BORN HULL 1893. LIVED BEVERLEY. SON OF ROBERT WITTY (1859-1922) & ELIZABETH USHER (1867-1905), OF 11 CRYSTAL AVENUE, WHARRAM STREET, HULL. (1901 CENSUS). HE ENLISTED IN HULL. SERVED WITH THE 6TH EAST YORKSHIRE BATTALION. LEFT ENGLAND ON 14/07/1915. DIED AT GALLIPOLI. OM 22/08/1915, AGED 21. HIS ARMY EFFECTS WERE LEFT TO HIS SISTER, GERTRUDE TURNER.
HE HAD FOUR BROTHERS AND THREE SISTERS. ALL FOUR SONS SERVED IN THE WAR. THEIR PHOTOS APPEAR IN THE HULL DAILY MAIL, ON 3RD JANUARY 1916. *
21st August 1915 – the attack on Scimitar Hill
After the costly attack at Teppe Teke, on the 8th August 1915, the 6th East Yorkshire Regiment had been in reserve from 10th to the 20th August at Nibrunesi Point where they had dug themselves in at the base of a cliff. On 20th August the 6thEast Yorkshires relieved the Northumberland Fusiliers in trenches South East of Chocolate Hill. They came under the orders of 34th Brigade who would attack “Hill W” the next morning.
The 6th Battalion were to dig in and support the Lancashire Fusiliers and the Dorset’s, who would attack the next morning. There was a delay due to lost orders and confusion, and the attack did not commence until 3pm on the 21st. When the Dorset’s and Lancashire’s left their trenches the 6th East Yorkshires moved forward to occupy these trenches. The Dorset’s and the Lancashire’s ran into stubborn resistance and so most of the 6th East Yorkshires were sent forward to support them. The 6th East Yorkshire‘s captured a Turkish trench in front of them and awaited relief. The 6th East York (Pioneers) had occupied Hill 70 (Scimitar Hill), next to W Hill the most vital of all the semicircle of heights overlooking Suvla Bay and were there only waiting for the brigade’s further advance upon W Hill or Anafarta Sagir, to both of which it is the key. They held this trench overnight, but it became impossible to hold the next morning (22nd August) as the number of Turks increased and they had no bombs. Around 7.30 am the 6th East Yorkshires retreated to their original trenches and later that night they were relieved and moved back to their original reserve trenches at Nibrunesi point the following morning. The 6th East Yorkshire casualties by 22nd August 1915, included 26 Officers and 628 men. Officer casualties were 80% and other ranks 68%.
