The operation culminated with the spectacular failure on Mrch 18th to push a naval force through the straits during which three battleships were sunk and four more capital ships severely damaged by naval mines laid along the Asian shore.
Preperations began for an army landing to help neutralise the forts and batteries gusrding the straits. Security surrounding the preperations in Egypt was non-existent. The French commander even spoke of it in an interview with an Alexandria newspaper. By the time the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force ( MEF )
was ready to land, the Ottoman forces had prepared their defences with the Fifth Army occupying the Peninsula and the Asian shore of the straits. The German commander, General Otto Liman von Sanders made no attempt to defend the beaches strongly. He used two regiments of the Turkish 9th Division to guard likely landing sites along the Aegean shore of the Peninsula from Helles to north of Suvla. He kept his remaining forces in reserve, ready to move quickly to wherever the landing was made. Consequently, only two battalions were between Achi Baba and Cape Helles. At the foot of the peninsula where the landings were made, there were only companies or platoons guarding the beaches.
Preperations began for an army landing to help neutralise the forts and batteries gusrding the straits. Security surrounding the preperations in Egypt was non-existent. The French commander even spoke of it in an interview with an Alexandria newspaper. By the time the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force ( MEF )
was ready to land, the Ottoman forces had prepared their defences with the Fifth Army occupying the Peninsula and the Asian shore of the straits. The German commander, General Otto Liman von Sanders made no attempt to defend the beaches strongly. He used two regiments of the Turkish 9th Division to guard likely landing sites along the Aegean shore of the Peninsula from Helles to north of Suvla. He kept his remaining forces in reserve, ready to move quickly to wherever the landing was made. Consequently, only two battalions were between Achi Baba and Cape Helles. At the foot of the peninsula where the landings were made, there were only companies or platoons guarding the beaches.
The 2nd Battalion Royal Ulster Rifles And
Famous Irish Regiments
the 29th division
The British landing plan
General Sir Ian Hamilton, commander of the MEF, chose to land at Helles because it allowed the navy to provide support from three sides. The disadvantage was that Helles was a long way from the forts that needed to be captured. The Helles forts made up the outer defences of the straits and had already been neutralised by naval gunfire and raids by Royal Marines. Between Helles and the forts were two naturally strong defensive positions; the hill of Achi Baba and the Kilitbahir plateau. Also the Helles beaches were small, limiting the size of the force that could be landed.
Map of the landing of the British 29th Division at Cape Helles on April 25th 1915. The front line established by the night of April 26th is shown by the red dash-dot line. The front reached by the night of April 27th is shown by the red dotted line. This became the jumping off line for the First Battle of Krithia.
As there was not room for ANZAC to land at Helles, the Australians and New Zealanders made a seperate landing to the north, closer to the forts, but facing more difficult terrain. The intention was that if this secondary landing was unsuccessful, the Anzacs would be re-embarked and would be landed at Helles. The French were to make a diversionary landing on the Asian shore opposite Helles at Kum Kale. They would then cross the straits and hoin the British at Helles. The Helles landing would be made by the British 29th Division, a regular army division . The division was commanded by General Hunter-Weston who would be in charge of all the operations at Helles. For the landing the 29th would be augmented by two battalions from the Royal Naval Division; the Plymouth and Anson Battalions, bringing the total strength of Hunter-Weston's force to 12 battalions. These would be landing in two parts. Firstly a covering force, the 86th Brigade, plus some additional units, would land and secure the beaches. The main force would follow up and advance to the first day objectives; the village of Krithia and the hill of Achi Baba.
The landing would be made after dawn and following a preliminary naval bombardment, starting at 5am and lasting one hour. This differed from the ANZAC landing which was a surprise assault, with the covering force going ahore before dawn without any surprise bombardment. Five beaches were designated for the landing. These were, from east ( inside the straits ) to west ( on the Aegean coast ) S, V, W, X and Y Beaches. ( Z Beach was the designation for the ANZAC landing site) V and W Beaches were the main landings at the very tip of the peninsula on either side of Cape Helles itself.
v beach
V Beach was 300 yards long with Cape Helles and Fort Etrugrul ( Fort No1 ) on the left and the old Sedd el Bahr castle ( Fort No3 ) on the right, looking from the sea. Ahead was Hill 141. The beach was defended by about a company of men from the 3rd Battalion of the 26th Regiment, equipped with four machine guns.
Above, V Beach as it looks today.
