of colonel and put him in command of the New Zealand Infantry Brigade. Egypt Shipped to Egypt in October along with the rest of the NZEF, Johnston's brigade underwent intensive training. During this time, he clashed with some of his officers, notably Lieutenant Colonel William Malone, commander of the Wellington Infantry Battalion. Johnston was critical of Malone's training methods, for which Malone had already obtained approval from Godley. The brigade deployed along the Suez Canal late in January 1915 to support Indian troops defending from a rumoured Turkish attack. The brigade assisted the Indian defenders in dealing with a Turkish attack during early February, and suffered its first combat casualties. The attack was repulsed with 3,000 Turkish soldiers killed, wounded or captured, and three weeks of sentry duty ensued before the brigade returned to Cairo, where it had been previously based. Gallipoli By this time, the New Zealand and Australian Division, under the command of Godley, was being formed for operations in the Dardanelles, and the brigade formed one of the two infantry brigades (the other was the Australian 4th Brigade). In April, the division embarked for Gallipoli. Landed on the beaches on 25 April, the brigade was under the temporary command of Brigadier General Harold Walker, the chief of staff of the division. Johnston had taken ill on 23 April and missed the landing, returning to his command in early May. On 2 May, shortly after his return to the brigade, Johnston led it in operations to capture Baby 700, a hill on the slopes overlooking ANZAC Cove. Johnston did not conduct a reconnaissance of the difficult terrain which needed to be traversed by his men prior to the commencement of the attack. As a result, many units had not reached their assigned starting positions by the designated start time of the offensive. The attack, planned by Godley and with ambitious objectives, was beaten off with heavy losses. In Godley's subsequent report on the battle, Johnston was not criticised for his handling of the brigade. Johnston led the brigade in the Second Battle of Krithia on 8 May, and then the Battle of Chunuk Bair in August. During the latter battle, he displayed poor judgement in coordinating the battalions of the brigade following the initial capture of Chunuk Bair by Malone's Wellington Battalion. Chunuk Bair was lost two days later to the Turks. Johnston, still in poor health, had