The Australian troops in the battle of Lone Pine were part of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) under the administrative and operational command of General William Birdwood. He had been appointed temporary commander following the death of General William Bridges in May 1915, and was made permanent in September of that year. At the time of the August offensive, the Corps consisted of the 1st Australian Division and the New Zealand and Australian Division.
The plans for the August offensive, which included the diversionary attack at Lone Pine, were developed by Birdwood and Brigadier General Andrew Skeen, one of Birdwood's staff officers. The main attack would be directed on the heights to the north of ANZAC, at Chunnuk Bair and Baby 700, as well as a new landing by British troops at Suvla.
Brigadier-General Harold Walker commanded the 1st Australian Division. Walker was opposed to the planned attack on Lone Pine, questioning the value of using experienced troops to assault a heavily fortified trench system, merely in order to affect a "demonstration". He also believed that the heights above Lone Pine, particularly Baby 700, should first be captured or at least attacked simultaneously.
