Describe The Action
Allied forces landed on Gallipoli on the morning of April 25th but a combination of unexpectedly hostile terrain and fierce Turkish defense soon stopped any potential advance and the campaign degenerated into the familiar deadlock of trench warfare. In the Gulf of Saros to the north of Gallipoli, the Royal Naval Division carried out an unsuccessful diversionary attack aimed at convincing the Turks that the main attack was to be there. (Gallipoli.gov) Lieutenant General von Sanders personally inspected the transports making this demonstration and decided, owing to the fact that they rode very high in the water, that they contained no troops and were simply engaged in a feint. However, the Turkish troops in the vicinity of …show more content…
Turkish counter-attacks failed to drive the Anzacs into the sea in the ensuing days. The small area of the Gallipoli peninsula that they now held became known as Anzac Cove. The Allied attack lost momentum and resulted in a stalemate that lasted months. As the deadlock continued, disease caused by extreme heat and unsanitary conditions would prove almost as deadly as the Turkish fire. On October 12th, General Hamilton wrote: “It would not be wise to reckon on getting out of Gallipoli with less loss than that of half the total force ... we might be lucky and lose considerably less than I have estimated.” The Dardanelles Committee dismissed General Hamilton as commander of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and on November 22nd Lord Kitchener advised that Gallipoli should be evacuated. The evacuation required taking off more than 93,000 troops, and 200 guns as well as vast quantities of stores and ammunition. On the night of December 19th, the last ANZAC and British troops were evacuated from Gallipoli ending a disastrous campaign that resulted in a greatly discredited Allied military command, including Churchill, who resigned as First Lord of the Admiralty and accepted a commission to command an infantry battalion in France.
Allied forces landed on Gallipoli on the morning of April 25th but a combination of unexpectedly hostile terrain and fierce Turkish defense soon stopped any potential advance and the campaign degenerated into the familiar deadlock of trench warfare. In the Gulf of Saros to the north of Gallipoli, the Royal Naval Division carried out an unsuccessful diversionary attack aimed at convincing the Turks that the main attack was to be there. (Gallipoli.gov) Lieutenant General von Sanders personally inspected the transports making this demonstration and decided, owing to the fact that they rode very high in the water, that they contained no troops and were simply engaged in a feint. However, the Turkish troops in the vicinity of …show more content…
Turkish counter-attacks failed to drive the Anzacs into the sea in the ensuing days. The small area of the Gallipoli peninsula that they now held became known as Anzac Cove. The Allied attack lost momentum and resulted in a stalemate that lasted months. As the deadlock continued, disease caused by extreme heat and unsanitary conditions would prove almost as deadly as the Turkish fire. On October 12th, General Hamilton wrote: “It would not be wise to reckon on getting out of Gallipoli with less loss than that of half the total force ... we might be lucky and lose considerably less than I have estimated.” The Dardanelles Committee dismissed General Hamilton as commander of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and on November 22nd Lord Kitchener advised that Gallipoli should be evacuated. The evacuation required taking off more than 93,000 troops, and 200 guns as well as vast quantities of stores and ammunition. On the night of December 19th, the last ANZAC and British troops were evacuated from Gallipoli ending a disastrous campaign that resulted in a greatly discredited Allied military command, including Churchill, who resigned as First Lord of the Admiralty and accepted a commission to command an infantry battalion in France.