More than just Gallipoli: Naval operations in the Eastern Mediterranean 1914-16

This talk by Stuart Hadaway covers three different naval operations (including landing parties) in the Eastern Mediterranean in 1914-16. These operations are linked by time and place, but also with the involvement of HMS Doris. The first part of the presentation looks at HMS Doris' operations off the Palestine and Syrian coasts in November-December 1914. This included engaging Ottoman infrastructure and forces with gunfire, but also landing bluejackets and Royal Marines to blow up railways, cut telegraph lines, and such like. These are more the sort of tales you'd expect in C.S. Forrester or Patrick O'Brien books than the First World War.

The second part looks at the Port Said Seaplane Squadron, which operated off the same coasts off the Sinai, and up the Red Sea. They were an Franco-British-Egyptian unit who did some incredible work with extremely outdated aircraft.

The last part of the presentation moves to the Aegean and the eastern Anatolian Coast. During the summer of 1916, the Royal Navy (including again HMS Doris) mounted a campaign of 'cattle raids' against the Turkish coast. Monitors, destroyers and small boats were used to land forces of Greek irregulars (essentially bandits) to attack and destroy Ottoman facilities (defences, saw mills, farms, etc) and bring off livestock - mostly sheep, some cows, oxen, even camels.