Key Facts
- Dates
- 28–30 May 1915
- NZ casualties (dead)
- 42
- NZ casualties (wounded)
- 109
- Estimated Turkish casualties
- ~200
- Hours post was held under siege
- 28 hours
Strategic Narrative Overview
New Zealand forces successfully stormed and captured the Turkish position, designating it No.3 Post. That same night, the Turkish 19th Division counter-attacked and encircled the post. The 9th (Wellington East Coast) Squadron, cut off from the rest of the brigade, ran critically low on ammunition and supplies but repelled multiple Turkish attempts to overrun their lines over the course of twenty-eight hours until a relief force finally reached them.
01 / The Origins
During the Gallipoli Campaign, the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade held the northern perimeter of the ANZAC beachhead. In late May 1915, Turkish forces began constructing a new position inland from No.2 Post that threatened to compromise the New Zealand defensive line. To prevent its completion and remove the threat, Allied commanders ordered an assault to capture the position before it could be fully fortified.
03 / The Outcome
Once relieved, commanders assessed No.3 Post as strategically untenable and ordered its abandonment the same night. The engagement cost the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade 42 dead and 109 wounded, with Turkish losses estimated at around 200. The brigade subsequently fought at Chunuk Bair and Hill 60 before being evacuated from the Gallipoli peninsula ahead of the campaign's conclusion in December 1915.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Side B
1 belligerent
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.