the 29th division
Shortly after midnight, May 19th, D Company was ordered to stand to. D Compnay and 3rd Battalion was positioned on the front right part of the 1st Division trench line. Out in front of the trench was a plain, now caled Table Top and beyond that further along toward the Turkish lines was the famous Lone Pine Ridge. Facing the 3rd Battalion was the 16th and 2nd Turkish Division. The Turkish troops were considered some of the very best the Turkish leaders had to offer. A Major mistake though was that the attack went in at night, the troops had yet to see the ground they were to cover and many became confused and disoriented in the heat of the battle. One Australian observed " The whole Turkish Division turned at an angle almost 45 degrees to us. For no reason they exposed themselves to a murderous fire from three sides, machine gun, rifle, cannon anything we could throw at them. "
They kept on coming, wave after courageous, bitter wave. The night and early dawn attack of Mat 19th resulted in useless Turkish bayonet charges. They were repulsed time after time with deadly accurate fire from the Anzac troops. D Company sector was infiltrated and at one point savage hand to hand fighting took place, where men strangled, clubbed and bayonetted each other. Private Bourke was in the middle of the attack, firing as fast as he could load. Living terror and horror of fighting off wave after wave of Turks. The battle went through the night. As morning slowly crept up the cliffs and onto the plain over which the Turks had been charging the night before the attacks were halted. No Mans Land ws covered with dead Turks. The Turks seemed to be sleeping on the battlefielf. 3,000 lay dead in No Mans Land. Private Bourke witnessed the intense suffering of thousands upon thousands of soldiers dying slowly under the cloudless sky. As the days went by, the bodies would become a major problem. The corpses began to rot under the sun, and the stench was so bad that even pilots flying overhead complained about the smell. An armistice was arranged so that the bodies could be taken care of. Rotting corpses, flies, and illness were all part of the Gallipoli Campaign and the killing continued and the 'Donkey' Generals continued to ' bungle ' as the below film will show.
They kept on coming, wave after courageous, bitter wave. The night and early dawn attack of Mat 19th resulted in useless Turkish bayonet charges. They were repulsed time after time with deadly accurate fire from the Anzac troops. D Company sector was infiltrated and at one point savage hand to hand fighting took place, where men strangled, clubbed and bayonetted each other. Private Bourke was in the middle of the attack, firing as fast as he could load. Living terror and horror of fighting off wave after wave of Turks. The battle went through the night. As morning slowly crept up the cliffs and onto the plain over which the Turks had been charging the night before the attacks were halted. No Mans Land ws covered with dead Turks. The Turks seemed to be sleeping on the battlefielf. 3,000 lay dead in No Mans Land. Private Bourke witnessed the intense suffering of thousands upon thousands of soldiers dying slowly under the cloudless sky. As the days went by, the bodies would become a major problem. The corpses began to rot under the sun, and the stench was so bad that even pilots flying overhead complained about the smell. An armistice was arranged so that the bodies could be taken care of. Rotting corpses, flies, and illness were all part of the Gallipoli Campaign and the killing continued and the 'Donkey' Generals continued to ' bungle ' as the below film will show.
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The Third Battle of Krithia
The Third Battle of Krithia, was the final in a series of Allied attacks against the Turkish defences aimed at capturing the original objectives of April 25th, 1915. The previous failures in the first and second battles resulted in a less ambitious plan being developed for the attack but the outcome was another costly failure for the Allies. The Allied aim was, as always to facilitate the capture of Achi Baba which commanded most of the peninsula.
Prelude
By late May the British contingent on the Cape Helles front at Gallipoli had been expanded to three divisions and a brigade: the 29th Division ( which had made the original landing ) the Royal Naval Division ( now reinforced to 12 battalions ) 42nd ( East Lancashire ) Division and the 29th Indian Brigade. On May the 24th, the commader of the 29th Division, Hunter-Weston, was promoted to Lieutenant General and given command of the British VIII Corps containing all British units at Helles. Major General Beauvoir De Lisle took over command of the 29th Division.
The early battles of Helles had been fought over thinly fortified ground but by late May two lines of trenches had begun to demarcate the battlefield. The British in readiness for a new offensive, had been advancing their front line by stealth during the night, eventually gaining half a mile in ground while incurring only slight casualties and placing themselves within striking distance of the Turkish front line.
The French contingent at Helles occupied the right ( eastern side ) of the line along the Dardanelles shore and astride the Kereves Spur. They were confronted by some of the strongest Turkish defences, dominated by four redoubts. On May 31st they managed to capture one of the redoubts but repeated attemps to take Haricot Redoubt failed making any advance on that front without overwhelming artillery support a hazardous proposition.
The artillery situation at Helles, as at Anzac Cove, remained perilous. The British had only 78 guns and howitzers and were still short of ammunition. When the battleship HMS Triumph was sunk on May 25th and the HMS Majestic sunk on May 27th, both torpedoed, the situation worsened as the naval gunfire support was reduced. Those ships that remained in support could only fire while steaming at 12 knots, which did nothing to aid their accuracy.
The early battles of Helles had been fought over thinly fortified ground but by late May two lines of trenches had begun to demarcate the battlefield. The British in readiness for a new offensive, had been advancing their front line by stealth during the night, eventually gaining half a mile in ground while incurring only slight casualties and placing themselves within striking distance of the Turkish front line.
The French contingent at Helles occupied the right ( eastern side ) of the line along the Dardanelles shore and astride the Kereves Spur. They were confronted by some of the strongest Turkish defences, dominated by four redoubts. On May 31st they managed to capture one of the redoubts but repeated attemps to take Haricot Redoubt failed making any advance on that front without overwhelming artillery support a hazardous proposition.
The artillery situation at Helles, as at Anzac Cove, remained perilous. The British had only 78 guns and howitzers and were still short of ammunition. When the battleship HMS Triumph was sunk on May 25th and the HMS Majestic sunk on May 27th, both torpedoed, the situation worsened as the naval gunfire support was reduced. Those ships that remained in support could only fire while steaming at 12 knots, which did nothing to aid their accuracy.
The Plan
Hunter-Weston's previous battle plans lacked subtlety or sense and he had been unerring in his failure. Yet he had still been promoted. It was a trait that would be inherited by the ' Donkey ' General Staff on the Somme and other battles. For the latest attempt on Krithia some elements of refinement had begun to appear in the plans. Foe one, General Sir Ian Hamilton, the Commander of the MEF, insisted that the objectives should be limited to an advance of 800 yards. This was to be made in two steps; the first being to capture the Turkish trenches and the second to advance a further 500 yards and establish a new trench line.
The preliminary bombardment would also have two phases. The first bombardment would conclude at 11.20am at which point the British troops would feint an advance, hoping to draw the Turks to the firing line so that they would be caught in a second bombardment starting at 11.30am. The other innovation of the third battle was the use of 8 armoured cars of the Royal Naval Air Service which were to advance along the main Krithia road in support of the Royal Naval Division's advance. The disposition of the Allied troops from left to right ( west to east ) was as follows:
On the left of the line ( western side ) by the Aegean shore, the 29th Indian Brigade and 1st Battalion the Lancashire Fusiliers ( from the 29th Division ) would attack along Gully Spur and Gully Ravine.
The 29th Division would attack beside Gully Ravine on the left side of Fir Tree Spur.
The 42nd Division would attack on the right side of Fir Tree Spur to Kirte Dere.
The Royal Naval Division would attack up Achi Baba Nullah ( also known as Kanli Dere or Bloody Valley ) supported by the armoured cars on Krithia Spur.
The French would attack on the right along Kereves Spur.
The preliminary bombardment would also have two phases. The first bombardment would conclude at 11.20am at which point the British troops would feint an advance, hoping to draw the Turks to the firing line so that they would be caught in a second bombardment starting at 11.30am. The other innovation of the third battle was the use of 8 armoured cars of the Royal Naval Air Service which were to advance along the main Krithia road in support of the Royal Naval Division's advance. The disposition of the Allied troops from left to right ( west to east ) was as follows:
On the left of the line ( western side ) by the Aegean shore, the 29th Indian Brigade and 1st Battalion the Lancashire Fusiliers ( from the 29th Division ) would attack along Gully Spur and Gully Ravine.
The 29th Division would attack beside Gully Ravine on the left side of Fir Tree Spur.
The 42nd Division would attack on the right side of Fir Tree Spur to Kirte Dere.
The Royal Naval Division would attack up Achi Baba Nullah ( also known as Kanli Dere or Bloody Valley ) supported by the armoured cars on Krithia Spur.
The French would attack on the right along Kereves Spur.
The Battle
The attack began at noon on June 4th, when the last bombardment ended. There was a pause in the bombardment to pull the turks back into the trenches who were further decimated there by renewal of the bombardment. Turkish losses were around 6,000 on that first day.
