Battle of Hill 60 | |||||||
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Part of the Gallipoli Campaign in the Middle Eastern Theatre of the First World War | |||||||
Kaiajik Dere and Hill 60, 1919 | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Ottoman Empire | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
William Birdwood |
Mustafa Kemal Cevat Pasha | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
4,000[1] | Unknown | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
1,100[2] | Unknown | ||||||
The Battle of Hill 60 was one of the last major assault of the Gallipoli Campaign. It was launched on 21 August 1915 to coincide with the attack on Scimitar Hill made from the Suvla front by Major-General H. de B. De Lisle's British IX Corps, Frederick Stopford having been replaced in the few days previous. Hill 60 was a low knoll at the northern end of the Sari Bair range which dominated the Suvla landing. Capturing this hill along with Scimitar Hill would have allowed the Anzac and Suvla landings to be securely linked.
Two major attacks were made by Allied forces, the first on 21 August and the second on 27 August. The first assault resulted in limited gains around the lower parts of the hill, but the Ottoman defenders managed to hold the heights even after the attack was continued by a fresh Australian battalion on 22 August. Reinforcements were committed, but nevertheless the second major assault on 27 August fared similarly, and although fighting around the summit continued over the course of three days, at the end of the battle the Ottoman forces remained in possession of the summit.