This attack was carried out by the 3rd Australian Brigade, under Major
(temporary Colonel) Sinclair Maclagan, D.S.O. The 1st and 2nd Brigades
followed promptly, and were all disembarked by 2 p.m., by which time
12,000 men and two batteries of Indian Mountain Artillery had been
landed. The disembarkation of further artillery was delayed owing to
the fact that the enemy's heavy guns opened on the anchorage and forced
the transports, which had been subjected to continuous shelling from
his field guns, to stand farther out to sea.
The broken ground, the thick scrub, the necessity for sending any
formed detachments post-haste as they landed to the critical point of
the moment, the headlong valour of scattered groups of the men who had
pressed far further into the peninsula than had been intended--all
these led to confusion and mixing up of units. Eventually the
mixed crowd of fighting men, some advancing from the beach, others
falling back before the oncoming Turkish supports, solidified into a
semicircular position with its right about a mile north of Gaba Tepe
and its left on the high ground over Fisherman's Hut. During this
period parties of the 9th and 10th Battalions charged and put out of
action three of the enemy's Krupp guns. During this period also the
disembarkation of the Australian Division was being followed by that of
the New Zealand and Australian Division (two brigades only).
From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. the enemy, now reinforced to a strength of
20,000 men, attacked the whole line, making a specially strong
effort against the 3rd Brigade and the left of the 2nd Brigade. This
counter-attack was, however, handsomely repulsed with the help of the
guns of H.M. ships. Between 5 and 6.30 p.m. a third most determined
counter-attack was made against the 3rd Brigade, who held their ground
with more than equivalent stubbornness. During the night again the
Turks made constant attacks, and the 8th Battalion repelled a bayonet
charge; but in spite of all the line held firm. The troops had had
practically no rest on the night of the 24th to 25th; they had been
fighting hard all day over most difficult country, and they had been
subjected to heavy shrapnel fire in the open. Their casualties had
been deplorably heavy. But, despite their losses and in spite of their
fatigue, the morning of the 26th found them still in good heart and as
full of fight as ever.