GALL1POLI 



3408 



GALLIPOLi 



immediately W. of Sedd-el-Bahr, 

 and the terrain rising from it is a 

 natural amphitheatre of grassy 

 slopes, topped by a village and the 

 ruins of the old fort of Sedd-el-Bahr. 

 The beach was protected by heavy 

 wire entanglements, and above 

 these we/-e lines of well-fortified 

 trenches. 



Early in the morning of April 25 

 three companies of the Dublin 

 Fusiliers were to be towed ashore 

 and begin the attack ; but the 

 River Clyde came into position in 

 advance of the tows, and the 

 collier and the tows beached at 

 the same time. The Turks opened 

 a very heavy fire, only a small 

 number of the Dublin Fusiliers 

 getting ashore. Owing to a strong 

 current the plan for the unloading 

 of the troops failed, and during the 

 rest of the day attempts to land 

 had to be discontinued. After 

 nightfall the troops were dis- 

 embarked. Next day, under cover 



other material gradually during ten 

 successive nights, while the firing 

 lines apparently were held as 

 usual during the day, but were 

 also being gradually evacuated. 



A beginning was made on Dec. 8 

 at Suvla and Anzac. Men, guns, and 

 stores were withdrawn according 

 to plan, and the hospitals were all 

 evacuated. The bombardment of 

 the Turkish lines was maintained 

 to as great an extent as was pos- 

 sible, and the enemy was deceived 

 still further by bogus guns being 

 emplaced in the positions of the 

 real guns which had been taken 

 away. The final embarcation 

 was "fixed for Dec. 18 and 19. On 

 the latter day a covering attack 

 was made by the forces in the 

 Krithia area, at a cost of 283 

 casualties. By 5.30 a.m. on Dec. 20 

 the last man quitted the British 

 trenches in the Suvla-Anzac area, 

 the transports stole out of the bay, 

 and the warships followed later. 



French made use of beach S, the 

 British of the other beaches. On 

 Dec. 29--31 the 52nd Division made 

 a demonstration to throw dust in 

 the enemy's eyes, and for some 

 days afterwards a fairly constant 

 and heavy fire was kept up all 

 along the Allied front. Two nights 

 were allotted to the final embarca- 

 tion Jan. 7 and 8. Positions 

 covering the landing-places were 

 got ready, and a zone of em- 

 barcation was occupied, under 

 Major- General Lawrence, com- 

 manding the 52nd Division. 



A period of calm, fine weather fol- 

 lowed the great storm of the 

 night of Dec. 20, and was taken 

 full advantage of, but as there 

 might be a sudden and disastrous 

 change the evacuation continued 

 with all possible speed. In the 

 afternoon of Jan. 7 the Turks 

 suddenly opened a heavy fire on 

 the trenches held by the 13th 

 Division and the Naval Division, 



Gallipoli. 



Fiench camp at Sedd-el-Bahr with large ammunition store. The transport River Clyde, which was used in 

 the landing, is seen on the beach 



of the fire of the warships, the at- 

 tack was renewed, and by 2 p.m. 

 the Turkish positions were taken 

 by storm. By the evening of 

 April 27 the British forces had 

 established themselves on a line 

 about 3 m. long from N.E. of 

 Tekke Burnu to Eski Hissarlik 

 Point. A war memorial is to 

 be erected at Cape Tekke Burnu, 

 the S.W. extremity of the penin- 

 sula. See Gallipoli Diary, Sir Ian 

 Hamilton, 1920. 



Gallipoli, EVACUATION OF. In 

 Nov., 1915, the British Govern- 

 ment, acting on the opinion of 

 Gen. Monro, who had replaced Gen. 

 Hamilton, and whose opinion was 

 endorsed by( Lord Kitchener 

 after a visit to Gallipoli, decided 

 to evacuate the peninsula. The 

 plan of the operation was worked 

 out by Gen. Birdwood, the idea 

 being to remove the guns and 



The evacuation was absolutely 

 successful. The Turks were com- 

 pletely unaware of what had taken 

 place, and went on bombarding 

 the empty British positions. 



The very success of the evacua- 

 tion of the Suvla-Anzac area mili- 

 tated against the chances of a like 

 success in the Krithia or Cape 

 Helles area. It was not to be ex- 

 pected that the enemy would be 

 deceived a second time in the same 

 way. Yet actually that was what 

 happened, perhaps because the 

 Turks never imagined that the 

 same thing could be worked twice. 

 In the last days of 1915 the evacua- 

 tion began men, guns, and stores 

 being taken down to the beaches 

 of Helles, in the same way as at 

 Suvla and Anzac, while the firing 

 lines of the British appeared to be 

 maintained precisely as if nothing 

 of the sort was proceeding. The 



and exploded mines. For some 

 moments it seemed as if a general 

 action would have to be fought, 

 but the enemy did not repeat his 

 effort, and in the course of the 

 ensuing night the Scottish Low- 

 landers embarked. ! 



Next day the weather was fine 

 in the morning, but broke in the 

 afternoon, making the final steps 

 of the evacuation very difficult, 

 the landing-stages and connect- 

 ing piers being washed away. 

 Yet by 5.30 a.m. on Jan. 9 

 beaches Y and W were cleared, 

 and the last troops of the 29th 

 Division were all embarked by 

 3.30 p.m. The storm had at least 

 the effect of covering the final 

 withdrawal from the enemy, who, 

 as at Suvla-Anzac, had no notion 

 that the Allies had evacuated Gal- 

 lipoli. The first intimation that 

 reached him was conveyed by the 



