2015 Term 3, Week 3: The Centenary of Chunuk Bair

Instead of our usual assembly to commemorate Anzac Day on the 25th of April, this year we are commemorating another special event in our Anzac history.

Poppies growing at Chunuk Bair

This week marks the centenary of the battle  of Chunuk Bair in Gallipoli. We all know about New Zealand's involvement in the Gallipoli landing, on April 25th, and this day has come to represent New Zealand's involvement in all conflicts - and peace-keeping duties - and is called Anzac Day. 

 Some people argue that August 8th and the Battle for Chunuk Bair  is more relevant than April 25th as a date to represent the achievements of New Zealand troops in battle - even though the the campaign ultimately failed. 

Chunuk Bair is in the very top left hand corner.

The Battle for Chunuk Bair in August 1915  was New Zealand’s most significant action in the Gallipoli campaign,  and it was also the first action  to include the MaoriContingent. Chunuk Bair was one of the highest hills, and its capture would help the Allies take control of the Gallipoli peninsula.  Australian troops  would take the summit at Lone Pine,  a battalion of Gurkhas from the Indian Brigade were to take another summit called Hill Q,  and British troops were to land at SuvlaBay  as part of  a major campaign to break the  stalemate at Gallipoli.

The  NZ operation started  on the 6th of August.  Men of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade and the Maori Contingent had cleared a path for the other troops to follow.  But delays meant that the attack on Chunuk Bair was ordered before all the infantrymen were  in place. The Auckland Battalion suffered heavy casualties in the mid-morning attack on the 7th of August,   and the Wellington Battalion, led by Lieutenant - Colonel William Malone, were ordered to follow into direct enemy fire. Malone was a tough but respected commander. It is said that he told his superior, Brigadier-General Johnston:

 "We are not taking orders from you people… My men are not going to commit suicide!"

Malone risked a court martial for refusing to follow this order,  but he  insisted that his men would move out later that night instead.

By early the next morning,  on 8th August,  Malone’s men had reached the summit and they fought desperately to hold off the Turks, while waiting for reinforcements to arrive to help them.  Unfortunately, reinforcements were unable to reach the summit because they were  exposed to enemy fire.

The Sari Bair Range

It was not until that night that the reinforcements finally arrived to help Malone’s men,  and they endured  the following day’s long  battle in the summer heat, but more support was still needed to hold the position.

The New Zealanders were finally relieved  by British Battalions, but these quickly fell to a Turkish counter-attack led by Mustafa Kemal, who went on to become the founding president of Turkey. The Turks had taken back control of Chunuk Bair, and the stalemate continued.

Out of the 760 men of the Wellington Battalion who started, only 47 were left uninjured. The rest were dead or wounded, including  Lieutenant-Colonel William Malone who  had been killed by an Allied shell.

Meanwhile, the Australians had successfully taken control  of Lone Pine - with huge loss oflives, and many wounded -  but no further advancements could be made by the Allies,  and this situation lasted until all the Allies were evacuated from  Gallipoli in December.

A view of Gallipoli in 1915.

Corporal Cyril Basset was awarded New Zealand’s only Victoria Cross at Gallipoli,  for his bravery laying and maintaining communication wires in the face of enemy fire at Chunuk Bair.  Basset did not believe he did anything more than any of the other men who died, and attributed his luck in staying alive to the fact that he was so short that the bullets sailed over him. He said, 

"All my mates ever got  were wooden crosses."

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

The memorial to fallen New Zealanders at Chunuk Bair. Note also the memorial to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who led the attack against the Allies at Chunuk Bair.

This is a song about Chunuk Bair which was recorded for the Anzac Day commemoration last year.



This is a link to to the digital track and lyrics of the song Chunuk Bair by New Zealand Band Gravel Road. 

A tv news item on the centenary of Chunuk Bair - This one's about Lieutenant-Colonel William Malone. 

Gallipoli Poem by Alistair Te Ariki Campbell 

These are some songs that were sung in World War 1: 
 Keep the Home Fires Burning - sung at the Chunuk Bair memorial service on Anzac Day, 2015. 

Here's an original version of Keep the Home Fires Burning from 1917. (It was written in 1914)


This week's tongue twister: Try starting off with: Soldier's shoulder then work up to the entire sentence.  You may find that the sentence is easier to say than "Soldier's shoulder".  I wonder why?

 

Juniors: 

 We are going to have some fun with this poem. How many of these sound effects can you make?