Air operations The
Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) aircraft of , co-operated with the Anzac landing with seaplanes and a kite balloon;
Number 3 Aeroplane Squadron RNAS, with 18 aircraft, flew in support of the operation at Helles. Standing patrols were maintained over Helles and the Asiatic coast, in perfect flying weather, each pilot making three sorties during the day, beginning at dawn. As soon as Ottoman artillery replied to the landings, the aircraft observers used wireless to direct naval gunfire but were ignored because the quantity of naval gunnery was overwhelmed by the number of Ottoman targets. Once the troops were established ashore, the ships responded to messages from the aircrews who used
flare guns to signal to ships unable to receive wireless transmissions. The flyers began bombing artillery, camps and troops, conducted photographic reconnaissance and kept watch on the peninsula up to Bulair and the Asiatic coast. The balloon rose at and the two observers watched the troops climb the cliffs and then reported the presence of the battleship
Turgut Reis in the Narrows, which was chased away by . The airborne observers were hampered by the steep, scrub-covered hills and sandy gullies but maintained the patrols all day.
V Beach Covering force V Beach was long and wide, with a low bank about high on the landward side. Cape Helles and Fort Etrugrul (Fort No. 1) were on the left and the old
Sedd el Bahr castle (Fort No. 3) was on the right looking from the sea; Hill 141 was further inland. The beach had been wired and was defended by about a company of men from the 3rd Battalion of the 26th Regiment, equipped with four Maxim guns. The first ashore was the 1st Battalion,
Royal Dublin Fusiliers which landed from ships' boats that were towed or rowed ashore. The rest were landed from a
Trojan horse, , a converted
collier, which had eleven machine-guns on the bow.
Sally ports had been cut in the hull to allow the men to embark via gangways. The ship held the 1st Battalion of the
Royal Munster Fusiliers plus two companies of the 2nd Battalion, the
Hampshire Regiment (from the
88th Brigade) and one company of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. The tows containing the Dubliners were delayed by the current and came in thirty minutes late at The shore appeared lifeless following the bombardment but as the boats were about to land, the Ottoman defenders opened fire. Guns in the fort and castle
enfiladed the beach and killed many of the men in the boats, some of which drifted away with no survivors. Many more casualties were suffered as the Dubliners waded ashore and some wounded men drowned. The survivors found shelter under the bank on the far side of the beach but most of the landing boats remained grounded with their crews dead around them. Two platoons landed intact on the right flank at the Camber and some troops reached the village, only to be overrun. Of the in the landing, killed and many of the rest were wounded.
River Clyde grounded just before the tows and to connect the collier to the shore, the steam hopper
Argyll, a flat-bottomed boat, was to beach ahead of it to provide a floating bridge, connecting the gangplanks in the bow of
River Clyde to the beach.
Argyll swung out to port and ended up broadside to the beach. The captain of
River Clyde, Commander
Edward Unwin, led men outside to manhandle three lighters (transport boats) on the starboard side, forward instead. Two companies of Munsters emerged from the sally ports, covered by the machine-guns on the bow and moved down the gangways to reach the shore but many were hit by bullets. Some troops managed to get ashore and others were drowned due to the weight of their equipment. Around another company made an attempt to disembark but after one company had got ashore, the casualties to the first two platoons were so great that the effort was suspended until dark.
Main force Hunter-Weston had watched the landings on W Beach from offshore but received misleading reports at that the landings were succeeding. At Hunter-Weston instructed the main force to land and at second wave waited for the tows to return from the shore, although few arrived. Wounded were removed and several platoons under Brigadier-General
Henry Napier sailed towards the beach. The calamity which had befallen the first wave was still unknown to Hunter-Weston, who at had ordered the troops on
River Clyde to move towards the left flank and the troops on W Beach. At a company of the 2nd Hampshire tried to disembark but most were shot down on the gangways and the attempt was suspended. The vessel carrying Napier and his party was seen heading towards the beach and was called alongside
River Clyde, from where Napier saw many men on the lighters in front of the collier and jumped onto the nearest, unaware that the men were dead. Napier and his staff reached the hopper, were pinned down and Napier was killed a few minutes later. At Hamilton, who had been watching the landing from , instructed Hunter-Weston to suspend the landing at V Beach and divert the rest of the V Beach force to W Beach. During the afternoon
Queen Elizabeth, and bombarded the Ottoman defences on V Beach, which had little effect on the volume of fire directed at the British. During another attempt to land from
River Clyde, when the bridge to the shore had been repaired at few troops managed to reach the ledge beyond the beach. At the battleships resumed the bombardment on the village, the crest of the ridge and the upper works of the fort; at about moved to the right flank and attacked the fort, where an Ottoman machine-gun crew repulsed the attack and forced the survivors back under cover. After dark the gangways of
River Clyde were cleared of dead and wounded, which took until A surgeon on board the collier treated from despite being wounded in the foot. Around midnight, Hunter-Weston sent orders to attack Hill 141 but two liaison officers from Hamilton's staff reported that a night attack was impossible; onshore the troops were organised into three parties to attack at after a bombardment by
Albion. The Ottoman defenders had an advantage in fighting from prepared positions, in the absence of surprise or accurate covering fire from the ships but experienced problems with communication and found that the artillery was out of range of the beach. Major Mahmut, the commander of the 3rd Battalion, 26th Regiment, could not find the position of the landing for some time in the confusion. Calls for reinforcements from the 25th Regiment were not met until on 26 April. A platoon commander Abdul Rahman, reported many casualties and at the Ottomans at the fort and on the flank under Sergeant Yaha were forced back. The battalion lost half of its men and the morale of many of the survivors collapsed next day when outflanked by the troops on S Beach. The Ottomans retired rapidly up the Kirte and Kandilere river beds, abandoning about seventy wounded men. Attempts to rally on the second line of defence failed and the survivors fell back to a line from Krithia in the late afternoon. By 27 April the beach defenders had lost
W Beach (Lancashire Landing) Covering force W Beach lay on the coast to the north-west of Cape Helles, just south of Tekke Burnu, the site of a small gully. An infantry company from the 3rd Battalion of the 26th Regiment defended the beach, which was about long and from wide, with steep cliffs at the ends and a relatively easy approach over sand dunes in the centre, to a ridge with a view of the sea. The Ottomans had
mined the beach and laid extensive
barbed wire entanglements, including one along the shore and trip wires just under the surface of the water, a few yards offshore. Trenches on the high ground overlooked the beach and two machine-guns were hidden in the cliffs, to cover the wire in enfilade. The ridge beyond the centre of the beach was commanded by entrenchments on higher ground to the north-east and south-west and away lay one of two redoubts close to Hill 138, both extensively wired and behind slopes with no cover. Another barbed-wire entanglement ran from the southern redoubt to the cliffs near a lighthouse which blocked an advance from W Beach towards V Beach. The 1st Battalion of the
Lancashire Fusiliers were embarked in the cruiser
Euryalus and the battleship , which took up positions off the beach. The troops transferred to thirty-two
cutters at about and
Euryalus closed in on the beach at around An hour later, the six tows from
Euryalus sailed towards the shore, in line abreast at intervals, the tows from
Implacable to the left. As the tows reached to within of the shore they were cast off and the sailors in the cutters began to row. The shore had been silent but as the first boat landed, Ottoman small-arms fire swept the British and caused many casualties.
Euryalus and lifted their bombardment ten minutes before the British landed and the Ottoman infantry had been able to emerge from cover. The survivors jumped from the cutters and tried to rush ashore but many leapt into deep water and sank under the weight of their equipment. The preliminary bombardment had not cut the wire along the shore and the surviving Fusiliers were fired on from three sides as they cut the wire or crawled underneath. A witness later wrote Small parties of Fusiliers got through the entanglement, reached the dunes behind the shore and captured the trenches beyond. Some of the tows from
Implacable diverted towards the north side of the bay and landed unopposed. A small party climbed the cliff and occupied a trench on the top, drove off an Ottoman counter-attack and then engaged the Ottoman troops on the northern flank of the beach. Ottoman small-arms fire against the main landing began to diminish after a trench was hit by heavy shells from offshore; the Fusiliers cut more paths through the wire and attacked the cliff at the south end of the beach. Naval observers could see the trenches on the cliff top and as the British attacked the ships were By the British had got far enough inland to deny the Ottomans observation over the area. On the northern flank, Brigadier-General Hare and the others who had outflanked the Ottoman defences to the north, advanced towards X Beach but after were engaged from Hill 114 and Hare was wounded. The second wave of tows had landed with few casualties at around and prepared to attack Hill 138 with the survivors of the first wave. An inaccurate map caused delay as Hill 138 turned out to have another crest to the south-west crowned with another redoubt. During the landing, compasses, binoculars and watches had been soaked which added to the confusion. Two parties attacked the redoubts but were repulsed as troops on the left flank fought up the gully leading from the beach towards Hill 114, which was also attacked from X Beach. Ottoman prisoners taken near W Beach reported that there was only one division south of Krithia.
Main force At Hunter-Weston ordered the main body to land and diverted some of the troops bound for V Beach to W Beach as reinforcements, which arrived at and at Hamilton ordered that the troops bound for V Beach be diverted to W Beach. Many casualties were incurred by the first reinforcements from long-range rifle fire as they approached the beach but were then obscured by the cliffs and were able to land and move between the flanks of the Lancashire Fusiliers. On the left flank the Fusiliers gained touch with troops from X Beach by and complete the capture of Hill 114. On the right, troops landed and tried to reach Hill 138 but were pinned down halfway to the crest. Another attack was made after another battalion had landed and the area had been bombarded by
Swiftsure and
Euryalus. The first redoubt was captured at and then after a difficult advance through barbed wire, took the second redoubt unopposed and with few casualties after the garrison retreated. The fall of the two redoubts enabled the troops pinned down near the lighthouse to advance towards V Beach until more wire was encountered. Troops tried to cut through but were visible on the sky line and shot down. Observers on
Queen Elizabeth and
Albion offshore watched the attempts while unable to open fire due to ignorance of the situation ashore. After an hour the wire was cut but the troops were pinned down again on the far side. It was not until that the disaster at V Beach was reported to Colonel Wolley-Dod on W Beach, who ordered the troops at the two redoubts to capture the cliff above V Beach. The troops were already advancing to Fort No 1. The Ottoman defenders at V Beach swiftly stopped the advance and the troops dug in, which ended the attempt to retrieve the situation at V Beach. On the northern flank, Hill 114 was consolidated but an advance to the second objective from W Beach was not made and despite outnumbering the Ottoman troops British awaited fresh orders, which were not forthcoming, due to the loss of the commander of the landing force and the difficulties in communication with the headquarters staffs still afloat. The plan for a combined advance to the second objective broke down and there was no one ashore to devise an alternative. With a definite objective the troops and officers of the 29th Division overcame many novel obstacles but then the twelve battalions between Hill 114 and Hill 138 did not press on against an exiguous defence.
S Beach S Beach lay inside the Straits at a small break in the cliffs at the north end of Morto Bay, from V Beach. On top of the cliff lay de Tott's Battery, a derelict fortification. No defences had been prepared in the area and only one Ottoman platoon guarded the beach, with another platoon inland. Four trawlers, each with six lifeboats in tow, made slow progress against the Dardanelles current and minesweepers in the Straits but Ottoman artillery on the Asiatic shore fired at other targets and the trawlers came inshore without incident and when the trawlers reached the shallows the tows were cast off. The landing party of three companies of the 2nd Battalion,
South Wales Borderers covered by the battleship
Cornwallis made landfall under fire from the Ottoman platoon in a trench half-way up the cliff. Two companies landed on the beach and one
escaladed the cliffs at Eski Hissarlik point to capture de Tott's Battery. Captain Davidson of
Cornwallis made an unauthorised landing with a party of sailors and marines to supplement the landing force, casualties for all of the landing parties being sailors and marines. At the battery the British overlooked the Ottoman platoon and took fifteen prisoners; by the landings were complete. From the cliffs, the disaster at V Beach could be seen but the instructions given to the commander were to wait for the advance from the south. After a prisoner claimed that there were another troops nearby, the commander continued to consolidate the position, rather than attack the rear of the Ottoman position at Sedd el Bahr. It was later found that the only Ottoman troops near the landing was a company less the platoon killed and captured during the landing and another company sent from Krithia but diverted to Sedd el Bahr before the landing commenced. The landing by the captain of
Cornwallis led to a delay in the arrival of the ship at V Beach, where it was scheduled to regulate the landing.
X Beach (Implacable Beach) Covering force X Beach was long under a low crumbling cliff on the Aegean shore around from W Beach, about above Tekke Burnu. No Ottoman defences had been built and only twelve soldiers guarded the beach. The Ottoman party was stunned by the bombardment from
Implacable after the troops bound for W Beach had disembarked and the four tows had sailed parallel to the battleship until it was from the shore. The landing party had reached the shore and climbed to the top of the cliff with no casualties by when the tows returned to collect the rest of the battalion and equipment, which had arrived by As the British pushed inland, they came close to a locality where two Ottoman reserve companies were bivouacked. One company had been sent towards W Beach, met the British advance from X Beach. The British commander, Lieutenant-Colonel H. E. B. Newenham, ordered an attack to the north-east to form a defensive flank on the left, two platoons to advance frontally and dig in from the beach and the rest of the landing force to attack Hill 114 on the right, to gain touch with the troops on W Beach. The attack to the north-east began around until stopped by Ottoman small-arms fire after but on the right flank, the attack reached the top of Hill 114 by to the cheers of the watching sailors on
Implacable. The front along the beach was long and had numerous gaps, with the left flank engaged with the Ottoman defenders. With no reconnaissance possible before the landing and only one inaccurate map to read, the value of the view from the cliffs above the beach had not been appreciated beforehand. The landward slopes of hills 138 and 141 were easily visible and within reach of an advance from X Beach, which might have cut off the defenders of W Beach. S Beach at Morto Bay away was also visible but the landing force on X Beach concentrated on the landing. Few of the officers in the X Beach party knew of the landing at S Beach and no messages were passed between them during the day.
Main force The main force began to land at with little interruption by the Ottomans, apart from the sound of firing on the left flank. Two of the main force battalions had been withdrawn from the landing, to reinforce the landings at Y and S beaches and the 1st Border and 1st Inniskilling battalions were the divisional reserve, to be held back for emergencies. The initial landing party was not under the command of Brigadier-General W. R. Marshall and the main force had no instructions, to participate in its second phase advance to a line from Y Beach to Sedd el Bahr. No news had arrived of the other landings and the easy arrival at X Beach, led to him expecting soon to be joined by the troops from W and V beaches. Marshall climbed the cliff and during a briefing, received a message requesting assistance from the left flank so sent the reserve company. Marshall ordered the Borderers to the top of the cliff and then sent a company to assist the troops on Hill 114. Soon afterwards, British troops were seen retreating on the left, pursued by Ottoman infantry and Marshall began to order a counter-charge when he was wounded and Major C. D. Vaughan killed. The Ottoman infantry were a few hundred yards from the shore when they were repulsed by a bayonet charge. The British were content to restore the position and did not pursue the Ottomans. Some news had arrived by but nothing from W Beach or divisional headquarters. It could be seen that the troops on W and V beaches had been delayed because Ottoman soldiers were still holding hills 141 and 138, although in unknown strength. Marshall was certain of his instructions regarding the reserve battalions and ordered them to dig in on a perimeter. Though greatly outnumbered, the Ottomans paralysed the initiative of the invaders and gained time to organise defences and bring up reinforcements. At Marshall contacted Hunter-Weston offering to advance to Y Beach but was ordered to wait until morning and complete the original plan. An order then arrived from W Beach from Wolley-Dod to advance the right flank towards X Beach and gain touch but this was not possible as the Ottomans counter-attacked Y Beach.
Y Beach Y Beach was a considerable distance north along the Aegean coast, close to Krithia and behind most of the Ottoman defences at Cape Helles. The sea at the shore was deep enough for boats to sail within a few yards and the coast was a steep cliff about high, with two gullies giving easy access to the top. The area was undefended and the nearest Ottoman troops were two platoons south near Gully Ravine, a platoon of the 2nd Battalion, 26th Regiment at Sari Tepe and the 25th Regiment at Serafim Farm, away. The 1st Battalion, 26th Regiment was stationed between Semerly Tepe and Sari Tepe, north of Y Beach but was held back to guard against another landing for two days. The cruisers and with a transport N2 and eight trawlers rendezvoused west of Y Beach with the covering force, the battleship and the cruiser . At the troops transferred to the trawlers which steamed inshore, with
Goliath out and the cruisers closer to the shore. At trawlers steamed forward until they touched bottom and then embarked their troops in the boats, which were rowed to the beach as the bombardment on Cape Helles began. The Plymouth Battalion RND (Lieutenant-Colonel
Godfrey Matthews), the 1st Battalion,
King's Own Scottish Borderers (Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald Koe) and a company of the 2nd Battalion, South Wales Borderers landed at Y Beach from Scouts moving forward in the centre and on the flanks found four Ottoman soldiers, two of whom were killed and two captured. Two companies advanced to Gully Ravine, about beyond the cliff top and at two companies of marines moved forward south-eastwards across the ravine, to search for a suspected Ottoman artillery piece. News of the success of the landing was passed to Hamilton as
Queen Elizabeth steamed past at The landing force waited until mid-afternoon for the expected advance from Cape Helles, in conditions so quiet, that Matthews and an adjutant crossed Gully Ravine and walked to within of Krithia and found no sign of Ottoman troops. The marine search party moved for about south-east but found no sign of a gun and retired at unchallenged. A message was sent to X Beach asking for an update, but no reply was received. At at noon, firing was heard from X Beach but no instructions arrived from 29th Division Headquarters, so Matthews ordered the position to be consolidated. At with no sign of an advance from the cape Matthews withdrew from the ravine and began to dig in again on the cliff top. Dead ground around the landing site forced the British to establish a lengthy perimeter, along which the 29th Division troops were placed in the centre and marines on the flanks. From the ships the retirement could not be seen and digging in on the new positions was slowed, because entangled roots lay under the surface and the heavy digging implements were still on the beach, which resulted in the entrenchments being little more than deep by late afternoon. At Serafim Farm, Sami Bey the Ottoman 9th Division commander, received news of the landing as soon as it began and at sent an infantry battalion, an artillery battery and a section of machine-guns to the landing site. Just after one of the guns opened fire and at Ottoman infantry began to counter-attack the beachhead. The first attack was made by a company and was dispersed by naval gunfire. When the guns ceased fire after dark, the Ottoman infantry attacked with great determination. By reinforcements had increased the number of Ottoman troops to battalions and British losses led Matthews to signal for reinforcements, for which he received no reply. At dawn on 26 April, the Ottoman infantry withdrew, having suffered casualties and inflicted British losses of Koe had been mortally wounded and his
adjutant killed; ammunition had run short in the beachhead and was complicated by the need to supply Mark VI as well as Mark VII
rifle ammunition. As soon as dawn broke, the bombardment ships resumed firing. During the night, some British troops began to straggle back to the beach and their morale was depressed further, when a ship
salvo fell short into the beachhead. At the ships received a request for help from a party ashore, which had run out of ammunition and was the first indication that things were amiss. Boats sent to the beach to re-embark the party and its wounded was seen by other troops on the beach, the impression was formed that a general re-embarkation had begun and some stragglers climbed aboard the boats. Unknown to Matthews and the troops on the heights who had spent the night repulsing Ottoman infantry attacks, the evacuation had already begun. A few minutes later Matthews signalled that the ships should fire beyond the cliff edge, on Ottoman troops who were massing for another attack, which began at and broke through the centre of the British line. With no reserves, the British rallied and
routed the attackers by a bayonet charge, which ended the threat to the beachhead. The initial Ottoman breakthrough had caused a panic behind the British defenders, which was reflected in signals received by the ships. After the attack had been repulsed, Matthews toured the positions on the right flank and found that they were empty. When he realised that the troops nearer the beach had been re-embarking, he saw no option but to allow it to continue and collected a party of men to defend the gully, until the wounded had been evacuated. By all of the troops on the beach had left and the rearguard withdrew from the cliff and was rowed away within thirty minutes. During the departure, no gunfire was received from the Ottoman troops in the vicinity and when a naval officer led a party of marines ashore in the afternoon to look for survivors, they were able to search the area for an hour without interference.
Diversions Bulair Eleven troopships, , and , two destroyers and several trawlers made rendezvous off Bulair before dawn. The warships began a daylong bombardment just after first light and a destroyer made a close pass off the beach. Later on, ships' boats were swung out from the troopships and lines of eight cutters pulled by trawlers, made as if to land. In the late afternoon men began to embark on the boats, which headed for the shore just before dark and returned after nightfall. During the night, Lieutenant-Commander
Bernard Freyberg swam ashore and lit flares along the beach, crept inland and observed the Ottoman defences, which he found to be dummies, returning safely. Just after dawn, the decoy force sailed south to join the main landings.
Kumkale At French battleships and , with the cruisers and , the British battleship and the Russian cruiser began a bombardment of
Kumkale before the landed near the fort, on a small undefended beach but the current flowing from the Dardanelles was so fast, that the landing force reached the beach only at The lack of surprise was compensated for by the long bombardment, on terrain much flatter than that of the peninsula and most of the Ottoman troops were so shaken by the time of the landing that they had retired across the river. The fort and village of Kum Kale were swiftly occupied with few casualties. The rest of the disembarkation was also delayed by the current but at an advance began towards Yeni Shehr and the Orkanie Mound, where the advances were stopped by the Ottoman defenders. An observation aircraft reported that reinforcements had arrived and the attempt was abandoned. During the night the French illuminated the area with searchlights and
Jauréguiberry maintained a slow bombardment. At Ottoman counter-attacks began and continued until dawn, all of them costly failures; the French prepared to resume the advance to Yeni Shehr in the morning. On 26 April, Ottoman troops captured the Kum Kale cemetery and then advanced with white flags and dropped their weapons. Ottoman and French troops mingled, officers began to parlay and suddenly Capitaine Roeckel was abducted. French troops resumed hostilities but the French and Ottoman infantry were still mixed up. Some Ottomans slipped past, occupied several houses and captured two machine-guns. The French re-captured the houses but an attempt to get the guns back was another costly failure. The French concluded that the surrender had been genuine but had then been infiltrated by other troops conducting a ruse. The French shot nine prisoners in reprisal. During the day the Ottoman commander requested reinforcements. By the end of the diversion, French casualties were and the Ottoman defenders had including By 27 April, the French had landed on the right flank of the British at Helles. After the landings, the Ottoman commander, General
Weber Pasha, was criticised for being caught unprepared, poor tactics, communication failures and leadership, although the flat terrain had made accurate bombardment from offshore much easier. An Ottoman artillery battery at Tepe caused severe casualties during the departure, and
Savoie sailed inshore to bombard the Ottomans.
Beşik Bay On the night of six French troop transports, with two destroyers and a torpedo boat, appeared off Besika Bay (now
Beşik Bay). The warships commenced a bombardment and boats were lowered from the transports, to simulate disembarkation. At the cruiser ''Jeanne d'Arc'' arrived and joined in the bombardment, before the force was recalled to Tenedos at The Ottoman garrison was detained in the area until 27 April, although the Turkish Official Account recorded that the landings at Kum Kale and the demonstration at Besika Bay had been recognised as ruses. Transfers of troops from the Asiatic shore were delayed by lack of boats and the fear of Allied submarines, rather than apprehension about landings on the Asiatic side. It was not until 29 April, that troops from the area appeared on the Helles front. ==Aftermath==