Hill 10                                                                     Softa Tepe

Suvla Lake and Lala Baba, as seen by the Broussa gendarmes on Hill 10

History : Hill 10, the name of which refers to its height of 10 m, is situated just north of the Suvla Salt Lake. During the landings of August, it was defended by one company of Broussa Gendarmerie, with two more in reserve, commanded by the German Major Wilhelm Wilmer. When the British 34th Brigade landed at 11 pm on 6th August, the confusion in their ranks and the accurate Turkish fire coming from the low hill stopped the advance. It was not until 8 am the following morning that the Lancashire Fusiliers managed to conquer the position. By their stubborn defense, the Turkish gendarmes had held up the British advance for a precious 9 hours and then, according to plan, withdrew to the east. From this feat of arms, the hill derives its Turkish name 'Fanatic Hill'.

Access : Take the road going north  from Anzac to Suvla. Follow it in the direction of Suvla Point (avoid the smaller roads branching off to Lala Baba and Hill 60) until you reach the Summit of Chocolate Hill where you have a panoramic view over Suvla Plain. Keep following the road that from a certain distance circles the northern edge of the Salt Lake. After a couple of km, there is a small road branching off to the left. It is signposted and leads to Hill 10 Cemetery. Park in front of its entrance and take the track at the right hand side, which winds for some 100 m  through low prickly bush and leads to the flat summit of the hill. From there you can see the Salt Lake to the south, the landing beaches to the south-west and the Kiretch Tepe Hills to the north.

Duration : from Anzac by car and back 1.5 - 2 h.

Caution : As the road you'll have to take is not a sealed one and in fact only used by the local farmers on their tractors, parts of it have seriously degraded over the years. It's a good idea to avoid excessive speed on a pitted surface of this kind.

Things to see : Although It is so low, Hill 10 offers perhaps one of the best views to appreciate the scope of the Suvla landings and the underlying plan that was never carried out.