The action at Sheikh Sa'id, November 1914

Before WWI the idea of amphibious landings had been exercised by the British Army, with manoeuvres in 1904 and in 1913, as well as a published manual of Combined Naval and Military operations. However, whilst the theory existed, an opposed landing had not been undertaken for a very long time. In mid-October 1914 the General Staff in India started to plan for the landing of a force of Indian troops on a Turkish held area not far from Aden on the Red Sea coast. Orders were dispatched to one of the Brigades due to sail to Egypt from India, detailing the proposed attack, but of course Britain did not declare war on Turkey until 5th November.

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