Battle of Scimitar Hill

— World War I — Battle of Gallipoli

The World War I Battle of Scimitar Hill was the last offensive mounted by the British at Suvla during the Battle of Gallipoli. It was also the largest single day attack ever mounted by the Allies at Gallipoli, involving three divisionss. The purpose of the attack was to remove the immediate Turkish threat from the exposed Suvla landing and to link with the Anzac sectors to the south. Launched on August 21 1915 to coincide with the simultaneous attack on Hill 60, it was yet another costly failure.

Table of contents

1 Prelude 2 The Suvla landing 3 Change of command 4 The August 21 battle 5 Aftermath

Prelude

Paralysis had set in to the British campaign in the Dardanelles after repeated failures to advance at Helles on the tip of the peninsula since the original April 25 landings. In August a new offensive, known as the Battle of Sari Bair, was opened at Suvla in an attempt to regain the initiative from the Turks. Two divisionss of General Sir Frederick Stopford's IX Corps were landed at Suvla on the night of August 6 while a simultaneous breakout was made from the long-stagnant Anzac sector to the south of Suvla.

The Suvla landing

Scimitar Hill, so named because of its curved summit, and the neighbouring W Hills to the south were part of the Anafarta Spur that marked the southern edge of the Suvla sector. Their capture had originally been first day (August 7) objectives but General Stopford was exceedingly hesitant about making any major advances without artillery support. Consequently the troops of the British 11th (Northern) Division (which had made the initial landing on the night of August 6) and the 10th (Irish) Division (which had landed the following morning) did not advance from the immediate environs of the beach until August 8 by which time they were already exhausted from lack of water and being under constant shrapnel and sniper fire. This was despite only being faced by three under-resourced Turkish battalions, who nevertheless mounted a stout defence. If these battalions could resist the British until the night of August 8, they would be relieved by the divisions marching from Bulair to the north.

On August 9 the British made a concerted effort to advance towards the high ground to the east - a ridge called Tekke Tepe. Scimitar Hill, that guarded the approach to this ridge from the south west along the Anafarta Spur, had been captured unopposed on August 8 but then abandoned. The British attempted to recapture the hill on August 9 and in the intense fighting it changed hands a number of times before the British forced off around midday. Despite reinforcements arriving in the form of the 53rd (Welsh) Division on August 9 and the 54th (East Anglian) Division on August 10, any hope the British had of a swift victory at Suvla were now gone as the Turks consolidated their hold on the surrounding ridges.

On August 10 the 53rd Division made another attack at Scimitar Hill which was another massive failure for the British and effectively ruined the division as a fighting unit within two days of it landing.

Change of command

On August 15 Stopford was sacked and General Beauvoir De Lisle, commander of the 29th Division, was made temporary commander of IX Corps until Lieutenant General Julian Byng could be sent from France. De Lisle abandoned any immediate thoughts of a major offensive - preparations for a major push by the 54th Division had been made at great cost but little effect on August 12. Instead he intended to secure the ground he held and make a strong link to Anzac to the south, where, as at Suvla, the August 6 objectives had proven unreachable. This required the capture of Scimitar Hill, the W Hills and Hill 60.

To make the attack from Suvla, De Lisle had the dismounted troops of the 2nd Mounted Division (Yeomanry) and the 29th Division, which had moved from Helles where it had already born the brunt of the fighting since the initial landings of April 25.

The August 21 battle

The plan for August 21 was to attack Scimitar Hill with the 29th Division and the W Hills with the 11th Division, keeping the yeomanry in reserve near the beach. As was so often the case at Gallipoli, the preliminary artillery barrage looked impressive but achieved little. The British had no sight of their targets, which were obscured by mist and smoke, whereas the Turkish artillery had a clear view of the entire Suvla battlefield and ample opportunity to register their targets.

General Hammersley's 11th Division attempt to capture the W Hills collapsed in confusion when confronted by a Turkish strongpoint and artillery fire. As a consequence when the 1st Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers managed to capture the summit of Scimitar Hill, they found themselves under fire from the defenders higher up the Anafarta Spur to the east and from the W Hills to the south. The Irish retreated from the summit while the undergrowth around them was set ablaze by the shellfire, incinerating the wounded as they lay helpless.

Around 5 pm the 2nd Mounted Division was ordered forward from their reserve position on Lala Baba, near the beach. They advanced, marching in formation, across the bed of a dry salt lake. By this time the air was clouded by mist and smoke so that they had little idea of where they were going. The 5000 men of the five brigades formed in columns by regiment and marching in extended order were easy targets for the shrapnel. After enduring that trial by fire, most of the brigades halted in the cover of Green Hill, west of Scimitar Hill, but Brigadier General Thomas Pakenham, 5th Earl of Longford led his 2nd (South Midland) Brigade in a charge over Green Hill and up to the summit of Scimitar Hill. Continuing on, Lord Longford was cut off and killed. The yeomanry too were driven from the summit.

Aftermath

In one day of fighting the British suffered 5300 casualties out of the 14,300 soldiers who participated. General Hammersley, commander of the 11th Division, was sacked for the failure of his divisions attack on the W Hills.

The only two Victoria Crosses awarded at Suvla were made for rescuing of wounded at Scimitar Hill, one on August 9 and the other following the August 21 battle.

The attack at Scimitar Hill on August 21 was the last attempt by the British to advance at Suvla. The front line remained between Green Hill and Scimitar Hill for the remainder of the campaign until the evacuation on December 20.