Gallipoli casualty group – 13th August 1915 (Chocolate Hill / Sulajik)

Gallipoli casualty group – 13th August 1915 (Chocolate Hill / Sulajik) 1914-15 Star, 10994 Pte H. Jones, W. Rid.R.; British War and Victory Medals, 10994 Pte H. Jones. W. Rid. R.; Memorial Plaque, Harold Jones. (Medals court mounted) Note plaque has two holes drilled in it for mounting. Harold Jones was born in Newtown, Montgomeryshire in 1896, the son of Mrs Mary Jones of 42 Frankwell Street, Newtown. He was serving in the 8th battalion Duke of Wellingtons (West Riding Regiment) when he was killed on the 13th August 1915. He is commemorated on the Helles memorial. His MIC confirms his entitlement to the 1914-15 trio, landing in the Balkans theatre of war on the 7th July 1915, being killed in action. Condition – GVF The 8th (Service) Battalion, Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding Regiment) was raised in Halifax in August 1914 as part of Lord Kitchener’s First New Army (K1). Assigned to the 32nd Brigade of the 11th (Northern) Division, the battalion drew volunteers from across Yorkshire. Intensive training began locally before the unit moved to Belton Park near Grantham in late 1914, followed by tactical maneuvers at Frensham and Witley Camp in Surrey during the spring of 1915. In early July 1915, the battalion embarked from Liverpool aboard transports bound for the Mediterranean. Staging at the Aegean islands of Mudros and Imbros, they prepared for the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force’s amphibious landing at Suvla Bay, designed to break the static deadlock at Gallipoli. Wading ashore at Suvla Bay on the night of 6-7 August 1915, the 8th West Ridings were plunged directly into combat. Despite the confusion of a night assault, the battalion assisted in securing initial objectives around Lala Baba. Over the next five days (8-12 August), the men pressed inland across unfamiliar, scrub-covered terrain toward positions near Hill 10, Chocolate Hill, and the approaches to Scimitar Hill and Tekke Tepe. The battalion faced brutal conditions: oppressive summer heat, a severe lack of drinking water, and aggressive resistance from Ottoman forces commanding the heights. Command delays allowed Ottoman reinforcements to occupy the high ground, subjecting the advancing troops to devastating artillery and machine-gun fire. By 12 August, after costly attempts to push forward, the heavily depleted battalion had suffered severe casualties, forcing them to entrench along the plain. Actions on 13 August 1915 On 13 August 1915, the 8th Battalion held exposed front-line positions in the Suvla sector near Chocolate Hill and Sulajik. With major Allied offensive pushes halted to regroup, the battalion’s focus shifted to consolidating their shallow trenches under continuous Ottoman artillery bombardment and sniper fire from the surrounding heights. Fighting extreme heat, fly infestation, and dehydration, the Yorkshiremen repulsed localized Ottoman probes while strengthening their defenses. By late 13 August, after nearly a week of uninterrupted frontline combat, elements of the exhausted battalion were temporarily relieved in the line to reorganize.