Despite their exhaustion and their losses the men responded with a
will. The whole force, French and British, rose simultaneously and
made a rush forward. All along the front we made good a certain amount
of ground, excepting only on our extreme left. For the third time
British bayonets carried the fir clump in our centre, and when darkness
fell the whole line (excepting always the left) had gained from 200 to
300 yards, and had occupied or passed over the first line of Turkish
trenches.
The troops were now worn out; the new lines needed consolidating, and
it was certain that fresh reinforcements were reaching the Turks.
Balancing the actual state of my own troops against the probable
condition of the Turks I decided to call upon the men to make one
more push before the new enemy forces could get into touch with their
surroundings.
Orders were therefore issued to dig in at sundown on the line gained;
to maintain that line against counter-attack, and to prepare to advance
again next morning. The Lancashire Fusiliers Brigade was withdrawn into
reserve, and its place on the left was taken by the Brigade of New
Zealanders.
General Headquarters were shifted to an entrenchment on a hill in rear
of the left of our line. Under my plan for the fresh attack the New
Zealand Brigade was to advance through the line held during the night
by the 88th Brigade and press on towards Krithia. Simultaneously, the
87th Brigade was to threaten the works on the west of the ravine,
whilst endeavouring, by means of parties of scouts and volunteers,
to steal patches of ground from the areas dominated by the German
machine-guns.
At 10.15 a.m. heavy fire from ships and batteries was opened on the
whole front, and at 10.30 a.m. the New Zealand Brigade began to move,
meeting with strenuous opposition from the enemy, who had received
his reinforcements. Supported by the fire of the batteries and the
machine-guns of the 88th Brigade, they pushed forward on the right
and advanced their centre beyond the fir trees, but could make little
further progress. By 1.30 p.m. about 200 yards had been gained beyond
the previously most advanced trenches of the 88th Brigade.
At this hour the French Corps reported they could not advance up the
crest of the spur west of Kereves Dere till further progress was made
by the British.
At 4 p.m. I gave orders that the whole line, reinforced by the 2nd
Australian Brigade, would fix bayonets, slope arms, and move on Krithia
precisely at 5.30 p.m.
At 5.15 p.m. the ships' guns and our heavy artillery bombarded the
enemy's position for a quarter of an hour, and at 5.30 p.m. the field
guns opened a hot shrapnel fire to cover the infantry advance.