and
said that everything was quite all right and going well. Mahon with some
of his troops was pressing back the Turks along Kiretch Tepe Sirt. There
had been a very stiff fight in the darkness at Lala Baba and next
morning the Turks had fought so hard on a little mound called Hill 10
that he (Stopford) had been afraid we were not going to be able to take
it at all. However, it had been taken, but there was great confusion and
hours of delay in deploying for the attack of the foothills. They were
easily carried in the end but by that time the men were so thirsty and
tired that they did not follow up the beaten enemy.

"And where are they now?" I asked.

"There," he replied, "along the foot of the hills," and he pointed out
the line, north to south.

"But they held that line, more or less, yesterday," I said.

"Yes," said Stopford, and he went on to explain that the Brigadiers had
been called upon to gain what ground they could without serious fighting
but that, actually, they had not yet occupied any dominating tactical
point. The men had been very tired; he had not been able to get water up
to them or land his guns as quickly as he had hoped. Therefore, he had
decided to postpone the occupation of the ridge (which might lead to a
regular battle) until next morning.

"A regular battle is just exactly what we are here for" was what I was
inclined to say, but what I did say was that most of this was news to
me; that he should have instantly informed me of his decision that he
could not obey my cabled order of yesterday afternoon to "push on
rapidly." Stopford replied that he had only made up his mind within the
past hour or so; that he had just got back from the shore and was going
to send me a full message when I arrived.

Now, what was to be done? The Turks were so quiet it seemed to me
certain they must have taken the knock-out. All along the beaches, and
inland too, no end of our men were on the move, offering fine targets.
The artillery which had so long annoyed Anzac used to fire from behind
Ismail Oglu Tepe; i.e., within point blank range of where our men were
now strolling about in crowds. Yet not a single shell was being fired.
Either, the enemy's guns had been run back over the main ridge to save
them; or, the garrison of Ismail Oglu Tepe was so weak and shaken that
they were avoiding any move which might precipitate a conflict.

I said to Stopford, "We must occupy the heights at once. It is
imperative