm . General Godley remained at his headquarters near the beach , largely ignorant of the state of the fighting . His plan for 9 August was to take Hill Q . The main force for the assault was a brigade commanded by Brigadier General Anthony Baldwin . Baldwin commanded the 38th Brigade of the 13th Division but the situation was so confused that the force he led towards Hill Q contained only one of his normal battalions , the 6th East Lancashire s . He also had the 9th Worcestershire s and 9th Warwick s from the 39th Brigade and the 5th Wiltshire s from the 40th Brigade ( who would later be redirected to reinforce Chunuk Bair ) . Plus he led two 10th ( Irish ) Division battalions ; the 10th Hampshire s and 6th Royal Irish Rifles from the 29th Brigade . Most of the 10th Division had landed at Suvla on 7 August . This force would climb to Hill Q from the Farm . At the same time the New Zealanders on the right from Chunuk Bair and units of General Vaughn Cox ' s Indian Brigade on the left would also attack the hill . The plan fell apart when Baldwin ' s battalions became lost in the dark trying to find the Farm which they did not reach until after dawn , around 6 a . m . . The only force to reach Hill Q was Allanson ' s battalion of Gurkhas . They suffered the same fate as Colonel Malone , shelled by their own artillery , and their stay on the hill was brief . With the offensive once again stalled , the New Zealanders on Chunuk Bair had to endure another day of Ottoman harassment . As night fell the remaining New Zealanders moved back to the Apex and were replaced by two New Army battalions , the 6th Battalion of The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment and some of the 5th Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment from Baldwin ' s force . On the morning of 10 August Mustafa Kemal led an overwhelming Ottoman counter - attack . If Chunuk Bair , the one Allied success of the August offensive , was recaptured , the battle was effectively over . His plan lacked subtlety but was brutally effective - overrun the defenders by sheer weight of numbers . Unlike Godley though , Mustafa Kemal led his men from the front . During the fight he was struck in the chest by shrapnel but was saved by his pocket watch which absorbed the blow . There were about 2000 defenders on or below the summit of Chunuk Bair . Baldwin ' s brigade at the Farm numbered a further 3000 . The Ottomans swept over the Lancashire battalion on the summit , wiping it out to the last man . The Wiltshires were killed or driven into the steep valleys . The Ottomans headed down Rhododendron Spur towards the Pinnacle , driving the New Army troops before them . New Zealand machine gunners positioned at the Apex shot down the Ottomans as they tried to continue down the spur . The gunners could not discriminate friend from foe so they also killed many New Army troops who were amongst the charging Ottomans . The Ottomans descended to the small plateau of the Farm and annihilated Baldwin ' s brigade . About 1000 British were killed , the rest driven off into the surrounding gullies . Aftermath . One Victoria Cross was awarded for actions at Chunuk Bair to Corporal Cyril Bassett , who repaired phone lines while under fire . A memorial arch , the Malone Memorial Gate , commemorating the heroic Lieutenant Colonel Malone was constructed in Stratford , New Zealand in 1923 and a plaque unveiled in the New Zealand Parliament ' s Grand Hall in 2005 . The loss of Chunuk Bair marked the end of the Battle of Sari Bair . Fighting would continue elsewhere until 21 August but there would be no more attempts to capture the heights . The Apex formed the new front line on Rhododendron Spur . In 1919 burial teams found the Farm still covered in the bones of the men from Baldwin ' s brigade , who were interred in The Farm Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery when it was constructed on the site after the Armistice . Appearances in fiction . New Zealand writer Maurice Shadbolt produced a play " Once on Chunuk Bair " in 1982 . A film version " Chunuk Bair " ( Daybreak Pictures ) was released in 1991 . The Magorians did a play on Shakespears romance novel Nug meets Nug There is a detailed fictional description of the battle from the point of view of an Ottoman Turkish soldier in " Birds Without Wings " by Louis de Bernieres , bestselling author of " Captain Corelli ' s Mandolin " . In popular culture . British singer PJ Harvey performs a song entitled " On Battleship Hill " .