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Battle of Sari Bair
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Battle of Sari Bair
The Battle of Sari Bair (Turkish: Sarı Bayır Harekâtı), also known as the August Offensive (Ağustos Taarruzları), represented the final attempt made by the British in August 1915 to seize control of the Gallipoli peninsula from the Ottoman Empire during the First World War.
At the time of the battle, the Gallipoli Campaign had raged on two fronts – Anzac and Helles – for three months since the Allied land invasion of 25 April 1915. With the Anzac front locked in a tense stalemate, the Allies had attempted to carry the offensive on the Helles battlefield – at enormous cost and for little gain. In August, the British command proposed a new operation to reinvigorate the campaign by capturing the Sari Bair ridge, the high ground that dominated the middle of the Gallipoli peninsula above the Anzac landing.
The main operation started on 6 August with a fresh landing 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Anzac at Suvla Bay in conjunction with the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The Allies mounted an attack north into the rugged country alongside the Sari Bair range with the aim of capturing the high ground and linking with the Suvla landing. At Helles, the British and French were now to remain largely on the defensive.
The battle took place primarily around the ridge of Kocaçimentepe" meaning "Great Grass Hill" in Turkish. The peak was known to the British as "Hill 971" and they mistakenly applied the name for a lesser ridge to the main range, Sarı Bayır, meaning "Yellow Slope", which ended at the imposing bluff above Anzac Cove known as "The Sphinx".
The commander of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, General Sir Ian Hamilton, was provided with three British New Army divisions for the planned offensive; the 10th (Irish) Division, the 11th (Northern) Division and the 13th (Western) Division — all previously untried in battle. He was later reinforced with two Territorial Army divisions; the 53rd (Welsh) Division and the 54th (East Anglian) Division and one division of dismounted yeomanry; the 2nd Mounted Division.
The Suvla landing was to be made by the British IX Corps, under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Stopford who had retired in 1909 and had never commanded men in battle. His appointment was made based solely on seniority but his hesitancy during the preparations for the landing should have warned Hamilton that he was not a fit choice for the command.[citation needed]
The Ottomans were well aware that a renewal of the offensive was imminent. There had been some doubt about whether the British would abandon the campaign but this was dispelled when Winston Churchill made a careless speech in Dundee, stating that the battle would continue, whatever the sacrifices. Consequently, the Fifth Army underwent a reorganisation resulting in an expansion to 16 divisions. Ten of these defended the existing battlefields (six at Helles, which had seen the bulk of the early fighting, and four at Anzac). Three divisions defended the Asian shore of the Dardanelles and three divisions of the Ottoman XVI Corps defended the Gulf of Saros north of Bulair at the neck of the peninsula.
The Ottomans anticipated that the offensive would involve a breakout from Anzac but were unsure whether it would be north (towards Suvla) or south (towards Gaba Tepe). A new British landing was also considered likely but Suvla was not rated highly as a candidate, consequently, only a modest force of four battalions defended the area. The Ottoman commanders also dismissed the possibility of an assault against the Sari Bair range due to the rugged terrain. Only Mustafa Kemal, commander of the Ottoman 19th Division at Anzac, expected the attack against the heights but he was unable to convince his commanding officer, Esad Pasha to significantly strengthen the defenses there. Back in June he had made another attempt, through Captain Fahrettin Altay, then 3rd Army chief of staff, to persuade Esad Pasha to improve the defenses further north, but achieved no result other than raising the ire of his commanding officer. To placate him, only one regiment, the 14th was moved to the sector north of Anzac.
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Battle of Sari Bair AI simulator
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Battle of Sari Bair
The Battle of Sari Bair (Turkish: Sarı Bayır Harekâtı), also known as the August Offensive (Ağustos Taarruzları), represented the final attempt made by the British in August 1915 to seize control of the Gallipoli peninsula from the Ottoman Empire during the First World War.
At the time of the battle, the Gallipoli Campaign had raged on two fronts – Anzac and Helles – for three months since the Allied land invasion of 25 April 1915. With the Anzac front locked in a tense stalemate, the Allies had attempted to carry the offensive on the Helles battlefield – at enormous cost and for little gain. In August, the British command proposed a new operation to reinvigorate the campaign by capturing the Sari Bair ridge, the high ground that dominated the middle of the Gallipoli peninsula above the Anzac landing.
The main operation started on 6 August with a fresh landing 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Anzac at Suvla Bay in conjunction with the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The Allies mounted an attack north into the rugged country alongside the Sari Bair range with the aim of capturing the high ground and linking with the Suvla landing. At Helles, the British and French were now to remain largely on the defensive.
The battle took place primarily around the ridge of Kocaçimentepe" meaning "Great Grass Hill" in Turkish. The peak was known to the British as "Hill 971" and they mistakenly applied the name for a lesser ridge to the main range, Sarı Bayır, meaning "Yellow Slope", which ended at the imposing bluff above Anzac Cove known as "The Sphinx".
The commander of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, General Sir Ian Hamilton, was provided with three British New Army divisions for the planned offensive; the 10th (Irish) Division, the 11th (Northern) Division and the 13th (Western) Division — all previously untried in battle. He was later reinforced with two Territorial Army divisions; the 53rd (Welsh) Division and the 54th (East Anglian) Division and one division of dismounted yeomanry; the 2nd Mounted Division.
The Suvla landing was to be made by the British IX Corps, under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Stopford who had retired in 1909 and had never commanded men in battle. His appointment was made based solely on seniority but his hesitancy during the preparations for the landing should have warned Hamilton that he was not a fit choice for the command.[citation needed]
The Ottomans were well aware that a renewal of the offensive was imminent. There had been some doubt about whether the British would abandon the campaign but this was dispelled when Winston Churchill made a careless speech in Dundee, stating that the battle would continue, whatever the sacrifices. Consequently, the Fifth Army underwent a reorganisation resulting in an expansion to 16 divisions. Ten of these defended the existing battlefields (six at Helles, which had seen the bulk of the early fighting, and four at Anzac). Three divisions defended the Asian shore of the Dardanelles and three divisions of the Ottoman XVI Corps defended the Gulf of Saros north of Bulair at the neck of the peninsula.
The Ottomans anticipated that the offensive would involve a breakout from Anzac but were unsure whether it would be north (towards Suvla) or south (towards Gaba Tepe). A new British landing was also considered likely but Suvla was not rated highly as a candidate, consequently, only a modest force of four battalions defended the area. The Ottoman commanders also dismissed the possibility of an assault against the Sari Bair range due to the rugged terrain. Only Mustafa Kemal, commander of the Ottoman 19th Division at Anzac, expected the attack against the heights but he was unable to convince his commanding officer, Esad Pasha to significantly strengthen the defenses there. Back in June he had made another attempt, through Captain Fahrettin Altay, then 3rd Army chief of staff, to persuade Esad Pasha to improve the defenses further north, but achieved no result other than raising the ire of his commanding officer. To placate him, only one regiment, the 14th was moved to the sector north of Anzac.