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RHIB
named for bloodiest battle
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The
RHIB Lone Pine from HMAS Anzac is put through her paces
in the waters of the Arabian Gulf.
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HMAS
Anzac’s inflatable boat and the passageway outside the canteen
have been named Lone Pine after one of the bloodiest events in Australian
history.
A couple of miles above the steep gullies of Anzac Cove lies a small
exposed plateau on a hill top called Lone Pine.
An Australian assault on the Turks, the Battle of Lone Pine commenced
at 1530 on the August 6, 1915 and lasted three days. As the Australian’s
filed up the Turkish trenches facing Lone Pine, they came upon their
enemy in close quarters. No bombs were used and rifle fire was difficult
with the fighting too close.
By 1830 that day, Lone Pine had been taken by Australians.The battle
was fierce and the win was costly. It has been described as ‘sheer
hand-to-hand combat, certainly the heaviest of it’s kind in
which Australians had taken part’.
Over 2000 Australians died at Lone Pine, and an estimated 6900 Turks
were killed or wounded.
Seven soldiers were decorated with Victoria Crosses for heroism,
courage and ultimate sacrifice. These, and hundreds of other ordinary
men, gained immortal fame at Lone Pine.
Lone Pine was a strategically significant, but costly win for the
Australian Imperial Forces and was the first of many battles in
this campaign to take control of the peninsula called Gallipoli.
HMAS Anzac’s 7.2-metre inflatable boat proudly carries the
name Lone Pine in memory of this tragic Australian event.
Also, outside the ship’s canteen, a City of Rockingham street
sign names the passageway Lone Pine.
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