20 May 1915

ANZAC - News of the tremendous success at ANZAC on the night of 19 May gave a great boost to Hamilton when he heard on 20 May. He wrote: "Tidings of great joy from Anzac. The whole of the enemy's freshly-arrived contingent have made a grand assault and have been shattered in the attempt. Samson dropped bombs on them as they were standing on the shore after their disembarkation".

"Next, they were moved up into the fight where a tremendous fire action was in progress. Last, they stormed forward in the densest masses yet seen on the Peninsula. Then, they were mown down and driven back headlong. So they have had a dreadnought reception. This has not been a local trench attack but a real battle and a fiery one. I have lost no time in cabling the glorious news to Kitchener. The cloud of these coming enemy reinforcements has cast its shadow over us for awhile and now the sun shines again. Aubrey Herbert saw me before dinner. He brings a message from Birdie to say that there has been some sort of parley with the enemy who wish to fix up an armistice for the burial of their dead. Herbert is keen on meeting the Turks half way and I am quite with him, provided Birdie clearly understands that no Corps Commander can fix up an armistice off his own bat, and provided it is clear we do not ask for the armistice but grant it to them - the suppliants. Herbert brings amazing fine detail about the night and day battle on the high ridges. Birdie has fairly taken the fighting edge off Liman von Sanders' two new Divisions: he has knocked them to bits. A few more shells and they would have been swept off the face of the earth. As it is we have slaughtered a multitude. Since the 18th we are down to two rounds per gun per diem, but the Turks who have been short of stuff since the 8th instant are now once more well found. Admiral Thursby tells me he himself counted 240 shells falling on one of Birdwood's trenches in the space of ten minutes. I asked him if that amounted to one shell per yard and he said the whole length of the trench was less than 100 yards. On the 18th fifty heavy shells, including 12-inch and 14-inch, dropped out of the blue vault of heaven on to the Anzacs". (General Sir Ian Hamilton, Commander In Chief, Headquarters, MEF)

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SOURCE: I. Hamilton, Gallipoli Diary, (London, Edward Arnold Ltd, 1920), pp.238-239

 

21 May 1915

ANZAC - The Australian war correspondent Charles Bean was beginning to become aware of some of the logistical problems that faced the campaign. The United Kingdom was some 2,000 miles away and the nearest 'real' base was that of Alexandria back in Egypt. This undoubtedly possessed everything required from a port, equipped as it was with spacious quays, cranes, lighters, tugboats, plentiful labour and of course capacious storage areas. Yet it was nearly 700 miles from Alexandria to Gallipoli.



The advanced base of Mudros on the island of Lemnos some 60 miles from Helles was different and although it was indeed a good natural anchorage that was all it offered. A little further forward at Imbros was the Advanced Supply Depot, but even then there were still 15 miles of open sea between there and the Peninsula. All the countless thousands of tons of stores had to be transhipped from Mudros or Lemnos by much smaller 500-ton steamers by night to the beached. It was only with great difficulty and a great deal of manpower that the foodstuff, munitions and all the plethora of daily stores were unceremoniously deposited on these open beaches. Makeshift piers were constructed but these were ephemeral in the face of the raw power of the sea. There was certainly no security, no safe harbour here in the event of a storm, while manmade destruction was always threatening from the Turkish shells that crashed down in a random fashion.

"Today was fine, but for some reason there was a slight swell coming in from the north-west on to our beach. Il was not much bit it made the old lighters and pontoons rock; and it gave one an idea of what extraordinary luck we have had in the matter of weather. We have not had one rough day - not one day even mildly disturbed. Except for one occasion, when there was a wind from off the shore - which of course did not affect us - we have had glassily smooth seas from the day we landed. It only makes one wonder again what I have asked myself again and again since we landed: "What arrangements have been made for water and supplies in case real rough weather sets in?" We have two old water pontoons on the beach - or possibly one - which are filled by water from Alexandria or Malta. But a single storm would finish them - there is no reserve at all on the beach - no provision for condensing that I know of. A certain number of wells have been sunk at the mouths of gullies and the trenches are partially supplied from these - as far as possible. The few people I have asked about it say : "Oh we've only got this ships water coming every now and then from Alexandria - it's very limited." But in goodness name why is it limited? They have any quantity of water at the point - you can't sink a dugout 18 inches in some parts without getting it flooded! Surely it can't be beyond the resources of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force to safeguard - and safeguard over and over again - our water supply!!"

The campaign was a logistical nightmare that would make any responsible staff officer tear his hair out. As a method of waging warfare it was insanity; but they had left themselves no alternative.

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SOURCE: C. E. W. Bean, edited b K. Fewster, Bean's Gallipoli: The diaries of Australia's War Correspondent, (Cows Nes: Allen & Unwin, 2007), p. 137

 

22 May 1915

HELLES - Meanwhile at Helles life was settling down as the British and French pondered their next move. Lieutenant Patrick Duff of the Royal Artillery wrote home recounting his day - 22nd May 1915: "Weather here is simply perfect: which makes all the difference in the world. One can't help being more or less contented in such sunshine - don't know what it will be like in winter and we hall be here then I expect."



"I was in the observing station yesterday evening with Guy Bailey. We peered through our glasses for ages and could see nothing, until at last little puffs of smoke came out of one of the Turkish trenches signifying that the Ottoman was making his tea. This was more than we could stand, so we telephoned down to the Battery, "Action!" and gave various angles and elevations, with the result that Turkish trench was heavily shelled, causing, as we hoped, "AAD!" which means "Alarm and Despondency!" It is rumoured that the above condition prevails in the English press regarding this expedition: not surprised. I went and bathed today on a beach facing Imbros and Samothrace, in beautiful clear water. On the cliff-edges were little wooden crosses signifying where men of the landing parties had fallen at the first assault. It seems a funny thing to be bathing and enjoying oneself in the midst of all this, but one just takes things as they come and when one can enjoy oneself, one does! I had a lot of luck this morning, as there were lots of shells about and the people in front of me, some Indian crowd, lost some horses - and also the people behind: nothing of mine was touched. We have any amount to eat here, which is a great comfort: it consists of bully beef, biscuit and jam. They say we are going to have bread shortly but if there is not butter, I would rather eat biscuit. Weather here is simply perfect: which makes all the difference in the world. One can't help being more or less contented in such sunshine - don't know what it will be like in winter and we hall be here then I expect." (Lieutenant Patrick Duff, 460th Battery, 147th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery)

It is evident that the men were beginning to realise that this would be a long job.

SOURCE: IWM DOCS

23 May 1915

ANZAC -"HMS Albion, an old battleship, had run in close to do a bit of shelling and got stuck on a sand bank. The Turks shot off everything they had at her and she fired broadsides in reply. With some difficulty HMS Canopus, another old battleship, got a 1ine to her and towed her off, to the accompaniment of loud, cheers from the troops. 1t was a good noisy show while it lasted and as one cynic remarked, “In all probability no-one on either side was hurt."

Captain Hugh England, HMS Chelmer
Midshipman R. Travers Young, HMS Canopus
Corporal Thomas Louch, 11th Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 1st Australian Division, AIF

Captain Hugh England of HMS Chlemer was watching as the predreadnought HMS Albion stood in too close to Gaba Tepe. This led to some considerable excitement.

"The Albion found herself hard and fast aground in the early morning close to Gaba Tepe. Fortunately it was some time before the Turks realised her predicament. After I had unsuccessfully tried to tow her off with Chelmer, she laid out anchors from astern and was busy heaving on these, when Roger Keyes, Chief of Staff to Admiral de Robeck, arrived on the scene. By this time the Turks had brought every gun they could to bear on her and she was covered with spray from bursting shells. He hailed me to send a dinghy and I realised before he stepped onboard Chelmer that he intended going onboard Albion. Shaping course to go alongside the starboard quarter of Albion was a thrilling moment, but when we had reached the fringe of rough water caused by bursting shells, we suddenly saw the wire hawsers attached to the anchors ease up and we knew Albion was afloat. It was an anti-climax relieved by Roger Keyes picking up a megaphone and going to the side of the bridge nearest Gaba Tepe saying in a clear voice, "Sucks you bloody Turks!"

Another version of the same event came from Midshipman R. Travers Young who was aboard another predreadnought HMS Canopus

"The Albion ran ashore close to the land just south of Anzac beach. We manoeuvred ahead of her and got a wire hawser across to her fo'csle and went ahead to tow her off, but she wouldn't move, so then we went further ahead of her, dropped an anchor and hove in on our cable as well as going ahead on the engines. By this time the Turk had woken up to the fact that he had a couple of sitting birds to shoot at and things became quite unpleasant but the silly asses concentrated their fire on the Albion who could keep most of her men under cover, instead of on us who had to have a number of men in the open, working cables and so forth. About 9 o'clock she came off and we towed her clear, but as a parting gift the enemy sent over a Taube aeroplane to bomb us but he didn't even get a near-miss. We, who had just had a 12-pounder anti-aircraft gun mounted aft, opened fire full of enthusiasm; but with no form of control available we might just as well have chucked buns at him."

Corporal Thomas Louch watched form the hills above Anzac beach.

"HMS Albion, an old battleship, had run in close to do a bit of shelling and got stuck on a sand bank. The Turks shot off everything they had at her and she fired broadsides in reply. With some difficulty HMS Canopus, another old battleship, got a 1ine to her and towed her off, to the accompaniment of loud, cheers from the troops. 1t was a good noisy show while it lasted and as one cynic remarked, "In all probability no-one on either side was hurt."

 

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SOURCES:
IWM DOCS: H. T. England, Typescript account, pp.3-4
IWM DOCS: R. Travers Young, Typescript account, p.64
IWM DOCS: T. S. Louch, Typescript account, p.18

 

24 May 1915

ANZAC TRUCE - After informal contacts between various Australian and Turkish units on 20th May, formal negotiations on the following day led to an agreement between Hamilton and Liman von Sanders that an armistice would take place on 24th May between 07.30 and 16.30 to allow the removal and burial of the dead which lay between the two lines.



At 07.30 the fifty strong delimiting parties of each side crossed the wire and moved into No Man's Land to meet their opposite numbers and begin to spread out across the whole length of the line with a man from both sides about every 100 yards.Every man was provided with two packets of cigarettes, one to smoke and one for his immediate opposite number amidst the Turks on the same grim task. Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Fenwick a senior New Zealand medical officer was appointed as delimiting officer during the armistice. For him it was an awful scene.

"The Turkish dead lay so thick that it was almost impossible to pass without treading on their bodies. The stench was awful. The Turkish doctor gave me some pieces of wool on which he poured some scent and asked me to put them into my nostrils. I was glad to do so. The awful destructive power of high explosives was very evident. Huge holes, surrounded with circles of corpses blown to pieces, were scattered about the area over which we walked. Everywhere lay the dead - swollen, black and hideous - and over all a nauseating stench that made one feel desperately sick. As we moved along the plateau the trenches became closer and closer together. In one place I calculated the distance between the Turks and ours was only 17 feet. I made this calculation from the fact that four Turks lay head to heel; the front Turk had his hand actually on the side of our trench; the back one had his feet touching his own trench. He had been killed as he leapt over the trench wall." (Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Fenwick, Headquarters, NZ&A Division, NZEF)

Private Harry Barnes of 15th Battalion spoke of his growing respect for the Turks as worthy enemies.

"The Turks had a very big man, he must have been about seven feet tall and our own man was nearly as big. I suppose it was prestige that made them chose big men. They both had white flags and they stood in the middle. I wasn't one of those burying the dead, but I sat on the parapet and after a while walked over and offered bully beef to one Turk. He smiled and seemed very pleased and passed me a whole string of dates. 'Jacko', as we called the Turkish soldier, was very highly regarded by me and all the men on our side. I never heard him decried, he was always a clean fighter and one of the most courageous men in the world. When they came there was no beating about the bush, they faced up to the heaviest rifle fire that you could put up and nothing would stop them, they were almost fanatical. When we met them at the armistice we came to the conclusion that he was a very good bloke indeed. We had a lot of time for him." (Private Henry Barnes, 15th Battalion, 4th Brigade, 1st Australian Division, AIF)

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SOURCES:
P. C. Fenwick, Reminiscences of Anzac (Reveille, 31/3/1932), p.39
H. B. Barnes, IWM Sound Archive, AC 4008

 

25 May 1915

ANZAC - By mid-May the German submarines which had been despatched to the eastern Mediterranean were to arriving in the Eastern Mediterranean. Of these the most effective would be the U21, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Otto Hershing, which had set off from the German naval port of Wilhelmshaven on 25 April. En route she was spotted many times and in anticipation of her arrival off the Gallipoli beaches anti-submarine precautions were adopted.



On 17 May the number of battleships lying off Helles was reduced from seven to four and at Anzac the number was halved to only two. In the remaining ships a diligent anti-submarine watch was kept, anti torpedo nets were hung out and escorting destroyers tried to keep the U Boats away from their prey. The U21 reached Gallipoli on 25 May and went straight into action. At first the anti-submarine defences seemed to work. Destroyers spotted her periscope and prevented an attack on the HMS Swiftsure off Helles, whiled a torpedo fired at HMS Vengeance was spotted and successful avoiding action taken. Moving north a new target in the form of the HMS Triumph was stalked off Anzac. At 12.25 U21 struck and although the torpedo was spotted it was too late. Ordonary Seaman W. G. Northcott recalled events in his interview for the BBC Great War series recorded back in 1963.

"I was range finder up in the aloft position. One day midday I came down to get my ration of rum. I'd just drunk it when I heard a lot of commotion, guns firing, so I immediately returned to my position. On my way up a torpedo struck us. Then when I did get up I saw one of our boys aiming his rifle at a torpedo coming through the water. Unfortunately he missed but he stuck to his post firing at this torpedo trying to divert it. No luck so it came through and hit us. We didn't know that the Germans had invented a net cutter on the front of the torpedo. We were protected by huge steel nets pushed out on booms to try and stop the torpedos. But they just passed straight through and hit us. I could feel the ship listing over. Remembering I had a brand new pair of boots on which I'd bought the previous day I took them off and hung them on the rigging thinking to myself that if nothing happened they'd still be there and I came down the rigging. By this time the ship was heeled pretty bad and the majority of the ratings were catching hold of the nets, the leeside, the side in the water. I didn't like the idea, I don't know why, and I jumped off and got in the water, Shortly after the destroyer Chelmer came up and started picking us out. Then she put her bows on the stern of the ship which by now had heeled almost on one side. A lot of the men got on board of her that way." (Ordinary Seaman W. G. Northcott, HMS Triumph)

As a result of England's skilful handling of HMS Chelmer only 75 men from the Triumph were lost. The arrival of the German submarines changed the whole situation for the British supporting fleet. The loss of the Triumph caused the emergency withdrawal of all the remaining battleships to the protected anchorage of Imbros.

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SOURCE: W G Northcott IWM SR 4187

 

26 May 1915

ANZAC - The Australian war correspondent Charles Bean provides a succinct review of the difficulties facing the Gallipoli operations. He clearly has a more realistic grasp than General Sir Ian Hamilton of the dreadful situation they were in. "We are a 'containing force’ - we are holding up one force of Turks whilst another force of ours somewhere else does something: but what is there any prospect of its doing? We might with a shove have got our main ridge, but no force under 250,000 will get Achi Baba."

"May 26 Exceedingly quiet night and day on the beach - as it has been ever since May I9th. What are we doing all this while? I wish I knew. The Turks are now building us in all round, getting their lines stronger and stronger every day; I doubt if we could move out through the front, even if reinforced, today; they have guns in their firing line at Johnston's jolly, and our howitzers say they can't get at them, and our 18-pounders have no common shell, They are making grid-iron trenches in places where their trenches were weak - and our job is sitting and looking on. Our artillery ammunition is pretty strictly cut down (due to supply shortages); we get about one half hour of aeroplane in three days. The Navy is now out of it - we can scarcely expect them to come out and be torpedoed day by day, although there are warships visible down south - possibly some of them are sham warships. Sixteen of our guns are off helping in the push down south. We are a 'containing force' - we are holding up one force of Turks whilst another force of ours somewhere else does something: but what is there any prospect of its doing? We might with a shove have got our main ridge, but no force under 250,000 will get Achi Baba. As far as I can see the force down there is doing exactly what we are - namely, allowing an army of Turks to make itself each day tremendously stronger in a position already naturally strong."

The Gallipoli campaign was doomed..

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SOURCE: C. E. W. Bean, edited b K. Fewster, Bean's Gallipoli: The diaries of Australia's War Correspondent, (Cows Nest: Allen & Unwin, 2007), p. 137

 

Photograph: Charles Bean at Gallipoli (Courtesy AWM)