 A general mounted attack commenced at 14 : 30 . By 15 : 30 , the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade and the 1st and 2nd Light Horse Brigades were advancing at the gallop on Katia . When they had reached the edge of the white <unk> , the light horse and mounted rifle brigades formed a line , fixed bayonets , and charged over the exposed country . They <unk> in a long line of charging horses , through shell fire and bullets , holding fixed bayonets . On the far left , the intensity of fire from the rearguard , made it necessary for the 5th Mounted Brigade of sword carrying Yeomanry , to send back their horses and advance dismounted . While all the brigades which charged , were eventually forced to attack dismounted also , when the ground became too swampy . They were met by well @-@ directed , heavy German , Austrian and Ottoman artillery fire , which completely <unk> the supporting Ayrshire and Somerset Batteries ; by sunset , the advance of the British Empire mounted brigades had been stopped . The 9th Light Horse Regiment ( 3rd Light Horse Brigade ) on the extreme right was held up by a determined German and Ottoman rearguard and was unable to work round the right flank of that position . But after <unk> to within a few hundred yards of the rearguard 's line , they made a dismounted bayonet attack under cover of machine gun fire and the Inverness Battery . As a result , the German and Ottoman force abandoned their position , leaving 425 men and seven machine guns to be captured . But , instead of holding their ground , they drew off , and this withdrawal led to a strong German and Ottoman counterattack falling on the Canterbury Mounted Rifle Regiment . 
