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"(No. M.F. 578). From General Sir Ian Hamilton to Secretary of State for
War. We will endeavour to do the best possible with forces at our
disposal; we quite understand reason for your inability to send us
reinforcements necessary to bring operations to a successful conclusion,
and thank you for putting it so plainly. After the failure of the IXth
Corps to take prompt action after landing I took immediate steps to
persevere with plan in spite of absence of surprise and reinforced
northern wing with 2nd Mounted Division from Egypt and XXIXth Division
from Cape Helles. These movements and the necessary reorganization of
the IXth Corps formations which had become very mixed took time, so that
I was not able to renew the attack until 21st August.

"By then enemy positions in Ratilva Valley had been immeasurably
strengthened and I was confronted with the difficulty that if I could
not drive the Turks back between Anafarta Sagir and Biyuk Anafarta my
new line from right of old Anzac position to sea coast North-east of
Suvla Bay would be more than I could hold with the troops at my
disposal. It would thus be a case of giving up either Anzac Cove or
Suvla Bay. Therefore, as a preliminary step to my fresh offensive I
determined to mass every man available against Ismail Oglu Tepe which
position it was necessary for me to capture whether as a first step
towards clearing the valley, or, if this proved impossible and I was
thrown on the defensive, to secure comparative immunity from shell fire
either for Suvla Bay or Anzac Cove.

"De Lisle planned the attack well. The LIIIrd and the LIVth Divisions
were to hold enemy from Sulajik to Kiretch Tepe Sirt, and XXIXth
Division and XIth Division were to attack Ismail Oglu Tepe with two
Brigades of Xth Division and the IInd Mounted Division (5,000 rifles) in
corps reserve. I arranged that General Birdwood should co-operate by
swinging his left flank to Susak Kuyu and Kaiajik Aghala.

"The troops attacked with great dash and stormed the lower slopes of the
hill in spite of strong entrenchments, but I regret to say they were not
able to attain their objective nor even to consolidate the position
gained and yesterday found the whole line back in their original
trenches except the left of the Australians where one battalion of
Gurkhas and new Australian Battalion continue to hold Susak Kuyu.
Casualties not yet to hand, but I fear they amounted to some 6