Why Is Chuuk Bair Important
Battle of Chunuk Bair - Short lived success.
Chunuk Bair was an important battle in the overall Gallipoli Campaign.
The Gallipoli Campaign began on 25th April 1915, and quickly turned into costly stalemate. As part of the Allied effort to break the stalemate, the ‘August Offensive’ was executed and involved the capture of Chunuk Bair as an essential objective to control the narrows. After a brutal struggle on 8th August by the Wellington Mounted Rifles and Otago battalion, the summit was captured. A Turkish counter-attack later overwhelmed the British relief forces and re-captured the summit.
Key Historical Idea 1: The capture of Chunuk Bair was of key strategic importance.
It was General Godley’s opinion that the capture of Chunuk Bair was very important to allow fire to be brought to bear on the narrows. However, the opinion of General Godley is easily debatable as he had earned a reputation among New Zealanders as an aloof and ineffective leader. Like many other senior officers at the time he seemed to struggle to adapt to the difficult strategic situation. New Zealand’s Minister of Defence, James Allen, informed …show more content…
This gave them very strong motivation to fight, especially compared to the ANZAC’s who were fighting thousands of kilometers away from home, on foreign soil and under incompetent British leadership. Despite this, the ANZAC’s fought courageously and determined resistance from the ANZAC troops at Chunuk Bair led to the loss 711 out of a division of 760 men; a staggering 93% casualty rate. When the New Zealand troops were withdrawn and replaced by British, the Turks fought on and eventually recaptured Chunuk Bair anyway, led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk who would later go on to become the first president of the Turkish Republic, in part because of his inspiring leadership at
Chunuk Bair was an important battle in the overall Gallipoli Campaign.
The Gallipoli Campaign began on 25th April 1915, and quickly turned into costly stalemate. As part of the Allied effort to break the stalemate, the ‘August Offensive’ was executed and involved the capture of Chunuk Bair as an essential objective to control the narrows. After a brutal struggle on 8th August by the Wellington Mounted Rifles and Otago battalion, the summit was captured. A Turkish counter-attack later overwhelmed the British relief forces and re-captured the summit.
Key Historical Idea 1: The capture of Chunuk Bair was of key strategic importance.
It was General Godley’s opinion that the capture of Chunuk Bair was very important to allow fire to be brought to bear on the narrows. However, the opinion of General Godley is easily debatable as he had earned a reputation among New Zealanders as an aloof and ineffective leader. Like many other senior officers at the time he seemed to struggle to adapt to the difficult strategic situation. New Zealand’s Minister of Defence, James Allen, informed …show more content…
This gave them very strong motivation to fight, especially compared to the ANZAC’s who were fighting thousands of kilometers away from home, on foreign soil and under incompetent British leadership. Despite this, the ANZAC’s fought courageously and determined resistance from the ANZAC troops at Chunuk Bair led to the loss 711 out of a division of 760 men; a staggering 93% casualty rate. When the New Zealand troops were withdrawn and replaced by British, the Turks fought on and eventually recaptured Chunuk Bair anyway, led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk who would later go on to become the first president of the Turkish Republic, in part because of his inspiring leadership at