The Turkish Defence at Anzac

I have come across this fantastic book by Mr Mesut Uyar called "The Ottoman Defence Against The Anzac Landing" published 2015.

This is the book I was looking for while I was researching  The Anzac Legend. It's a pity it was published after my book. It gives great insight into the Ottoman Army and it's pre-Great War development.
Of most interest to me was the revelations of Kemal's movements during the day of 25 April 1915, and also the involvement of the 72nd and 77th Regiments. Previous books I've read did not clearly and sensibly outline these important parts of the battle.
I recommend this book to anyone who wants the latest good oil on the Ottoman Army side of the battle. Apart from all the background info, unfortunately it only covers the day of the Landing in detail.

Book feedback

I recently received an email from Baron Tonis Breidel Hadjidemetriou, M.A., Ph.D. ( a Cypriot historian living in Greece) who was kind enough to write to me telling me of his thoughts on The Anzac Legend. Follow the link to read what he has to say : 
 http://wotsleftbooks.weebly.com/testimonials.html

The 24th of April: the Landing Commences

The ANZAC Plan

A century ago the ANZACs were preparing to land on the Gallipoli Peninsula, north of Gaba Tepe, while the British and French were planning to land at the mouth of the Dardenelles at Cape Helles and Kum Kale.

The British 29th Division was to land at the beaches code named S, V, W, X and Y.

They were planning to land on the 23rd of April 1915, as this would give the Covering Force more time to land safely in the darkness between moon set and dawn. The threat of enfilading fire on the landing beach from Gaba Tepe concerned General Birdwood, so this would be mitigated by landing in darkness.
Then on the 20th of April, a strong storm blew in and kicked up the water in Mudros Harbour. It became too dangerous for the the required transfers between the troopships, so the landing was put off.
Now they waited for the wind to die down. With each succeeding day the moon set later and reduced the time of darkness for the landing of the Covering Force. If they waited too long the moon would set after dawn and there would be no chance of surprising the waiting Turks. Birdwood's plan would be ruined. He waited anxiously.

Preparations for the Anzac Landing

100 years ago - the Allied forces (British and French) gathered in Mudros harbour, Lemnos Island and prepared for the upcoming invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula.

This drawing shows the beach  with low ridges behind, where the Anzac Covering Force was supposed to land. It also shows Gaba Tepe on the right like a fort covered with steep grassy slopes, topped by trenches and barbed wire. The position of Gaba Tepe made the planners anxious because of its potential to expose the landing force to Ottoman enfilade fire.

4th April 1915

In Egypt one hundred years ago, on the 4^th of April 1915, the 1^st Australian Division and the units of New Zealand Expeditionary Force who combined to make the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) were at this commencing to sail northwards across the Mediterranean Sea from Alexandria. Their destination was Lemnos Island. (Much of this is covered on page 15 of my book.)

NZ's and Australian's confront the Redcaps at "The Battle of the Wozza"

The long awaited orders to move to the Front had finally arrived on the 1^st of April. After the “Battle of the Wozzer” described in an earlier post (here) the soldiers got on with the task of dismantling their tents and organising their gear for transport to Alexandria. Piles of kit bags, etc grew beside the road at Mena and Zeitoun. The once busy areas occupied by these units were now deserted. Arab shopkeepers who had set up their shops outside the camps (an occurrence still happening today outside our camps overseas) looked on bewildered, as the respective areas were tidied, emu bobbed and the rubbish burnt in big pits.  The members of the Australian Light Horse and NZ Mounted Rifles asked enthusiastically when they would be going as well. But all they got was a shake of the head; for, at this moment, only the infantry brigades were moving. Men who had been using excuses to exempt themselves from certain duties (malingering) were seen to be lining up in front of their unit RAP’s in the hope of being found fit to go with their units. Nobody wanted to miss out on the adventure, and get away from Egypt.

Troops embarking at Alexandria.

Throughout the night and morning of the 3^rd of April as the time for the first few units to move arrived, the men formed up and marched off to the Cairo train station. It took four days to move the entire 1^st Division from Mena Camp, leaving only the 3^rd Light Horse Brigade, the 4^th Light Horse Regiment, and a few other small units.

The news was splashed across the Cairo newspapers. Security was out the door. The whole world, including the enemy, soon new that ANZAC was moving. The men crammed onto troop trains at Cairo and were soon enroute to Alexandria. The British and French navies so dominated the Mediterranean that the ships sailed without an escort.

This proved to be sufficient, for there were not many instances where the Allied troop movements were threatened. On one occasion however on the 17 April, as the SS Manitou, carrying British 29^th Division artillery units, was a day out from Lemnos, a Turkish torpedo boat, the Timur Hissar, slipped through the “net” and drew alongside. It was a time when chivalry still existed; a Turkish voice shouted “I’ll give you ten minutes to leave the ship, then I will sink you.” With that the troops aboard began to hastily man the life boats.

One boat with sixty men aboard crashed heavily into the sea smashing itself to pieces and 53 men drowned. As it turned out the Turkish torpedo boat fired three torpedoes and they all missed, then some British destroyers arrived and chased it off.

Thus it was that ANZAC was taking the last steps towards its ultimate fate. 

Battle for the Dardanelles 18 Mar 1915

100 years ago : following on from the last post

Photo taken from Fort No 1 on the tip of Cape Helles; showing the mouth of the Dardenelles.

This a model of Killid Bahr Fort (a typical example of the forts guarding the Narrows). You can see
how strongly built they are by comparing the thickness of the walls with the width of the road. 

 

Just before the battle began Vice Admiral Carden became ill, so Vice Admiral J. de Robeck took command.

The forecast for 18 March was for fine weather, so orders were given for the armada of French and British battleships to form and commence the attack at 11 o’clock that morning.

During the earlier operations at the beginning of March, the Turks had observed that the Allied ships had a tendency to sail towards the Narrows and then turn to starboard into Erin Keui Bay, on completion of their runs.

The Turks decided to lay some mines there on the chance the Allies may continue this tactic in future assaults. It proved to be a wise move.

From Kilid Bahr Fort looking out from a gun position. There is only one ship in view here, imagine how it would have looked  with 16 huge battleships blazing away with their guns.

What a sight it must have been to see the Dardanelles crammed full of huge battleships. It is only a narrow area and once the battle commenced it would have been an awe inspiring and frightening sight.

The Allies attacked in three lines. The first and third lines each consisted of four British Royal Navy ships, and the second line consisted of four French Naval ships. These three lines were supported by another two British battleships on each flank.

I’ll let my pictures tell the rest of the story….