0th Brigade, the 6th and
7th Dublins, with the Inniskillings and the Irish Fusiliers, was to
the south of Suvla Bay, at Niebruniessi Point, under the hill, Lala
Baba. The men climbed the cliffs to the sand dunes. Leaving their
packs behind them, they carried nothing but what was absolutely
necessary--a rifle and 200 rounds of ammunition per man, a water
bottle, and rations for two days in a bag, consisting of two tins of
bully beef, tea, sugar, biscuits, and tablets of compressed meat. Thus
equipped, with loosened girths and wearing their big brown
sun-helmets, the troops advanced in eight or ten long lines, with two
paces between each man. The 7th Dublins, the famous "Pals," flower of
the youth of Dublin, were in the van. Colonel Geoffrey Downing, in
command of the 7th Dublins, as the senior colonel of the battalions in
the attacking line, got a message from Headquarters that it was
imperative that Chocolate Hill should be taken before sunset. His
reply was: "It shall be done."

As the crow flies Chocolate Hill is no more than four miles from the
sea line. But to reach it the Irish troops had to make a wide
enveloping movement, so that the ground actually covered in the
advance was from ten to twelve miles. To the north of the point where
the landing took place is a long and broad but shallow lagoon, called
Salt Lake. The intense summer heat had dried it up and turned its
bottom into a flat stretch of sand and dust, covered with a slight
crust of salt which glistened in the sun. The Irish troops first
proceeded a considerable distance ahead between the sea and Salt Lake,
moving thereby parallel to Chocolate Hill, which lies east of the
lake. At one point they had to pass over a long spit of sand, not
twenty yards wide, that divided the sea and Salt Lake. The enemy had
its exact range. Many a man was brought down as he attempted to cross
it at a run. Then Colonel Downing, of the 7th Dublins, came upon the
scene. He paused, lit a cigarette, and walked over the narrow ridge as
coolly as if he were doing Grafton Street, Dublin. After this
experience the troops wheeled to the right, and marching south-east
across Salt Lake faced the rear flank of their objective.

Crossing Salt Lake in the open, they presented a clear target to the
enemy, and were raked with machine-gun fire, shrapnel and
high-explosive shells. It is an ordeal that strains to the uttermost
all the physical and mental qualities. One of the most common
exp