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Ottoman Empire Enters World War 1
The Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers to form the Triple Alliance . When they signed Turco-German Alliance in August 1914. They officially entered the war on the 28th of October 1914. It started with the bombing of Russian Black Sea ports. -
Churchill Suggests Attack on Dandarelles
On the 25th of November 1914, Winston Churchill and the First Lord of the Admiralty suggested an attack on Turkey in the Dardanelles. This aimed to expose a passage for them to pass through, putting the Central Powers under pressure and breaking the current draw. Churchill requested assistance from naval commanders. These naval commanders were doubtful of the plan, but Churchill was able to get the plan past politicians in December. -
British Government Reciveves Urgent Call from Russia
On the 2nd of Jan 1915, The Russians asked Britain to act against Turkey as a distraction from their actions in the Caucasus. This gave Churchill an opportunity to go through with his plan for a attack on the Dardanelles. British troops in Egypt were put on standby for the attack. As were the Anzac Force, which were moved there while traveling to the Western Front. -
Plan to Attack the Dandarelles was Approved
On January 15th 1915, the British War Council approved Churchill’s plan to attack the Dardanelles. The Central Powers mainly fought on the Western and Eastern Fronts. Fighting against Russian and French armies put a lot of pressure on the German military. -
Ships Enter Dardanelles
On March 18, 1915, 6 English and 4 French battleships entered the Dardanelles. The Turks were alert that a naval attack on the Dardanelles was likely. So they had the Germans help them improve their defence force. Allies had destroyed Turkish entrance forts of the Dardanelles beforehand. But the Turkish had laid underwater mines everywhere. The Allies didn’t check the area well enough, so three of the 10 battleships sunk, and two were ruined. With half the ships sunk the British had to retreat. -
Allies Landing On Gallipoli Penisula
On the 25th of April 1915, the Allied troops from the British Empire and France landed on the beach of Gallipoli. They faced cliffs up to 100 metres high. Those who made it to the beach were exposed to Turkish gunfire. Despite this the Anzac soliders managed to secure the beach. At a cost of more than 600 men. -
AE2 Submarine Enters Dandarelles
The Gallipoli landing involved an effort to take the Royal Australian Navy submarine AE2, through the Dardanelles Strait. The AE2 was to stop sea traffic through the Dardanelles and the Sea of Marmara to aid Allied landings. Captain, Lieutenant Commander Henry Stoker, avoided mines in the Dardanelles. He then had to avoid an enemy destroyer, in doing this became stuck under a Turkish fort. The soliders lowered their guns to fire but the AE2 dived back into deep water. -
AE2 Submarine was sunk
On the 30th of April the AE2 submarine was sunk in the Sea of Marmara when it suffered mechanical problems, it was noticed and shot at by an enemy ship. Captain Stoker ordered his crew to abandon ship. They were all captured, and all but three survived the rest of the war in imprisonment. Submarines, E14 and E11, both got through the Dardanelles not long after the AE2. They entered the Sea of Marmara, where they interrupted Turkish supplies to the Gallipoli peninsula. -
2nd Battle of Krithia
The battle of Krithia was fought on Cape Helles in Gallipoli. 25,000 men fought for the village of Krithia and then Achi Baba. The ground was open leaving troops trying to advance exposed. Battle started on May 6th but Allied forces made little progress, so they were back on May 7th. On May 8th the 2nd Australian Brigade played a vital role in the last struggle to cross Turkish lines. The Australians made courageous progress but were unsuccessful. The Australian 2nd Brigade lost 1100 men of 2500 -
Turks Spotted Preparing to Attack
On the 18th of May, British planes flying over Gallipoli noticed Turkish troops gathering. These reports frightened Anzac commanders as it occurred to them that a Turkish attack was coming. More than 4000 Turkish soldiers gathered to attack the Anzac line from Quinn’s Post to Bolton’s Ridge. The main attack was to occur in the valley between where Johnston’s Jolly and Courtney’s Post cemeteries are today. -
Turkish Offensive
At 3 am on the 19th of May 1915 the Turkish attacked Anzac lines in attempt to force them off the peninsula. An estimated 42,000 soldiers attacked 17,000 Anzac defenders. They attacked with little weaponry but trusted the act of surprise and their large numbers to beat the Anzacs. Though the Anzacs had seen them preparing for the attack, so the act of surprise did not come into play. Throughout next few hours thousands of Turks were killed as Anzac gun fire rained into them. -
Truce to Bury Dead
On the 24th of May a truce was organized by British officer, Captain Aubrey Herbert, of the Anzac Division. He planned it so both sides could bury their dead, due to the Turkish offensive on the 19th of May, where 3000 Turks were killed, and 10,000 were injured. 160 Australians were also killed, and 468 were injured. The Anzacs and Turks met on no-mans-land. Watching the scene, a Turkish officer told Herbert ‘at this spectacle even the most gentle must feel savage and the most savage must weep’ -
3rd Battle of Krithia
The British, Anzacs, French and Indians fought in the 3rd Battle of Krithia. During the 2nd battle the British expanded their trenches to make less space between them and the Turkish. The aim was for two weaponry attacks, hoping to trap the Turkish emerging from cover. This caused many Turkish fatalities but they fought back forcing a British retreat. They nearly pasted the British but were stopped when British officer, 2nd Lieutenant Moor, shot four of his troops to stop the rest running away. -
Landing at Sulva Bay
On the night of August 6th, 20,000 British and Anzac troops landed at Sulva Bay. They fought to capture Kiretch Tepe, Tekke Tepe and the Anafarta hills. When they landed they faced 1500 Turkish soldiers. Like the first landing troops landed in the wrong spots. Though they landed on the 7th of August they did not advance. This gave the Turkish time to prepare on the 8th of August. The British started to proceed to Tekke Tepe at night. The Turkish held higher ground so attempts to attack failed. -
Lone Pine
The lone pine attack was a diversion to draw attention from the attack on the Sari Bair peak. The battle field was 300m wide with the opposing trenches only 100m apart. The Australians dug trenches 40 metres away from the Turkish not giving them time to charge. The Australians also set up three mines to explode at the launch of the attack. The Turkish built roofs on their trenches with pine logs, so Australians struggled to get into Turkish trenches. Both sides had 2,500 dead or injured men. -
Chunuk Bair
Chunuk Bair was a battle started by British and New Zealand troops on the 6th of August. Three troops came up from the north and one from the south. The four troops then combined to seize the heights to help Australian soldiers at the Nek attack the German officer’s trench. This plan failed, as they did not take the heights in time to support the Australians. It also gave Turkish troops time to reassemble and push the New Zealanders backwards. The Turkish saw victory as they forced the Allied so -
The Nek
The Nek was a passage, the size of three tennis courts, linking the Anzac trenches on Russell’s Top to Turkish territory, Baby 700. The attack at the Nek was planned to match the attack from Chunuk Bair. Australians would attack from the front and New Zealanders would attack Baby 700 from behind. During this, an attack against German Officers’ Trench would take place. Everything went horribly wrong. The battle times did not match, giving the Turkish time to attack and defeat the Allied soldiers. -
Kitchener visited Gallipoli
On the 13th of November 1915, British War Secretary, Lord Kitchener went to visit Gallipoli to asses the situation himself. He ended up agreeing with Monro’s proposal. He approved the plan to evacuate last 105,000 Allied troops from Gallipoli. The evacuation began on the 7th of December 1915. -
Evacuation Approved By British Government
On the 7th of December 1915, Anzac troops at Gallipoli were ordered by the British government to evacuate immediatly. General Ian Hamilton had agrued aganist the evacuation prior to the evacuation. He believed that it would leave 50% of their men dead or wounded. Because of this authorities fired him and replaced him with Sir Charles Monro. Who strongly believed the evacuation should go ahead. -
Last of the Troops Leave
To hide the fact that they were leaving the Anzacs rigged rifles to fire randomly. In order to do this they attached tins to the rifles trigger with string. When the tins filled with water from tins above, the weight caused triggers to be pulled. This became known as the 'ghosts guns of gallipoli'. They also put cloth over the horses hooves, to muffle the sound. The last troops left on the 6th of January 1916.
