Battle of Hill 60

— World War I — Battle of Gallipoli

The Battle of Hill 60 was the last major assault of the Battle of Gallipoli. It was launched on August 21, 1915 to coincide with the attack on Scimitar Hill made from the Suvla front by General Stopford's British IX Corps. Hill 60 was a low knoll at the northern end of the Sari Bair range which dominated the Suvla landing. Capturing this hill along with Scimitar Hill would have allowed the Anzac and Suvla landings to be securely linked.

Table of contents

1 Prelude 2 The Battle 3 Aftermath

Prelude

The original objective of the Battle of Sari Bair, which commenced on the night of August 6, were the peaks of Hill 971 and Chunuk Bair. The latter peak had been captured by New Zealand infantry before being relinquished in an overwhelming Turkish counter-attack. The attack on Hill 971 never eventuated as the assaulting column became lost and then pinned down by the defenders.

With the major battle effectively lost, the British commanders turned their attention to consolidating their meagre gains. With Hill 971 out of reach, Hill 60 appeared an attainable objective. The attacking force was based on General John Monash's Australian 4th Infantry Brigade, which had spearheaded the advance on Hill 971 and had taken up positions in a gully, now known as Australia Valley, that led towards Hill 60. Also involved were the remnants of the 29th Indian Brigade, two regiments of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles and three British New Army battalions. All battalions were severely under strength with many of the soldiers wracked by dysentery.

The Battle

On the afternoon of August 21, the first assault was made by Australians of the 13th and 14th Battalions. With no effective artillery support, under fire from Hill 60 and neighbouring Hill 100, the infantry were decimated. The undergrowth caught fire, burning to death many of the wounded. By nightfall the Indian Brigade had managed a foothold at the base of the hill.

On August 22 the attack was reinforced by the Australian 18th Battalion which was part of the newly arrived Australian 2nd Division. The men were fresh and healthy, in stark contrast to the veteran troops, but were inexperienced and ill-equipped, even by Gallipoli standards. Attacking with bayonet only, they suffered 383 casualties in their first attack.

The attack resumed on August 27 and further progress was made up the slope but the summit of the hill was still held by the Turks. Now the Australians from the 3rd Light Horse Brigade, who had fought at The Nek, were fed into the battle as reinforcements. On August 28 the Australians captured some of the Turkish trenches at the summit but the Turks clung to the vital northern face which overlooked Suvla.

Attacking and counter-attacking continued until August 29 when the Allied offensive finally ceased.

Aftermath

In the final throes of the fighting at Hill 60, Lieutenant Hugo Throssell of the Australian 10th Light Horse regiment won the Victoria Cross during an intense bomb fight.

The Allies suffered about 2500 casualties in eight days of fighting. The Australian 18th Battalion was reduced to one third of its original strength after less than a fortnight of action.