<P> Men from the 9th and 10th Battalions started up the Ari Burnu slope, grabbing the gorse branches or digging their bayonets into the soil to provide leverage . At the peak they found an abandoned trench, the Turks having withdrawn inland . Soon the Australians reached Plugge's Plateau, the edge of which was defended by a trench, but the Turks had withdrawn to the next summit two hundred yards (180 m) inland, from where they fired at the Australians coming onto the plateau . As they arrived, Major Edmund Brockman of the 11th Battalion started sorting out the mess, sending the 9th Battalion's men to the right flank, the 11th Battalion's to the left, and keeping the 10th Battalion in the centre . </P> <P> The second six companies landed while it was still dark, the destroyers coming to within five hundred yards (460 m) to disembark the troops, under fire . They also landed at Anzac Cove, but now as planned the 11th were in the north, 10th in the centre and the 9th in the south . The 12th Battalion landed all along the beach . This extended the beachhead 500 yards (460 m) to the north of Ari Burnu, and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the south . Landing under fire, some of the assaulting troops were killed in their boats, and others as they reached the beach . Once ashore they headed inland . In the south, the first men from the 9th and 12th Battalions reached the bottom of 400 Plateau . </P> <P> In the north, the first men from the 11th and 12th Battalions started up Walker's Ridge, under fire from a nearby Turkish trench . Around the same time Turkish artillery started bombarding the beachhead, destroying at least six boats . The Australians fought their way forward and reached Russell's Top; the Turks withdrew through The Nek to Baby 700, 350 yards (320 m) away . Coming under fire again the Australians went to ground, having advanced only around one thousand yards (910 m) inland . Some also dug in at The Nek, a twenty yards (18 m) piece of high ground between Malone's Gully to the north and Monash Valley to the south . Around this time Colonel Ewen Sinclair - Maclagan, commanding the 3rd Brigade, decided to change the corps plan . Concerned about a possible counter-attack from the south, he decided to hold the Second Ridge instead of pushing forward to the Third or Gun Ridge . This hesitation suited the Turkish defence plans, which required the forward troops to gain time for the reserves to coordinate a counter-attack . </P> <P> At 05: 45, Lieutenant - Colonel Mehmet Sefik of the Turkish 27th Infantry Regiment received orders to move his 1st and 3rd Battalions to the west and support the 2nd Battalion around Gaba Tepe . The two battalions were already assembled, having spent that night carrying out military exercises . They could not be sent to Ari Burnu as it was not marked on the Turkish maps . Colonel Halil Sami, commanding the 9th Division, also ordered the division's machine - gun company and an artillery battery to move in support of the 27th Infantry Regiment, followed soon after by an 77 mm artillery battery . At 08: 00 Lieutenant - Colonel Mustafa Kemal, commanding the 19th Division, was ordered to send a battalion to support them . Kemal instead decided to go himself with the 57th Infantry Regiment and an artillery battery towards Chunuk Bair, which he realised was the key point in the defence; whoever held those heights would dominate the battlefield . By chance, the 57th Infantry were supposed to have been on an exercise that morning around Hill 971 and had been prepared since 05: 30, waiting for orders . </P>

Why were the australian troops sent to gallipoli