The Nek was an extremely important position on the Anzac front line, located at the northern end of the line, it was host of tragic and heroic attack by the 3rd Light Horse Brigade on the 7th of August 1915 at dawn (AWM, 2014). The Nek was a narrow bridge of land, which is located between the stretches of Russell’s Top and Baby 700 across the top of Monash Valley, the Turks trenches were located on the slopes of Baby 700 which allowed them the advantage of dominating the positions of the Australians below (AWM, 2014)
The 3rd Light Horse Brigade was given the order to attack the Turkish trenches on the 7th of August at 4.30 am as a part of the August Offensive (AWM, 2014). The 3rd light horse was supported by New Zealand troops, who had successfully captured the Chunuk Bair the previous night, the attacked commenced with a bombardment of the Turkish position by a destroyer steaming offshore, however this attacks were unsuccessful as the bulk of shells fell beyond their target (AWM,2014). The bombardment ended early, the commanding officers of the light horse held their men back until the designated time of attack, this time was used by the Turks to move back into their positions after the bombardment (AWM, 2014)
What happened next was a great show of bravery, resilience and heroism by the 3rd Light Horse as they were ordered to attack. Wave after wave of light horse men from the 8th Light Horse Regiment were shot down by the Turkish rifle and machine-gun fire (AWM, 2014). While cancellation of the attack was proposed, Major John Antill the effective commander of the 3rd Brigade rejected the claim and sent the 3rd wave of men over the top (AWM, 2014). The third line, from the 10th light horse, suffered the same fate as the first two line, cancellation was once again proposed; however a misunderstanding along the 4th line resulted in the right flank of the 4th line charging over the top and the rest of the line followed, these brave and courageous men were also mowed down in Turkish GunFire (AWM, 2014).
