![]() it was the celerity with which the Turkish command propelled reserves towards the battlefield and the tenacity with which those who met the landing continued to fight that turned the tables. Gallipoli historian, Robin Prior, attributed the Anzacs' defeat to this swift and decisive Ottoman response: But they were beaten back or killed by ever-strengthening counter-attacks. From those positions the strait of the Dardanelles was visible. Small isolated groups of soldiers managed to make their way upslope towards Chunuk Bair and onto Third or Gun Ridge. The day's fighting never brought the Anzacs near their planned objectives. The ridges stretched southwards from the main Sari Bair range, which leads up to the highest points on this part of the peninsula: Chunuk Bair, Hill Q and Hill 971, Koja Temen Tepe. Stretching away into the distance were the ridges and deep valleys of a wild, rugged, scrub-covered landscape. The rest of the garrison moved to the country beyond the plateau.Īs the daylight increased, from the top of Plugge's Plateau, it would have been possible to see just what the landing force had taken on. Soon, the Australians reached the top and quickly overcame a trench full of Ottoman soldiers. From the top of the plateau, the Turkish defenders kept up a steady fire. The men dug their bayonets into the earth to help them climb. The wounded or killed slid back down the slope until stopped by the scrubby bushes. Hundreds of Australians started to climb what was later known as Plugge's Plateau, their first major obstacle on the peninsula. From the left hand edge of the plateau could be seen the flash of a machine-gun. '10th Battalion scouts,' he shouted, 'are you ready?' He then led them straight up the height, while the Turks were firing over their heads. 'Come on, boys', he cried, 'they can't hit you'. ![]() Lieutenant Talbot Smith with the scouts of the 10th Battalion, thirty-two in number, had struck the shore just after the first shot was fired. There was initial confusion about where exactly they had landed, for above them towered a steep cliff-like landscape.Īustralia's official historian, Charles Bean, later described this critical moment: Most struggled ashore, soaking wet and weighed down by their rifles and sodden packs. ![]() Some landed in deep water where they drowned. Bullets began hitting the boats, killing some, wounding others.Īs the boats grounded around the tip of the Ari Burnu promontory, the men jumped out. The men made the last part of their night journey in 36 rowing boats, towed inshore from battleships by small Royal Navy steamboats.Įven before they reached the beach in the half-light, the small Turkish garrison had spotted them. The first wave included units of the 3rd Australian Brigade: three infantry battalions of men from Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. Their task was to storm the beach and then push inland as fast as possible. The first wave of men was known as the 'covering force'. Of the 16,000 men who landed during the first day, more than 2000 had been killed or injured by the next morning.Īs dawn approached on 25 April, HMS Ribble eased its way towards the Gallipoli peninsula with the other British destroyers and battleships. The Anzacs held on for the crucial first night. He ordered the troops to begin digging trenches. ![]() Hamilton decided against their recommendation. In the evening, Major-General William Bridges, commander of the 1st Australian Division, and Lieutenant-General Sir William Birdwood, commander of ANZAC, both advised General Sir Ian Hamilton, Commander-in-Chief, to withdraw the Allies from Gallipoli. By mid-morning, Turkish reinforcements had arrived under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Mustafa Kemal. Units became separated as they moved through the tangle of complex spurs and ravines in the darkness. relieve pressure on Russian forces who were fighting Turkish forces on the Caucasus frontīritish forces landed at Cape Helles on the southern tip of the peninsula while French troops carried out a feint landing at Kum Kale on the Dardanelles' Asian shore.capture the peninsula and help naval operations in the Dardanelles straits.On 25 April 1915, 16,000 Australians and New Zealanders, together with British, French and Indian troops, landed on the Gallipoli peninsula. Australians and wartime experience in World War I.Serbian Campaign and occupation 1914 to 1918.Western Front in Belgium and France 1916 to 1918.Sinai and Palestine Campaign 1915 to 1918.Dardanelles strategy and naval operations.Timeline of Australians and the Gallipoli Campaign.Maps of Australian locations on Gallipoli.
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