1915 – Gallipoli

March 1915. Plans were quickly drawn up for a Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (MEF) to be assembled on the Aegean Island of Lemnos. This force consisted of Australian, British, French and New Zealand soldiers, under the command of General Sir Ian Hamilton.
The Turks had come to the realization that they were soon to come under attack and set up an army to defend itself. A force of some 84000 soldiers was assembled along the cliffs of Gallipoli. The MEF was 75,000 men. The plan was to land the troops on beaches, some backed by cliffs. Battleships and cruisers were to bring troops from Lemnos to a point of Gallipoli were they would be transferred to barges and be towed to their respective landing sites between Suvla Bay and Cape Helles. The transfer of troops and stores was to be done by boats towing three barges each. The Australians and New Zealanders were to take the Northern Sector, a beach adjoining a headland called Gabba Tepe the British at Cape Helles overlooking the Dardanelles and the French, from North Africa, would land at Kum Kale on the Southern Side of the Dardanelles to draw Turks away from the Northern landings. As a Force the Turks were considered inferior in every way, as soldiers, their discipline, arms and equipment.
When the transports arrived off the coast in the early hours of 25 April 1915 it was still dark. As the Australians and New Zealanders were taken ashore, the lead tow veered off course and was followed by all the other tows.

Turkish Prisoners

By the time they reached land, in a small cove soon to be known as ANZAC Cove, they were in the wrong place hemmed in by scrub covered escarpments. The British had a bit of luck on their Northern and Southern Sectors, but the middle was a death trap. Due to being slowed by the current the British force landed in full daylight and was caught in the water by withering gunfire. The French at Kum Kale came ashore successfully. However on 26 April the French were redeployed to Cape Helles with the British.

On the Gallipoli beaches the Australians and British dug in as did the Turks atop the ridges. Both sides expected further attacks. The conditions at Gallipoli rivalled anything on the Western front. The appalling heat, no shade and rock hard ground. The troops were beset by disease, inaction and hopeless assaults. After three months the British sent a further 5 Divisions in an attempt to break the deadlock, but by then the Turks had 15 Divisions to defend the Cliffs of Gallipoli.
Sir Ian Hamilton decided on a double attack to break the deadlock. One from Anzac Cove, the other from a new landing at Suvla Bay immediately to the North. Both attacks failed.
Autumn rains set in, winter approached and the frosts claimed its first victims. The Allies decided to withdraw and an evacuation was ordered. The trenches were booby trapped and rifles were modified to make them fire automatically so that the trenches appeared to be fully manned. On the nights of 18 and 19 December the last 20,000 men slipped away unnoticed from Suvla Bay and Anzac Cove. By 9 January 1916 Cape Helles was also cleared.
This evacuation was the only successful operation for the allies in an ill planned and dismal campaign. In nine months 46,000 allied soldiers had been killed or died of illness and disease. For what??