The Sari Bair Attacks of August 1915, Step by Step

The Crest of  Sari Bair
From Chunuk Bair, Hill Q in Foreground, Hill 971 in Distance

To break the stalemate at Gallipoli, General Birdwood's staff on site, recommended a landing of additional troops at Suvla Bay, immediately north of the ANZAC sector. An increase in the number of troops, five divisions in aggregate, were made available by Lord Kitchener.

The final plan  that was approved by  theater commander General Sir Ian Hamilton was as follows:

• Preliminary and limited diversionary attacks on the Helles front  and the Anzac sector perimeter with the dual purpose of holding the Turkish troops there, and using up their reserve.  Later in the evening of 6 August, the mass of the new troops would begin landing at Suvla Bay.
• A main attack on the hill mass called Sari Bair by the Anzac Corps, reinforced by the 13th Division, 29th Indian Brigade, and one brigade of the 10th Division. The purpose of this attack was to capture Hill No. 971, the tallest of three peaks on the narrow "hog-back" ridge, which was the key to the peninsula. 
• The second objective, to be attained by use of additional troops landed at Suvla Bay, included the main ridge of the peninsula. This position was to be extended in a general northerly line from a point called Mal Tepe, through two Anafarta villages and the ridge Tekke Tepe, to the coast near Ejelmer Bay. 
• The final objective contemplated reaching the shores of the Dardanelles in the vicinity of Ak Baahi Liman. Had this plan succeeded, the Turkish troops at the toe of the peninsula would have been cut off.

The success of the entire operation hinged on the capture of Sari Bar and this article will focus on that attempt and its ultimate failure. 

Click on Map to Enlarge

At 5:30 p.m. on 6 August, Australian forces initiated an attack on their right, that is, against the Turkish left, in the vicinity of Lone Pine. After dark, they proposed to send the major portion of their forces along the beach, beyond the three detached post positions, and to have them advance up the gullies with the purpose of  seizing Chunuk Bair, Hill Q and Hill 971.

On the right, New Zealand Mounted Rifles units and the Native Contingent seized Old No. 3 Post, Table Top, Destroyer Hill, Bauchop’s Hill and Little Table Top (indicated by the orange arrows from no. 1). On the left, a combined Australian, British and Indian force headed northwards to secure a lower hill named Damakjelik Bair, Hill 971 and Hill Q (indicated by the purple arrows from no. 3).

The plan came unstuck. The left assaulting column got lost moving up a rugged valley (Aghyl Dere) and failed to rendezvous with the column on the right (indicated by the red arrow from no. 2) at Rhododendron Spur. It was daylight on 7 August before the troops were ready to move; by then the Ottomans had reinforced their defences on Chunuk Bair (indicated by the green blocks and arrows).

Across the valley, the 3rd Australian Light Horse Brigade launched an attack at The Nek (indicated by the red arrow from no. 4), losing more than 200 men killed in a forlorn attempt to divert Ottoman attention away from Chunuk Bair.

The Wellington Battalion finally reached the summit of Chunuk Bair in the early hours of 8 August. They found it unoccupied—the defenders had withdrawn during the night. It was not long before the Ottomans sent troops to retake the position. New Zealand and British units managed to hold the summit until 10 August, when a massive Ottoman attack swept them off Chunuk Bair.

British forces on the approaches to Hill Q were also driven back. A lone Gurkha battalion reached the top of Hill Q (indicated by no. 5) on 9 August, but was unable to consolidate its position.

By mid-August, the British and ANZAC forces had abandoned the exposed forward positions they had won at great cost in order to establish a defensible new perimeter. The Sari Bair Offensive had failed.

Sources:  NZ Center for History; Over the Top, Sept. & Oct., 2011