3rd May, 1915 - Gallipoli

[christine liava'a]

In a desperate effort by Godley to retrieve a battle already lost, the Royal Marine Light Infantry advanced in the Otagos' footsteps from Pope's Hill before daybreak. As with the Otagos before them, their advance was held up by the congestion at the head of Monash Gully where they met retiring Australians and New Zealanders. Adding to the confusion, Anzac artillery dropped shells amongst the Marines and the 16th Australian Battalion, causing more casualties....

Just who was to blame for the disaster that was Dead Man's Ridge? Lt Col Malone, who witnessed the attack from Russell's Top, wrote;"In my opinion the plan was not good and doomed from the start. They tried to go in where the Turks had been attacking for days."....

The men themselves were bitterly disappointed with the attack. Every returning soldier had lost a comrade. They were quick to blame anyone, so the Royal Marine Light Infantry became scapegoats, as did the British Army....

But nothing should be taken away from the Otagos. At all times they fought bravely in the face of horrific enemy fire. There were many individual acts of bravery and not one Otago soldier ran from the field.

... The first official casualty lists were received in NZ on 3 May, a sad day at home. The whole country was shocked. Newspapers succumbed to the same indoctrination the government had been subjected to; editorials told of achievements and gains and successes, and downplayed the casualties as slight. The country rallied and recruiting soared. Every province posted a list of casualties from the Battle of the Landing, but a further week would pass before the names of Otago dead would reach home.

Bloody Gallipoli ; Richard Stowers

[michaeldr]

“Monday, 3rd May: Went up Gully in morning erecting barbed wire entanglements. Had quiet though busy forenoon, filling belts and improving gun-pit. Kemp made stew of bully beef and cheese. Turks came down hill in afternoon with white flag. Asked for four hours’ armistice to bury their dead. It was granted. Strange sight in afternoon to see Turks on the hill and our men strolling about in the open without a shot being fired. Took advantage of the quiet to visit some of the other guns and see how they were getting on. Turks started digging Trenches so truce was broken. Firing began. Everyone had to scurry for trenches. Enemy aeroplanes began to hover about dropping smoke bombs to indicate to Turks where our lines were. Artillery duel raged for some time. Turks attacked at 8 p.m. Dark by now. Turks came down Gully in huge numbers. Got the machine gun on them as they were trying to climb over the barbed wire. Fired thousands of rounds to-night. Scene lit up by flare bombs and signal rockets, and by searchlights from our ships. A weird scene.”

from the ‘Diary of John F. Goate, Machine Gun Section, 5th Royal Scots, 29th Division’ [discovered after his death in 1946, by his daughter Ms Dorothy Goate] as reproduced in ‘The Gallipolian’ issue No.91, Winter 1999