End of the landing at Suvla Bay

On 15 August 1915 General Ian Hamilton removed General Frederick Stopford from command of IX Corps, which nine days earlier had landed at Suvla Bay on the Gallipoli peninsula. That same afternoon Irish battalions took the highest point of the Kiretch Tepe ridge on the northern edge of the bay. British tabulations end the landing at Suvla on this day.

Lost days

The landing during the night of 6–7 August took the Turks by surprise; they had only three battalions around the bay. For two days, however, IX Corps hardly moved off the beaches. Stopford explained that the troops needed rest and could not attack without artillery. When at dawn on 9 August the British finally advanced on the Tekke Tepe ridge, Turkish divisions from Bulair were already standing on its crest, and Mustafa Kemal had taken command of them. Further attacks on 9 and 10 August on the W Hills and Scimitar Hill collapsed. On 10 August the Turks also retook the summit of Chunuk Bair, which the New Zealanders had captured in the Battle of Sari Bair. On 12 August a brigade of the newly landed 54th Division suffered heavy losses in a failed attack across the open plain. Stopford reported that his two Territorial divisions were useless, and on 13 August Hamilton, with great reluctance, agreed that for the time being the corps should only consolidate its lines.

Kitchener’s telegram

As early as 9 August Hamilton had telegraphed Lord Kitchener that the new troops and the old generals were like new wine in old bottles. On 14 August he wrote plainly that Stopford and his divisional commanders were “unfit” to conduct an attack. On 15 August the reply arrived. Kitchener asked whether Hamilton had anyone to replace Stopford and his generals, and added: “This is a young man’s war, and we must have commanding officers that will take full advantage of opportunities which occur but seldom. If, therefore, any generals fail, do not hesitate to act promptly.” Soon afterwards he announced that he would send a new corps commander from France, General Julian Byng, and expressed the hope that Stopford had already been relieved.

That same day Hamilton summoned from Helles General Henry de Lisle, commander of the 29th Division, and gave him temporary command of IX Corps. Stopford left Suvla the following day. The commander of the 10th (Irish) Division, Bryan Mahon, who was senior to de Lisle, refused to serve under him and asked to be relieved. Hamilton did not want to lose him, but Mahon also left the peninsula, and his division was taken over temporarily by one of the brigadiers.

The attack on Kiretch Tepe

Stopford’s last decision was an attack on the Kiretch Tepe ridge, which since the first night had blocked the way north. The order was issued on the morning of 15 August without informing Hamilton’s headquarters. In the afternoon, supported by the guns of destroyers, battalions of the Royal Munster Fusiliers and the Royal Dublin Fusiliers of the 30th Brigade advanced along the northern slope and the crest. At about 6 p.m. the Munsters charged with the bayonet, the Turks fled, and the Irish took the highest point of the ridge with its Turkish strongpoint. On the southern slope the attack of the 31st Brigade and the 162nd Brigade of the 54th Division stalled below Kidney Hill. The commander of the 162nd Brigade was seriously wounded while personally leading his men.

The success did not last long. The Turks brought up reinforcements and from dawn on 16 August attacked with hand bombs. The Irish, who had few bombs, replied with stones and bayonets, and during the night they withdrew to their starting positions. According to the British official history, the fighting cost the British nearly 2,000 killed, wounded and missing, and according to the Turkish official history it cost the Turks about 1,700. The change of commanders came too late. The British official history judges that by 15 August the chance of taking the hills without a clear numerical superiority and strong artillery had already gone. De Lisle nevertheless began preparing another attack on the hills above the Suvla plain.