The New Zealand and Australian Division was a composite army division raised for service in the First World War under the command of Major General Alexander Godley. Consisting of several mounted and standard infantry brigades from both New Zealand and Australia, it served in the Gallipoli Campaign between April and December 1915.
At Gallipoli, the division landed at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915, coming ashore as follow-on troops to the initial assault force that had made it ashore earlier in the day, and later occupied the northern areas of the Allied lodgement. After the initial Allied assault at Anzac Cove, elements of the division were sent to Cape Helles in early May, where they participated in the Second Battle of Krithia, launching an unsuccessful attack towards the Achi Baba peak. The division's mounted units were sent to Gallipoli in mid-May without their horses, to serve as dismounted infantry, making up for previous losses. Later that month, the division helped repel an Ottoman counter-attack at Anzac Cove, after which it occupied the line until August, when the Allies launched an offensive designed to break the deadlock. During this period, the division attacked Chunuk Bair and Hill 971, and then later Hill 60. These efforts failed, and as winter set in on the peninsula, the division was evacuated from Gallipoli in mid-December 1915 as part of a general Allied withdrawal.
Returning to Egypt, the division was disbanded in early 1916 following a reorganisation of the Australian and New Zealand forces. The division's constituent infantry brigades were then used to form the Australian 4th Division and the New Zealand Division. These two formations would then be sent to the Western Front where they would take part in further fighting throughout 1916–1918, while the division's former mounted elements went on to serve in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign as part of the Anzac Mounted Division.
History Formation
Following the outbreak of the First World War in early August 1914, the New Zealand government made an offer to the British War Office of a New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF), which was duly accepted. Mobilisation quickly followed and by late September, the NZEF consisted of two brigades – the New Zealand Infantry Brigade and the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade. This was insufficient to form a conventional infantry division, which usually consisted of three infantry brigades. In contrast, in Australia there were more than enough volunteers for the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). The original intention had been to form a single infantry division, along with a light horse brigade; however, there were enough volunteers to meet this with a surplus of infantrymen being sufficient to form another brigade. Initially, it had been planned to send the NZEF and the AIF to the United Kingdom for training prior to their deployment to the Western Front in France; however, as the convoy carrying the troops transited the Suez Canal they were disembarked in Egypt to temporarily help defend the canal following the Ottoman Empire's entry into the war. Later, overcrowding and a shortage of equipment in the United Kingdom resulted in the decision for the Australians and New Zealanders to remain in the Middle East.
In December 1914, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, under Lieutenant General William Birdwood, was formed to command both the Australian and New Zealand components, which were under the respective commands of Major Generals William Bridges and Alexander Godley. The headquarters staff for this formation amounted to 70 officers and 550 men. These were mostly provided by the British and it was formally part of the British Army. A corps normally had a complement of two infantry divisions, but given the numbers of mounted troops in the AIF and NZEF, Birdwood envisaged that the corps would include a mounted division. As only one complete infantry division (the 1st Australian Division) was present in Egypt, the NZEF and remaining AIF forces in Egypt were to form the other infantry division. Birdwood decided to combine the New Zealand Infantry Brigade with the Australian 4th Infantry Brigade, with a third brigade to be included if one could be formed. By early 1915, Birdwood scrapped the plans for the corps to have an integral mounted division and instead included two mounted infantry brigades with the two standard infantry brigades to form the second infantry division. This was to be known as the New Zealand and Australian Division, with Godley as its commander. A British Army officer, Godley had previously served as commandant of the New Zealand Military Forces from 1910. As well as the four infantry and mounted brigades, the division also included artillery. This was contributed by the NZEF, but only consisted of 16 guns, including four howitzers, much less than the normal divisional complement of artillery. Headquarters staff were also drawn from the NZEF. Supporting arms included engineers, medical, signals, and service corps units. The division was initially short of engineers and transport personnel, with deficiencies being made good through recruitment of New Zealanders living in the United Kingdom, or through re-allocating reinforcements from other units.
While the division was forming and training in Egypt, elements were committed to the defence of the Suez Canal. On 26 January 1915, the four infantry battalions of the New Zealand Infantry Brigade – the Auckland, Canterbury, Wellington and Otago Battalions – and a supporting field ambulance were deployed in anticipation of an attack on the canal by Ottoman forces. This force was split between Ismailia and Kubri. On 2 February, after the Ottomans launched a raid on the Suez Canal, elements of the brigade took part in repelling the attack, with the Canterbury Battalion suffering the division's first losses in battle, with two men being wounded, one of whom later died.
Landing at Anzac Cove
The New Zealand and Australian Division was the second division of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps that landed at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915. The Australian 1st Division made the initial landing and the New Zealand and Australian Division came ashore as the day progressed. For the initial landing, all troops coming ashore at Anzac Cove were under Bridges' command, although the division's headquarters was landed around 10:00 am. Command would revert to Godley the following day. The New Zealand Infantry Brigade, temporarily commanded by Colonel Harold Walker, began coming ashore at 10:45 am. Meanwhile, Colonel (later General Sir) John Monash's Australian 4th Brigade was held in reserve offshore. The first to enter the battle was the Auckland Battalion, followed by half of the Canterbury Battalion, which had completed its embarkation just after noon. Tasked with extending the Allied line to the left of the Australian 3rd Brigade to the north of the landing beach, they were directed towards Walker's Ridge, advancing by way of Shrapnel and Monash Valley.
The advance proved heavy going, but they soon found themselves involved in the struggle around Baby 700, amidst chaotic fighting as the Ottomans launched a counter-attack. Baby 700 was subsequently lost, and in the aftermath the New Zealanders took up positions along Walker's Ridge, which formed the extreme left flank of the landing area, reinforcing the Australians around Russell's Top. The Otago Battalion landed between noon and 5:00 pm, and moved up to support the Aucklanders. Having failed to secure the key ridges of Chunuk Bair and Sari Bair, Godley and his Australian opposite, Bridges, advocated for the troops to be re-embarked at the end of the day; however, the decision was made to consolidate the lodgement despite the Ottomans holding the high ground.
The Wellington Battalion began arriving under darkness and were sent to Plugge's Plateau, while first elements of Australian 4th Brigade – three companies of the 15th Battalion – began coming ashore around midnight. As they arrived, they were sent to fill the gap between the left and right flanks of the Anzac perimeter, which required holding positions across the head of Monash Valley. As a result of these dispositions, by the end of the first day the New Zealand and Australian Division held the left flank of the landing and the 1st Division held the right and centre. Early morning on the second day, three battalions of the Australian 4th Brigade – the 13th, 15th and 16th – came ashore, along with some personnel from the Wellington Battalion and a section of the New Zealand Howitzer Battery, operating 4.5-inch howitzers. Due to the confused and haphazard landing, many units had become disorganised and mixed in together upon coming ashore. Throughout the day, efforts were made to rectify this, and by the end of the day the New Zealand and Australian Division largely held the northern part of the Allied line, from Courtney's Post and beyond. Throughout the day, the Allied line was subjected to localised attacks.
On 27 April, the Ottomans launched a second counter-attack at Anzac Cove, resulting in heavy fighting around the perimeter. It was eventually repulsed with heavy losses. During this fighting, the New Zealand machine gun sections that were attached to each battalion were heavily committed. Having pushed as close to the front as possible to support their battalions, the crews suffered heavy casualties from Ottoman snipers. Meanwhile, the division's field artillery was landed throughout the day and with great effort the guns were moved into position to begin providing the indirect fire support that had been desperately needed during the first two days of fighting.
Throughout the remainder of the week, the Allied troops continued to consolidate their positions around Anzac Cove, digging in and establishing lines of communication and supply. The Ottoman troops continued to hold the high ground, and the Anzac positions remained under observation and fire from snipers and machine guns. Ottoman mountain guns also kept up a steady bombardment. As the landing around Anzac was consolidated throughout the first week ashore, efforts were made to destroy two observation posts overlooking the cove from its flanks: Gaba Tepe to the south, and Nibrunesi Point to the north, near Suvla Bay. Early on 2 May, a party of around 50 New Zealanders, drawn from the Canterbury Battalion, were assigned to attack Nibrunesi Point. Landing from a destroyer, they quickly overcame the small party of Ottoman troops holding the position. Although no guns were located, several buildings were then destroyed before the party re-embarked around midday. Meanwhile, two days later, a detachment from the Australian 1st Division's 11th Battalion unsuccessfully attempted to raid the position around Gaba Tepe.
Consolidation at Anzac Cove
In the second week after the landing, efforts were made to straighten the Allied line, to prevent a salient from forming between Pope's Hill and Quinn's Post. Godley was ordered to recapture Baby 700, which was considered a key feature of the northern perimeter, allowing the Ottoman troops observation and fields of fire down important Allied avenues of approach. On 1 May, an Ottoman counter-attack was held off, and at 7:00 pm the following night, the division launched its attack on the left flank: the Canterbury Battalion around Walker's and the Otago Battalion around Pope's, tasked with maintaining contact with the Australian 4th Brigade, which was to advance around the far end of Monash Gully (sometimes also called Shrapnel Gully). Under Colonel Francis Johnston, who had been ill during the landing and had temporarily deferred his command to Walker, the New Zealand Infantry Brigade was tasked with assaulting the western aspect of Baby 700, while the Australians rushed the southern slope.