Preparing the ground

Preparing the ground - the Gallipoli campaign; The British and French naval attack on the Ottoman-Turkish forts at the Narrows began on 19 February 1915. Within a week, the outer defences of forts had fallen. Attention switched to the intermediate defences of minefields guarded by batteries of mobile field guns and howitzers.

Allied progress was slow. A sustained attempt to subdue the forts and guns guarding the intermediate defences was made on 18 March. It was a disaster. Some of the ships struck the mines, and three were lost. The Turkish minefields remained a barrier, and Turkish morale was boosted.

Military support

Even before the naval attack started, the War Council had decided to support it with military forces. General Sir Ian Hamilton was put in charge of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. By the time he arrived in the region on 17 March, there were doubts about the naval strategy. Events of 18 March confirmed these, and Hamilton soon shifted the emphasis to a military operation.

A landing was now proposed, and it was expected that the Turkish defenders would oppose it. The aim would be to capture the Kilid Bahr plateau. From here the Turkish positions that dominated the sea approaches on both sides of the strait could be destroyed. Once that was done, the naval operation could proceed.

Allied force gathers in Egypt

Hamilton's forces gathered in Egypt. There were about 75,000 men in the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. They came from France, the United Kingdom and other parts of the British Empire.

The Anzacs were among these – the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General William Birdwood. It comprised the 1st Australian Division (Major General W.T. Bridges) and the composite New Zealand and Australian Division commanded by Major General Sir Alexander Godley, which included the New Zealand Infantry Brigade (Brigadier General F.E. Johnston). New Zealanders and Australians had been training in Egypt since December, in preparation for transfer to the Western Front. The decision to make a land attack on the Turkish defences changed all that.