Page "Battle of the Nek" Paragraph 7

On the morning of 7 August, it was clear that the prerequisites for the attack had not been met.

The plan drafted by Colonel Andrew Skeen required a simultaneous attack from the rear of Baby 700, thereby creating a hammer and anvil effect on the Ottoman trenches caught in between this pincer movement.

Because the New Zealand advance was held up, and failed to reach Chunuk Bair until the morning of 8 August, a day late, the reason for charging at the Nek evaporated.

A further part of the Skeen plan required an attack from Steele's Post against German Officers ' Trench by the 6th Battalion, 2nd Infantry Brigade of the Australian 1st Division, which failed.

The Ottoman machine guns sited there enfiladed the ground in front of Quinn's Post and the Nek.

The Ottoman machine gunners did not suffer any casualties as a result.

Nonetheless, Major General Sir Alexander Godley, commander of the New Zealand and Australian Division of which the 3rd Light Horse Brigade was then a part, declared that the attack was to proceed.