Glorious Deeds of Australasians in the Great War - E. C. Buley

The failure of the attempt to drive the Australasians into the sea was followed by two months of desultory fighting that resembled nothing so much as the deadlock between the Allies and the Germans in the North of France. The operations, of course, were on a scale infinitely smaller, and the Anzacs held the advantage of occupying the position of invaders. They were, indeed, a thorn in the flesh of the Turkish army, for they held a position with infinite possibilities.

The object of the whole land expedition in Gallipoli was to obtain command of that part of the straits of the Dardanelles known as the Narrows, where Europe and Asia are only separated by a mile of sea water. Here are the strongest of the forts built by the Turks to protect the passage of the Dardanelles. Before this narrow passage lies a minefield so thick that it defied the attempt of the fleet of the Allied Powers to force a passage through the Dardanelles to Constantinople. An attempt to dredge the minefield with trawlers was defeated by hidden batteries on the very heights for which the Anzacs were fighting, and also by the guns of the forts at the Narrows.

At the southern point of the peninsula the main force of the Allies was attempting to cut a way through to a tableland known as the Plateau of Kilid Bahr, which dominates the European coast of the Dardanelles from the entrance as far as the Narrows themselves. The spot occupied by the Anzacs on the Gulf of Saros was opposite the town of Maidos on the straits, and therefore above the Narrows. This much must be grasped in order to understand the possibilities arising from the existence of an Australasian force in that spot, and the precautions forced upon the Turks because they remained there.

The main body of the Turkish army was concerned with the defence of the fort of Achi Baba and all the strong positions centring in that height. All supplies for this defence force must come from the base at Constantinople, by sea to Gallipoli, and thence by road through Maidos, the town threatened by the Australasians. Moreover, all reinforcements must pass by the same way; and the heavy losses inflicted upon the Turks by the Allied forces in Gallipoli necessitated many reinforcements.

Therefore the presence of the Australasians around the hill of Sari Bair, even while they remained passive, forced the Turks to maintain a force of from 25,000 to 30,000 men at this point, merely to keep them in check. For two months the slightest sign of any diminution of that force was the signal for a demonstration by the Anzacs, which at least had the effect of bringing the Turks back to the trenches they are so anxious to vacate.

But the full importance of the Anzac position did not end there. Sir Ian Hamilton, finding that his attempt to force the great mountain stronghold of Achi Baba was doomed to failure without a strengthening of his forces which could not be granted him, decided on a new plan for cutting through to the Dardanelles. This, in his own words, was by a reinforcement of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, combined with a landing in Suvla Bay. Then with one strong push to capture Hill 971, and, working from that dominating point, to grip the waist of the Peninsula.

The objects to be attained were three—

1. To break out with a rush from Anzac and cut off the bulk of the Turkish army from land communication with Constantinople.