Chapter Two: Middle East and the Gallipoli failure

15GW155 An Ottoman gun crew ready for action. The Turks would fight fiercely to defend their homeland from the invading French and British.

15GW154 British and Australian troops on the deck of a battlecruiser, preparing to take to long boats for landings at Gallipoli.

15GW157 The Suez Canal is a 101 mile long waterway that connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Gulf of Suez. It officially opened in November 1869.

After ten years of construction work the Suez Canal opened in November 1869. It allowed ships to sail between Europe and eastern Asia without having to navigate around Africa. The northern terminus is Port Said and the southern terminus is Port Tawfiq, at the city of Suez.

In 1856, Frenchman Ferdinand de Lesseps obtained a concession from the Khedive of Egypt and Sudan to construct a canal open to ships of all nations. A company was formed and was to operate the canal for ninety-nine years from its opening. The canal had an immediate and dramatic effect on world trade.

The canal was declared a neutral zone under the protection of the British, who had occupied Egypt and Sudan at the request of Khedive Tewfiq to suppress the Urabi Revolt against his rule.

The British army in the First World War undertook the defence of the canal and had to defend the strategically important passage against a major Ottoman attack in 1915.

Ferdinand Marie, Vicomte de Lesseps (19 November 1805-7 December 1894).

15GW158 Ships sailing through the Suez Canal were vulnerable to attack from Turkish forces, who had mounted an incursion at the end of January 1915.

15GW160 A screen of rushes erected on the mail-steamer Ville de la Ciotat to mask the crew from Turkish snipers along the banks of the canal.

15GW162 Banks of the Suez Canal where the Turks sought to cross. Along its length the canal is 65 yards wide and 29 feet deep.

15GW172 A photograph that appeared in a German journal, showing their interest in this strategic waterway.

15GW163 An Indian Army Maxim section on the banks of the Suez Canal.

15GW184 An artist’s impression of how the attack on the Suez Canal was repelled.

15GW170 Map of three-pronged attack on the Suez Canal by the Turks, 25 January-3 February 1915.

15GW169 A damaged pontoon brought up to the Canal by the Turks for crossing the water – manufactured in Germany.

A: Route of small force attacking at El Kantara.

B: Advance from Beersheba to Kataib-el-Kheil and the main attack.

C: A small force used the road known as the Pilgrim Route for an attack north of Suez.

15GW197 Turkish troops muster on the Plain of Esdraelon before the attack on the Suez Canal, 1915.

15GW164 A German postcard depicting their version of the raid on the Canal by their allies, the Turks.

15GW196 Lieutenant General Sir John Grenfell Maxwell, commander of the forces defending the Suez Canal.

15GW284 Men of the New Zealand Brigade after landing in Egypt.

15GW283 Pack mules panicking after a platoon of British infantry, with bayonets fixed, crosses their path among the dunes in Egypt.

15GW281 New Zealanders of the New Zealand and Australian Division, part of ANZAC, taking a break in Egypt.

15GW286 A column of the New Zealand and Australian Division on the march in Egypt.

15GW282 Bird’s eye view of a part of an Allied camp in Egypt.

15GW280 A change of mounts for these men of a British cavalry regiment.

15GW285 Battalion cooks of the New Zealand Brigade preparing the evening meal.

15GW198 Generalleutnant Otto Liman von Sanders served as an adviser and military commander for the Ottoman Empire.

15GW192 German scout biplane over Egypt.

15GW168 A Turkish light artillery unit equipped with a Krupps 77 mm field gun.

15GW173 Port Said, situated at the entrance to the Suez Canal and target for the Turkish invaders.

15GW199 Kress von Kressenstein, commander of the First Suez Offensive in January 1915.

15GW165 Turkish infantry in the Sinai Desert, posing a threat to the Suez Canal.

15GW181 A Turkish light artillery unit, with their gun disassembled and packed onto mules.

15GW166 An overturned boat on the eastern bank of the Canal marks the spot where Turkish forces sought to cross between 25 January and 3 February 1915.

15GW161 Turkish prisoners held in temporary cages aboard a Royal Navy warship.

15GW171 Turkish prisoners taken during the abortive raid on the Suez Canal are marched into Cairo.

15GW176 Turkish infantry.

15GW178 Turkish marines.

15GW189 Turkish soldiers assembled outside the Sultan’s palace in Constantinople.

15GW200 The Sultan of Turkey leaves his palace in Constantinople.

15GW167 Rallying to the flag: Reservists march up to join the colours while uniformed soldiers set out to meet the invaders of their country.

15GW190 Turkish infantry.

15GW203 A Turkish spotter plane, built in Germany.

15GW201 Wilhelm Freiherr von der Goltz, German Vice President of the Turkish Military Council.

15GW187 Turkish artillery moving out of the capital to battle with the British and French invaders.

15GW202 The Turkish heir to the throne with his staff on an inspection tour of Gallipoli.

15GW205 An Austrian howitzer being inspected by Enver Pasha (right, with sword).

15GW227 Turks crossing from Constantinople to the Asiatic shore and away from the threatened city.

15GW204 Turkish artillery equipped with a Krupp 77 mm field gun.

15GW183 A platoon of Turkish infantry with its officer.

With German guidance, the Turks were prepared to repel a landing on either side of the peninsula and were employing five divisions and with another division en route, (a conscript force, commanded by Otto Liman von Sanders). The Ottoman military commanders along with senior German officers planned the defence for the anticipated landing. They all agreed that the most effective form of defence was to hold the high ground on the ridges of the peninsula and, because of the British delay, they had four weeks in which to prepare a hot reception.

15GW194 Liman von Sanders and the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin being driven to inspect the Turkish positions.

15GW177 The finer points of the German Mauser rifle being demonstrated to a group of Turkish soldiers who have just been equipped with the weapon.

15GW182 A Turkish commanding officer of an infantry battalion with his officers.

15GW1780 Two gun crew demonstrating the correct – though precarious – travelling position when moving a German 77 mm field gun.

15GW185 Turkish infantry file into a trench at Gallpoli.

15GW186 Awaiting the British onslaught at Gallpoli.

15GW191 Admiral De Roebeck and General Sir Ian Hamilton at Gallpoli.

15GW210 An artist’s drawing of the Gallpoli Peninsula and the Asiatic shore.

15GW211 British troops leaving a Royal Navy ship for the assault
15GW208 French troops waiting to embark for a diversionary landing at Kum Kale, on the Asiatic side of the Straits.

The Dardanelles provided a sea route to Russia, ally of Britain and France, and those nations launched a naval attack followed by an amphibious landing on the peninsula with the goal of capturing the Ottoman capital of Constantinople. On 25 April landings were made at six beaches on the peninsula. The British 29th Division landed at Helles on the tip of the peninsula and were to then advance upon the forts at Kilitbahir. The Australians and New Zealanders (Anzacs), with the 3rd (Australian) Infantry Brigade spearheading the assault, were to land north of Gaba Tepe, from where they could advance across the peninsula, cutting off the Ottoman troops in Kilitbahir. The small cove in and around which they landed became known as ‘Anzac Cove’.

15GW207 Australian soldiers cheer the French as they are about to sail for the Gallpoli Peninsula.

15GW209 Sub-Lieutenant Rupert Chawner Brooke, English poet, died 23 April 1915 aged 27. He sailed with the British Mediterranean Expeditionary Force on 28 February 1915. On his way to the landing at Gallipoli he developed sepsis from an infected mosquito bite and died aboard a French hospital ship moored off the island of Skyros in the Aegean.

If I should die, think only this of me:

That there’s some corner of a foreign field

That is for ever England.

Rupert Brooke

15GW365 Royal Navy pilots and observers tasked with flying over Gallipoli and taking photographs prior to the landings.

15GW366 Wing Commander C.R. Samson, an RNAS pilot alongside his Nieuport scout. He is holding an automatic pistol.

15GW367 The town of Gallipoli taken from a British aircraft. The town was one of the objectives of the invading force en route to the capture of the Ottoman capital city, Constantinople.

15GW319 German naval officers and men wearing Turkish naval uniforms and insignia. The German warships SMS Breslau and SMS Goeben were passed to the Turkish navy, joining SMS Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm, which had been sold to them prewar. With these ships the Turks were able to attack the Russian Black Sea Fleet, merchant shipping and port installations.

15GW368 Constantinople harbour, where Turkish warships lie anchored. The view is from Pera looking towards the capital. The ship with four funnels is the German cruiser Breslau and the one to the right is the Turkish battleship Barbaros Hayreddin (formerly SMS Kurfurst Friedrich).

15GW370 Ex-German cruiser Breslau – renamed Midilli.

15GW369 Ex-German battleship Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm was sold to the Ottoman Empire and renamed Barbaros Heyreddin.

15GW363 French troops on the Greek island of Lemnos – the jumping off point for the Gallipoli landings.

15GW364 Australian troops march into tented accommodation on Lemnos.

15GW371 A church service aboard a British warship before the Gallipoli landings. The band is situated between the two gun barrels. The chaplain, standing next to the captain, conducts the service ‘…a few brief prayers are said, a brief extract from the Bible is read, the blessing pronounced, and all is over’.

15GW372 Allied camaraderie at the Dardenelles: Admiral Roebuck introduces Admiral Nicholson to General General Gouraud and General D’Amade.

‘SOLDIERS OF FRANCE AND OF THE KING

Before us lies an adventure unprecedented in modern war. Together with our comrades of the fleet we are about to force a landing upon an open beach in face of positions which have been vaunted by our enemies as impregnable. The landing will be made good by the help of God and the Navy; the positions will be stormed and the war brought one step nearer to a glorious close. “Remember,” said Lord Kitchener, when bidding adieu to your Commander, “Remember, once you set foot upon the Gallipoli Peninsula you must fight the thing through to a finish”.’

General Hamilton in his address to the troops about to assault the beaches.

15GW218 Horatio Herbert Kitchener, Secretary of State for War, appointed the overall commander and each British general to command the corps and divisions for the Gallipoli campaign.

15GW212 General Sir Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton, commander of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, was assigned the task of landing the invading force on Turkish territory.

15GW217 Australian troops embark for their assault on Gallipoli on 25 April, 1915.

‘Officers and men – In conjunction with the Navy we are about to undertake one of the most difficult tasks any soldier can be called upon to perform, and a problem that has puzzled many soldiers for years past. That we will succeed I have no doubt, simply because I know your full determination to do so… We are going to have a real hard and tough time of it until… we have turned the enemy out of our first objective…’

Part of General Birdwood’s address to the troops under his command about to assault the beaches.

‘Expect heavy losses by bullets, by shells, by mines and by drowning.’

Hunter Weston in his address to the troops under his command about to assault the beaches.

15GW212 Lieutenant General William Riddell Birdwood, commanded the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, which landed at what became known as Anzac Cove.

15GW214 Major General Sir Aylmer Hunter-Weston, commanded the British 29th Infantry Division.

15GW219 British and New Zealand troops leaving for the shores of Gallipoli 25 April, 1915.

15GW220 Preparing a scramble net on board a British battleship for troops to disembark.

15GW144a The SS River Clyde troop transport before she had been modified by having sally-ports cut into her sides to land troops from gangways once she had been run aground close to the beach.

15GW221 Modifications being carried out on the SS River Clyde; machine gun positions and armour plate being fitted for the landing at Cape Helles.

15GW144 Fench troops of the vaunted Foreign Legion being taken to shore on a raft pulled by a steam tug.

15GW211 Troops disembarking on rowing boats.

15GW222 Scrambling aboard the rowing boats.

15GW144b A steam tug towing a raft containing French troops toward the shore at Gallipoli.

15GW223 Last minute kit inspection before these British soldiers leave their transport for the enemy shores.

15GW228 British troops disembarking by means of a minesweeper.

15GW226 British troops leaving the SS Nile to land on the beaches.

15GW225 Packed with British troops, a minesweeper heads for the beaches.

15GW230 British soldiers leaving the troop transports.

15GW229 Australian troops boarding minesweepers.

15GW234 Men of the Australian Artillery being landed at Gallipoli.

15GW234 9th Battalion A.I.F. on board the destroyer HMS Beagle.

15GW241 Men crowd the rails of this transport, awaiting their turn to disembark.

15GW235 Men of the 1st Battalion Border Regiment on board a minesweeper.

15GW231 Ships’ lighters packed with men form up ready for the assault on the beaches.

15GW224 The British landing force under tow towards the beach.

15GW232 A tug boat pulls a raft bearing an artillery piece towards the beaches.

15GW237 Packed with troops, this vessel heads towards Turkish territory.

15GW288 Heading for the beach.

15GW265 Turkish troops had plenty of time to prepare for the landings.

15GW250 British troops landing from rowing boats.

15GW289 A Turkish counter-attack on one of the beaches as depicted in a German newspaper.

15GW290 Very full small boats landing troops on packed beaches.

15GW263 British troops making a fine target for the Turkish defenders.

15GW179 Turkish battery equipped with Krupp 77 mm field guns.

15GW267 General Sir Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton, commanding the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force for the invasion of Gallipoli.

15GW268 Corps commander: Lieutenant General Sir W. Birdwood.

Operation Order No 1 issued by Lieutenant Colonel Tizzard, 1st Battalian Munster Fusiliers 24 April 1915

1. Information

Information points to a landing on Turkish territory being opposed. The detail of landing of the covering force has already been issued

2 Intention?

The first objective is the village of Sed-Ell-Bahr (exclusive) and Forts 1 and 2 inclusive. This line will be attacked vigorously as soon as a landing has been effected.

3 Objectives?

Z coy will land on the starboard side of the vessel and attack the line from the village to half way between it and Fort 1. X coy will land on the port side and attack the line extending from half way between the village and fort 1 to fort 1. W coy will support Z coy. Y coy will support X coy?

Two m/c guns will follow X coy and select positions to assist attack.

As soon as the line allotted to the Battalion has been secured the Battalion will push on and effect a junction with the Dublin Fusiliers on the right and the Lancashire Fusiliers on the left The plan being that half an hour after the towed boats had landed the River Clyde would run aground on V beach, troops would emerge through the sally ports on to gangways running along each side towards the bows of the vessel. These gangways then lead down to two barges, which form a gangway to shore.

The barges forming the gangway to shore will be towed alongside the vessel, and with the forward impetus, they would shoot forward when the vessel was beached. They could then be manoeuvred into position so that the troops could run along them to shore and so land quickly, form up, and develop the attack.

The River Clyde was carrying 2,000 soldiers, mostly from the 1st Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers and men from the 1st Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers. There were also two companies of the 2nd Royal Hampshire from 88 Brigade.

For the assault on V Beach the units were positioned on SS River Clyde as follows :

1st Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers

Forward main deck holds

X Company (Captain G.W. Geddes)

Z Company (Captain C.L. Henderson)

Forward lower holds

Y Company (Major C.H.B. Jarret)

W Company (Major W.K. Hutchins)

After holds

Two companies of the 2nd Battalion Royal Hampshire Regiment.

One company of the 1st Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers

Also on board SS River Clyde

One company West Riding Field Engineers.

Two Sub-Divisions Field Ambulance.

One platoon Anson Battalion Royal Naval Division

One signal section.

A total of 8 machine guns.

CORPS EXPÉDITIONNAIRE D’ORIENT

Commander: General d’Amade

1 st DIVISION

General Masnou

Metropolitan Brigade: 175th Regiment Regiment de Marche d’Afrique

(2 Battalions Zouaves, 1 Battalion Foreign Legion)

Colonial Brigade: 4th Colonial Regiment (2 Battalions Senegalese, 1 Battalion Colonial)

6th Colonial Regiment (2 Battalions Senegalese, 1 Battalion Colonial)

6 Batteries of artillery (75-mm)

2 Batteries of artillery (65-mm)

15GW253 SS River Clyde, with sally ports cut into the hull and with gang planks in position. Men were to run down these and onto boats, scrambling across them and then up the beach.

The SS River Clyde beached under the guns of the Turkish defenders and immediately became a death trap. Three attempts to land made by companies of Munsters, Dublins and Hampshires all ended in costly failure. Further landing attempts were abandoned and the surviving soldiers waited until nightfall before attempting to get on shore again.

Members of River Clyde’s crew maintained a bridge of boats from the ship to the beach and recovered the wounded. For their bravery six of them were decorated with Victoria Crosses: Commander Unwin (aged 51); Midshipman George Drewry (aged 20); Midshipman Wilfred Malleson (aged 18); Able Seaman William Williams (aged 34); Seaman George Samson (aged 26) and Sub-Lieutenant Arthur Tisdall (aged(24) of the Royal Naval Division. Williams was killed in the landing and was decorated posthumously. Samson was severely wounded the next day but survived. On his return to Scotland he was handed a white feather while wearing civilian clothes. Tisdall was killed on 6 May 1915 with the 6th (Hood) Battalion RND in the Second Battle of Krithia.

15GW253 SS River Clyde after its beaching, showing sand-bagged positions for machine guns on the bow.

15GW251 A diaorama of the action depicting the landing of troops from the SS River Clyde.

15GW272 Commander Edward Unwin (aged 51).

15GW273 Midshipmen George Drewry (aged 20).

15GW274 Midshipmen Wilfred Malleson (aged 18).

15GW275 Able Seaman William Williams (aged 34).

Citation: Edward Unwin VC

While in SS River Clyde, observing that the lighters which were to form the bridge to the shore had broken adrift, Commander Unwin left the ship, and under a murderous fire attempted to get the lighters into position. He worked on until suffering from the effects of cold and immersion, he was obliged to return to the ship, where he was wrapped up in blankets. Having in some degree recovered, he returned to his work against the doctor’s order and completed it. He was later attended by the doctor for three abrasions caused by bullets, after which he once more left the ship, this time in a lifeboat, to save some wounded men who were lying in shallow water near the beach. He continued at this heroic labour under continuous fire, until forced to stop through physical exhaustion.

Citation: Sub Lieutenant Tisdall VC

Hearing wounded men on the beach calling for assistance, jumped into the water, and, pushing a boat in front of him, went to their rescue. He was, however, obliged to obtain help, and took with him, on two trips, Ldg. Smn. Malia; and on other trips, Ch. P.O. Perring and Ldg. Smn. Curtis and Parkinson. In all, Sub. Lieut. Tisdall made four or five trips between the ship and the shore, and was thus responsible for rescuing several wounded men under heavy and accurate fire.

15GW276 Seaman George Samson (aged 26).

15GW277 Sub-Lieutenant Arthur Tisdall (aged(24).

15GW252 An amazing photograph taken from the Vickers machine gun positions on the prow of the SS River Clyde. Men can be seen bunched up on the shore, attempting to take cover from the Turkish machine-gun fire and accurate sniping; the lighter directly in front is packed with dead and wounded. Men from the Clyde had been in the water positioning the boats and holding them together. Six of these men were later awarded the Victoria Cross for their actions.

Citation: Midshipman G. L. Drewry VC

He sssisted Commander Unwin at the work of securing the lighters under heavy rifle and maxim fire. He was wounded in the head, but continued his work and twice subsequently attempted to swim from lighter to lighter with a line.

Citation: Midshipman W. Malleson VC

Assisted Commander Unwin, and after Midshipman Drewry had failed from exhaustion to get a line from lighter to lighter, he swam with it himself and succeeded. The line subsequently broke, and he afterwards made two further but unsuccessful attempts at his self-imposed task.

Citation: Able Seaman W.C. Williams VC

He held on to a line in the water for over an hour under heavy fire, until killed.

Citation: Seaman G. Samson VC

He worked on a lighter all day under fire, attending wounded and getting out lines; he was eventually dangerously wounded by maxim fire.

Captain Guy Nightingale, who was on the Clyde, wrote:

The water was shallower than we thought and the Clyde was stuck about 80 yards out – none of us felt it ground, there was no jar. As she beached two companies of the Dublins in ‘Tows’ came up on the Port side and were met with terrific rifle and machine-gun fire. They were literally slaughtered like rats in a trap. Many men sank owing to the weight of their equipment and were drowned. The carnage on V Beach was chilling, dead and wounded lay at the water’s edge, which was tinted crimson from their blood. After being set adrift by their steam pinnaces, the boats had to row the last few hundred yards to the shore. The Turks waited until the men tossed their oars and were within 20 yards of the shore and then swept them with fire.

I don’t think that out of the 240 men in the boats more than 40 got ashore without being hit. Most were killed outright, many sank from exhaustion and loss of blood and were drowned, the water by this time was red with blood. As each boat got near the shore snipers shot down the oarsmen. The boats then began to drift, and machine-gunfire was turned onto them, you could see the men dropping everywhere, and of the first boat load of 40 men only 3 reached the shore, all wounded.

15GW278 Turkish Maxim machine guns were able to rake the SS River Clyde with fire and pin down the British on the beach.

15GW279 Turkish snipers picked off the British soldiers packed close together on the beach.

15GW233 Barbed wire defences awaited the invaders.

15GW236 Lancashire Fusiliers approaching the shores. At this point Turkish small arms fire was striking the men in the boats.

15GW264 Packed boats approaching the defended beaches.

15GW409 British troops assaulting Turkish positions.

15GW292 Landing at ANZAC cove.

15GW206 Reinforcements coming ashore.

15GW346 Australian and New Zealand troops make a leisurely landing at ANZAC cove, 25 April, 1915.

15GW291 Landing at ANZAC cove.

15GW293 Landing at ANZAC cove. At all the landing beaches the Allies had barely established a toehold on the Gallipoli Peninsular by the end of the day.

15GW294 View from the bridge of the River Clyde looking forward towards V Beach, now occupied and being transformed into a supply depot.

15GW297 The supplies dump under the wall of Sedd el Bahr fort.

15GW298 The supplies dump alonside Sedd el Bahr fort, looking inland.

15GW299 Sedd el Bahr fort, with three gun emplacements wrecked by accurate shell fire from Royal Navy ships. French troops took over this area once the landings had been secured.

15GW295 With the beach area secured, the beached River Clyde acts as a bridge for lighters filled with supplies to moor alongside and unload their cargoes.

15GW296 A view from the vantage point of the prow of the River Clyde at the encampments, horse lines and dumps.

15GW300 British Army canvas packs, and other other equipment from the 533 dead and wounded who landed at W Beach.

15GW301 Captain Willis VC.

15GW302 Major Bromley VC.

15GW303 Sergeant Richards VC.

15GW304 Sergeant Stubbs VC.

15GW307 ‘Six VCs Before Breakfast’ painting of the action at W Beach.

15GW304 Corporal Grimshaw VC.

15GW304 L/Corporal Keneally VC.

15GW287 French troops occupying the ground around Fort Seddul Bahr.

15GW313 The Allies were ashore but only just; here French troops man their front line trench not far inland from Fort Seddul Bahr.

15GW308 Shaded areas showing the limited penetration of Turkish soil the Allies were managing to hold.

15GW314 Turkish reinforcements arrive to contain the landing and hopefully drive the invaders back into the sea.

15GW316 The Turkish infantryman.

15GW315 A Turkish field gun placed so as to bring down fire on the beachheads.

15GW330 A French 75mm field gun crew firing towards the hill, Achi Baba, a vantage point behind the Turkish lines.

15GW333 A big gun in a Turkish fort blown from its carriage by an explosion from a ship’s 15-inch guns.

15GW336 French troops occupying V Beach, with the River Clyde in the background.

15GW331 French troops in a ruined fort observing shell explosions on the Turkish strongpoint of Achi Baba.

15GW334 Obsolete Turkish guns wrecked during the bombardment by allied warships.

15GW335 Horses watering beneath the walls of Sedd el Bahr fort.

15GW337 The River Clyde, with a landing pontoon in the foreground.

15GW332 British Royal Engineers pile-driving timbers to extend a landing jetty.

15GW329 Royal Engineers extend a landing jetty, pile-driving timbers into the seabed

15GW339 British troops making primitive bombs from empty food tins.

15GW338 Turkish rifles and ammunition captured by the British.

15GW340 Officer Commanding the British 29th Division, Major General AG Hunter-Weston, at Army Corps HQ.

15GW342 Rear Admiral Stuart Nicholson making his way along a communication trench after visiting a Naval Observation Station at Cape Helles.

15GW323 Anzacs, shortly after landing, crowd the beach awaiting orders to advance inland.

15GW343 Australian infantry preparing to move from the beach area in the Dardanelles.

15GW344 ‘Colonial troops in their dug-outs’ is how the original caption describes these Anzacs.

15GW348 The beach, now renamed Anzac Cove, soon became congested with Australian and New Zealand infantry.

15GW347 Anzac Cove looking towards the headland of Ariburnu (north). Little Ariburnu, known as Hell Spit, is to the south of the cove.

15GW351 Despite Turkish shells continually exploded in and around Anzac Cove, this did not deter soldiers from bathing in the sea.

15GW356 Lieutenant General Birdwood outside his HQ at Anzac Cove.

15GW349 Men of the 1st Australian Light Horse Regiment taking over new dugouts.

15GW350 Australian infantry stage a bayonet charge for the camera. Note the grins on some of the faces of the attackers.

15GW354 Lieutenant General Birdwood, commander of the Anzac Corps joins his men in a morning swim.

15GW355 A bonus from the shelling – fish killed by explosions in the water provides a welcome addition to their army diet for these soldiers.

15GW352 An Australian sniping team at a forward trench: officer has taken over the rifle; soldier is using the officer’s binoculars and the sniper’s observer is using a trench periscope to locate any unwary Turk who might expose his head over the trench parapet.

15GW359 Australian infantry in captured Turkish trenches at a position named Lone Pine, August 1915.

15GW362 Demonstrating a Japanese trench mortar mounted on an improvised stand.

15GW360 Looking back over the ground from Lone Pine, with Australian unburied corpses.

15GW357 An 18-pounder light field gun firing on Turkish postions at Anzac Cove.

15GW361 A captured trench at Lone Pine with both Turkish and Australian dead on the parapet. The body with the white armband is an Australian.

15GW358 15GW317 15GW318 Turkish troops awaiting another attack against their defensive positions.

15GW345 Turkish troops digging trenches as they prepare to defend their homeland.

15GW374 When heavy Royal Artillery guns were brought ashore the British proceeded to pound the Turkish defenses in earnest. A 60-pounder battery in action.

15GW373 Charge! Yet another gallant attempt to dislodge ‘Johnnie’ Turk from his well concealed postitions.

15GW375 A British soldier teasing Turkish snipers.

15GW376 A British Vickers machine gun team using a contraption to fire the gun without sticking their heads above the parapet.

15GW385 In a captured Turkish position, British soldiers grab a rest.

15GW377 Turks launching an attack to try and drive the Allies into the sea. The Turks mounted a massive attack on 18 May 1915, using 42,000 troops, but they were repulsed, suffering 10,000 casualties.

15GW378 British officers question four captured Turkish soldiers as the two guards look on.

15GW402 A Turkish officer is led blindfolded into the Allied lines to negotiate a temporary ceasefire so that the large numbers of putrefying corpses lying out in No Man’s Land can be buried.

15GW401 Turkish soldiers under a flag of truce meeting Australians in No Man’s Land to bury the dead.

15GW403 Over 2,000 Turks and fallen Anzacs were buried during the truce, which lasted from 7.30 am to 4.30 pm on 24 May 1915.

15GW405 Australians and British troops digging graves in No Man’s Land.

15GW400 Turks turned up with their rifles, so the Australians removed the bolts until the job was finished.

15GW404 Disarmed Turkish soldiers begin the task of burying their fallen comrades.

15GW406 Before they were buried the identity disc had to be found on the corpse and a note made.

15GW478 Turkish troops who fell on the scrub covered slopes of Chocolate Hill resisting a British attack from Suvla Bay.

15GW479 A Turkish sniper under guard by his Australian captors.

15GW455 A drink of water for a captured Turkish prisoner.

15GW480 The Australian camp at Anzac Cove, with living quarters crammed together close to the shore. Boxes of supplies can be seen piled up close to the water’s edge.

Gully Ravine is a deep natural cut through the land on the western side of the Gallipoli peninsula running from the foothills of Achi Baba to the sea. Achi Baba should have been captured soon after the landings, 27 April 1915, but the village was never taken by the invading forces. Gully Ravine is over thirty metres deep in places and afforded shelter in which the British army was able to set up dressing stations, stables, supply dumps and rest areas situated along the numerous smaller gullies branching off from it.

15GW379 The entrance to Gully Ravine photographed in September 1915.

15GW408 Bathers on Gully Beach, September 1915.

15GW410 The road leading up from the beach and into Gully Ravine, May 1915.

15GW420 British shelters in Gully Ravine.

15GW417 Officers’ shelters overlooking Gully Beach.

15GW411 Bringing supplies by mule up Gully Ravine, following heavy rain.

15GW416 A British army horse drawn ambulance struggling through Gully Ravine, after heavy rain had turn the rough track into a stream bed.

15GW413 Royal Fusiliers carrying up supplies through Gully Ravine.

15GW240 Human debris – bodies lying among the wire at the top of Gully Ravine.

15GW418 The seriously wounded being taken by mule-drawn ambulance down Gully Ravine to an awaiting ship.

15GW415 Walking wounded British soldiers making their way to Gully Beach for transfer to a ship.

15GW414 Turkish captives being taken down Gully Ravine following a failed attack.

15GW193 Turkish captives awaiting shipment to Egypt.

15GW353 Wounded and prisoners being loaded onto boats to take them out to waiting ships.

15GW419 Six horses were needed to pull this ambulance through the deep mud of Gully Ravine.

15GW386 Stretcher bearers bringing in wounded to a British army aid post.

The Battle for Gallipoli had very quickly reached stalemate. The landing at Suvla Bay, which commenced on the night of 6 August 1915, was intended to support a breakout from the Anzac sector, five miles to the south and get the offensive moving once more.

Initial opposition to the landing at Suvla Bay was light, however, the British commanders mishandled it from the outset. The situation very quickly reaching the same impass that prevailed on the Anzac and Helles fronts. On 15 August, after a week of indecision and inactivity, the British commander at Suvla, Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Stopford, was dismissed.

15GW422 Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Stopford commanded the Suvla operation.

15GW425 Anzac soldiers, having landed on the beach at Suvla Bay, await orders to move in land.

15GW48 Lighters were turned into fresh water containers and again back into transports when the time came to withdraw from Suvla Bay.

15GW426 Once the Turkish defenders had responded in strength to the fresh invasion the beaches were targeted.

15GW423 Lighters packed with troops head for the landings at Suvla Bay.

15GW424 Soldiers form up and march off inland at Suvla Bay.

15GW427 As at the other invasion beaches, the ones at Suvla soon became clogged with Allied troops.

15GW431 British troops camped on the edge of the beach at Suvla Bay.

15GW433 British troops filling their water bottles at a canvas reservoir.

15GW435 British soldier reading a paper on the front line trench fire step.

15GW437 Australian stretcher bearers bringing a casualty into an aid station.

15GW432 British troops taking up a water bowser at Suvla Bay.

15GW441 Constructing trench periscopes and rifle frames for sniping over the trench fire step.

15GW421 Using a trench periscope in the front line.

15GW434 British wounded waiting for their turn to be evacuated from B Beach.

15GW430 Stretcher cases being taken off the beach to waiting transports.

The Allies were barely off the beach and soon the Turkish defenders were occupying strong positions on the high ground.

15GW442 With the Turkish forces commanding the heights, the Allies were firmly stuck.

15GW444 British soldiers in dugouts.

15GW449 Major General Frederick Hammersley, commanding 11th (Northern) Division, was relieved of his command.

15GW448 Yeomanry in the fire trench

15GW487 Sandringham House, Royal residence in Norfolk, at the turn of the twentieth century. It was the favoured residence of King George V.

In 1908 King Edward VII asked his land agent at Sandringham, Francis Beck, to form a company of soldiers for the 5th Battalion Norfolk Regiment. Beck recruited more than 100 part-time soldiers to form E Company in this Territorial battalion. All the men belonged to the staff of the royal estate. Members of the gentry, such as Francis Beck and his two nephews became the officers; the estate’s foremen, butlers, head gamekeepers and head gardeners were the NCOs; the farm labourers, grooms and household servants made up the rank and file.

During E Company’s first action on the afternoon of 12 August,1915, at Suvla Bay, Gallipoli, every man simply disappeared during an attack on Turkish positions. No bodies were found and no men turned up as prisoners of war. The British Commander-in-Chief in Gallipoli, Sir Ian Hamilton, appeared as puzzled as everyone else. He reported:

‘There happened a very mysterious thing, the Norfolks had drawn somewhat ahead of the rest of the British line; the ground became more wooded and broken but Colonel Beauchamp with sixteen officers and 250 men, still kept pushing on, driving the enemy before him. Among these ardent souls was part of a fine company enlisted from the King’s Sandringham estates. Nothing more was ever seen or heard of any of them. They charged into the forest and were lost to sight and sound. Not one of them ever came back.’

Even King George V could gain no further information other than that the Sandringhams had conducted themselves with ‘ardour and dash’. (Later, in 1919, burial places were found.)

15GW488 King George V.

15GW489 Captain Francis Beck.

15GW490 Officers of the 1/5th Battalion, Norfolk Regiment, before leaving for Gallipoli. The two ringed officers were nephews of Captain Beck, officers in E Company (Sandringham Estate men). The officer commanding the battalion was Colonel Sir Horace Beauchamp, who came out of retirement.

15GW489 Norfolk Regiment cap badge.

Some of these officers were among those who simply disappeared when they surged ahead of the other battalions during an attack by 163 Brigade.

15GW486 Queen Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia. Alexandra was the mother of the reigning monarch, George V, and was queen mother. She was styled ‘Her Majesty Queen Alexandra’.

Before the Sandringham Company left England Queen Alexandra presented Captain Frank (Francis) Beck with a gold watch engraved as follows:

THIS WATCH WAS PREPARED AND ENGRAVED FOR QUEEN ALEXANDRA AND I NOW GIVE IT AS I KNOW HER MAJESTY WOULD BE GLAD I SHOULD TO MY OLD FRIEND HIS MAJESTY’S SERVANT CAPTAIN FRANK BECK ON HIS LEAVING ENGLAND IN COMMAND OF THE SANDRINGHAM COMPANY OF THE NORFOLK REGT TO FIGHT FOR HIS KING AND COUNTRY IN THE GREAT WAR NOW RAGING ABROAD. MAY 1915

After the war came news from Turkey of a gold fob-watch, looted from the body of a British officer in Gallipoli. It was Frank Beck’s. The watch was later presented to Margeretta Beck, Frank’s daughter, on her wedding day.

15GW492 British infantry attacking Turkish positions at Anzac on 8 August. When the Norfolks attacked four days later they vanished and it remained a mystery as to what happened to them until September 1919. The Graves Registration Unit reported finding 180 graves scattered over an area of a square mile, 800 yards behind the Turkish front line. They simply stated ‘We have found the 5th Norfolks’. Only two were identified, Privates Barnaby and Cotter.

15GW443 Royal Irish Fusiliers.

15GW446 15GW447 15GW445 British dead scattered about and near the lines; and the impossibility of burying them led to almost unbearable smells.

15GW396 Lord Kitchener, along with Lieutenant General Birdwood, completes his inspection. The new Commander-in-Chief, General Monro, had recommended evacuation of the Gallipoli Peninsula: Kitchener concurred.

15GW438 A substantial harbour was established at Suvla Bay, which would help facilitate evacuation of troops.

15GW396 Lord Kitchener arrived at Gallipoli to check the situation for himself. He is seen here with Lieutenant General Birdwood.

15GW436 A despatch rider braves the snipers’ bullets as he makes the perilous coast road journey between Anzac Cove and Suvla Bay.

15GW341 General Sir Ian Hamilton talking to Major General Ellison on the morning of his departure for England, 17 October 1915, after being relieved of his command for the total failure of the Gallipoli landings, which had resulted in the deaths of over 130,000 on both sides.

15GW450 General Sir Charles Monro replaced Hamilton as Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force.

15GW451 Army chaplains of the Church of England, Roman Catholic and Presbyterian Churches attend this multiple burial.

15GW457 Tommies say goodbye to their fallen comrades that they are leaving behind.

15GW382 British troops on Gully Beach awaiting evacuation. Turkish shells are exploding in the sea and these men seem unperturbed.

15GW389 Abandoned British positions.

15GW391 A device for fooling the Turks: a cocked rifle is positioned in the abandoned Allied trenches with a water timing mechanism for triggering the weapon.

15GW395 The evacuation underway.

15GW452 Troops embarking.

15GW453 Leaving Gallipoli.

15GW390 A squad of stuffed ‘reinforcements’ ready to be taken to man the trenches.

15GW454 Three of the very last Turkish prisoners to be taken from Gallipoli during the Allied withdrawal.

15GW392 Preparations for evacuation underway at Anzac Cove.

15GW394 Indian troops loading supplies for evacuation at Anzac Cove.

15GW388 HMS Cornwallis, the last ship to leave Gallipoli in the evacuation of 19-20 December 1915.

15GW387 Stores at Suvla Bay, set alight to prevent their use by the Turks.

15GW429 Turkish officers, after having successfully defended their homeland, watch the allied ships withdrawing from the Gallipoli peninsula.

15GW610 Winston Churchill resigned as First Lord of the Admiralty following the disastrous Gallipoli Campaign.

Information used in this chapter was based on the following titles in the Battleground Europe series of guide books:

Gallipoli by Nigel Steel; Gallipoli – Gully Ravine, Gallipoli – Anzac Landing, Gallipoli – Suvla August Offensive, Gallipoli – Anzac Sari Bair, Walking Gallipoli by Stephen Chambers; Gallipoli – Landings at Helles by Huw & Jill Rodge.

These are available from Pen & Sword History Books Ltd.