Wellington Battalion captures Chunuk Bair 8 August 1915

Literally the high point of the New Zealand effort at Gallipoli, the attack on Chunuk Bair highlighted the leadership of Lieutenant-Colonel William Malone. But a massive Turkish counter-attack on 10 August recaptured the position from British troops who had relieved the New Zealanders.

The attack, which began on 6 August, was carried out by two columns of the New Zealand Infantry Brigade. They were to meet at Rhododendron Spur and then move up to the summit of Chunuk Bair. It was an ambitious plan that depended on speedy execution.

The operation started well – men of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade and the Maori Contingent successfully cleared the way for the assault columns. But delays meant that the attack on the summit was ordered before all the infantrymen had reached the Spur.

The Auckland Battalion tried first and failed. The commander of the Wellington Battalion, Malone, refused to sacrifice his men in a daylight attack and insisted on waiting until night. Malone was a tough but respected commander from Taranaki who regularly put himself on the line for the welfare of his men. He allegedly told his superior, Brigadier-General Johnston: ‘We are not taking orders from you people… My men are not going to commit suicide.’

The Wellington Battalion occupied the summit before dawn on 8 August. With sunrise came a barrage of fire from Turks holding higher ground to the north. A desperate struggle to hold Chunuk Bair ensued. It was not until after dark that the Otago Battalion and the Wellington Mounted Rifles arrived to reinforce the 70 Wellington Battalion men (out of 760) who were still holding the line. Malone had been killed by an Allied shell at about 5 p.m. The New Zealanders were relieved on the night of 9/10 August by British battalions, but these quickly succumbed to a counter-attack led by Mustafa Kemal, who was to become the founding President of Turkey.

A New Zealand memorial stands on the summit of Chunuk Bair. It has a narrow slit through which the rising sun shines on 8 August.

John Keith