wrote to the Secretary of State for War with a request:I am very anxious, if possible, to get a brigade of Gurkhas, so as to complete the New Zealand Divisional Organization with a type of man who will, I am most certain, be most valuable on the Gallipoli Peninsula. The scrubby hillsides on the south-west faces of the plateau are just the sort of terrain where these little fellows are their brilliant best…each little “Gurk” might be worth his full weight in gold at Gallipoli (Farwell 96).Hamilton was not given all he asked for, but he was given a hastily whipped together brigade which was to be made up of the 29th,1/5th,1/6th and 2/10th. Their first major operation was on May 12th. There was a 300ft bluff to the west of the beachhead that was bristling with Turkish machine guns. Two previous attempts to oust them by other regiments had failed. The 1/6th was given the task and the bluff is taken and has since been renamed Gurkha Bluff. So they succeeded where two of Britains finest outfits, the Dublin Fusiliers and the Royal Marines, had failed. Their casualties where a mere 18 killed and 42 wounded (Masters 146).For the next several weeks the Turks launched a series of determined attacks to dislodge the invaders. It was during on of these attacks that Naik Dhan Sing Gurun was captured. He was being marched away when he bolted and threw himself over a cliff. He survived but was captured on the beach below. Naik again managed to escape, this time by diving into the sea. He made his way out to sea and then followed the coastline until he reached the British lines (Farwell 123). This display of courage is typical of the Gurkhas.After a serious defeat the battalions where given some time to recuperate, but already there was a plan to capture the highest point on the island, the ridge Sari Bair. A huge attack was launched during the night of August 7th and it included the Gurkhas and other British troops. Th...
