The Battle of Lone Pine

The original Lone Pine landscape before the charge in 1915. The tree (Pinus brutia) was used as target practice. Photo: AWM

One of the most famous assaults of the Gallipoli campaign, the Battle of Lone Pine was originally intended as a diversion from attempts by New Zealand and Australian units to force a breakout from the ANZAC perimeter on the heights of Chunuk Bair and Hill 971. The Lone Pine attack, launched by the 1st Brigade AIF in the late afternoon of 6 August 1915 pitched Australian forces against formidable entrenched Turkish positions, sections of which were securely roofed over with pine logs. In some instances, the attackers had to break in through the roof of the trench systems to engage the defenders. The main Turkish trench was taken within 20 minutes of the initial charge, but this was the prelude to 4 days of intense hand-to-hand fighting, resulting in over 2,000 Australian casualties.

Courtesy of Australian Department of Veterans Affairs YouTube Channel