Five days after the naval assault on the Dardanelles was abandoned (26 March, 1915), Otto Liman von Sanders (holding the temporary rank of Marshal in the Ottoman army) was appointed to command the Turkish Fifth Army, entrusted with the defence of the Dardanelles. After establishing his headquarters at Gallipoli, he surveyed his defences. The existing garrisons were spread thinly around the coastline, so he decided on a change in strategy. He established a reserve with 'trip wire defence' and with improved land communications.
In total he had about 80,000 men but only one of his six divisions, the 9th Turkish Division, would be responsible for the defence of the Cape Helles peninsular where the 29th British Division would come ashore (Y, X, W, V and S beaches, north to south). The other Turkish divisions would guard other shorelines or be held in reserve. This meant that only one battalion held the five miles of coast that were to become V and W beaches. Liman von Sanders had four weeks to prepare before the landings (25 April). He established three lines of barbed wire with one rifle company (aided by out-dated Maxim guns) to defend V beach. Within the time before the landings, Liman von Sanders had improved both the fitness and the musketry skills of his Turkish soldiers.
General Sir Ian Hamilton, commander of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, had devised a very complicated plan for the landing of his men, and the choice of beaches had not taken into account the shallowness of the water as the beaches shelved. V beach was to be the landing spot for the Royal Munster Fusiliers and the Royal Hampshire Regiment (in total 2,000 men) in the SS River Clyde, and 1st Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers in towed ships' boats. The naval commander was Commander Unwin and the troops aboard the River Clyde were under the command of Lt-Colonel Carrington Smith. Lt-Colonel Charles Doughty-Wylie of the General staff was also on board the River Clyde.
In summary, about 2,500 men would be attacking a beach, 400 yards long and 30 yards wide, defended by 300 Turkish soldiers. The River Clyde had been fitted with machine guns on its bows and sally points had been cut in the ships sides for the men to disembark quickly.
By 0625 the preliminary bombardment had ceased and the first men in the tows moved closer to land. They came under rifle fire and suffered very high casualties. The River Clyde had already gone around the tows so as not to interfere with their landing, when it ground to a halt on the rocks 100 yards below the ruins of Sedd-el-Bahr castle. The sally points opened and the first men emerged to the same murderous fire. Men who jumped into the water found they were out of their depth and swiftly sank. The 'hopper' Argyll was supposed to tow lighters into place to aid the men reaching the shore but its Greek crew failed to follow orders. In an attempt to help the soldiers, Commander Unwin and a seaman, William Williams, jumped into the water and held the lighters close enough in for the soldiers to attempt the landing. The murderous rifle fire from the Turkish soldiers did not let up so the landings were postponed for a while.
At this point Lt-Colonel Carrington-Smith who had been watching the attempts from the bridge fell to a sniper's bullet. 29th Division's commander Major-General Hunter Weston ordered another attempt at landing on V beach. Another wave of boats approached, this time led by the commander of 88 brigade, Brigadier-General H Napier (who was also designated commander of the main force once it was ashore). Despite warnings called from the River Clyde, Napier led his men close into the shore where he too fell to a sniper before he could land. The few men who had made it to the beach were now sheltering behind a sand bank but most of the wounded were lying in the shallows where they had fallen.
Commander Unwin led another group to aid these wounded men. When he became exhausted, this group of rescuers were then led by Sub-lieutenant Arthur Tisdale.
The main landings did not take place until dark. All the troops had landed by 0030 and made their way ashore up to the castle. The plan now was to flush the Turkish soldiers away from the village and to take the fort (this attack was organized and led by the staff officer Lt-Colonel Charles Doughty-Wylie). As the troops, a mixed force of Dublins, Munsters and Hampshires, swept up Hill 141 overlooking the village, Doughty-Wylie was killed. He was buried where he fell.
Turkish reserves were soon sent to the line of the Achi Baba ridge and the village of Krithia from which they were never dislodged. Despite further fighting until the winter, there was little movement of the front line here.
Commander Unwin, Seaman Williams, Sub-Lieutenant Tisdall and four other seamen were awarded the Victoria Cross for their bravery during the landings. Lt-Colonel Charles Doughty-Wylie was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for leading the attack which finally captured Sedd-el-Bahr.
(Image shows V Beach at Cape Helles, Gallipoli, 6 May 1915. View is from the bow of the collier SS River Clyde. Taken by Photographer Lt Wilfred Park RNVR (Photographic Section)accompanying 3rd WR Royal Navy Thomas McNamee. Courtesy Wikimedia)
There can be no doubting the bravery of the men who tried to land on V beach on 25 April. Hamilton's plan, his choice of landings and the timings for the men to go ashore are very questionable. The Turkish soldiers who defended the beach with rifle fire (no machine guns, only their out-dated Maxims) were well led and also very brave. History does not judge these landings as well-considered strategy or tactics.
This article was inspired by a talk given by Peter Hart to the Yorkshire branch of the WFA.
Postscript: at the end of the Dardanelles campaign, total Allied deaths were 43,000 British, 15,000 French, 8,700 Australians, 2,700 New Zealanders and 1,370 Indians. Total Turkish deaths were around 20,000. New Zealanders suffered the highest percentage of Allied deaths when compared with population size, but the percentage of Turkish deaths was almost twice theirs (source Wikipedia).
