Some of the
Australians who had pushed inland were counter-attacked and almost
outflanked by these on-coming reserves and had to fall back after
suffering very heavy casualties.
It was then the turn of the Turks to counter-attack, and this they
continued to do throughout the afternoon, but the Australians never
yielded a foot of ground on the main ridge, and reinforcements were
continually poured up from the beach as fresh troops were disembarked
from the transports. The enemy's artillery fire, however, presented a
very difficult problem. As soon as the light became good the Turks
enfiladed the beach with two field guns from Gaba Tepe and with two
others from the north. This shrapnel fire was incessant and deadly. In
vain did the warships endeavor to put them out of action with their
secondary armament. For some hours they could not be accurately
located, or else were so well protected that our shells failed to do
them any harm. The majority of the heavy casualties suffered during the
day were from shrapnel, which swept the beach and the ridge on which the
Australians and New Zealanders had established themselves.
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