GALLIPOLI PENINSULA
Lc.-Corp. J. Mort, R.E. (T.)
The Landing at Helles
That the landing on open beaches, exposed to chance firing from the Turkish front, and presenting a visible target to batteries at Kum Kale on the Asiatic shore, was accomplished quickly and almost without loss was due to the fine spirit shown by all ranks. The disembarkation was by no means a simple affair. It contrasted strangely with the embarkation at Alexandria, where the troop-trains ran alongside the steamers, and the docks were equipped with all loading facilities. At Cape Helles the transports anchored at varying distances from the shore, and the troops were transferred to steam-tugs and trawlers, each carrying about 500 men to the makeshift piers of trestles or old barges, or to the jetty formed by the stranded River Clyde on “V” Beach. Horses and mules were slung overboard and lowered into lighters. The ground swell increased the difficulties and dangers.
As the men scrambled into the tugs many began to realize that they were now confronting the biggest thing that had yet entered into their lives. They joked and chaffed one another, and smoked their pipes, as if crossing to the Isle of Man, while the thunder of the heavy guns echoed against the cliffs. They were not yet “heroes,” and few of them had yet been tested by fire; and if, to steady their nerves and conceal from their comrades—and from themselves—the anxieties and doubts that would not be denied, they made fun of the ordeal that lay before them, all honour to them!
Each boatload was welcomed by a Landing Officer, whose one idea was, naturally enough, to get men and baggage clear of his “pier” and beach in order to make room for the next batch and prevent the short stretch of foreshore from becoming hopelessly blocked. The strip of firm sand at the water’s edge soon changed to loose sand and shingle, which sloped gradually to the foot of the cliffs, about 150 to 200 yards from highwater mark. The cliffs rose abruptly to the height of fifty to sixty feet, except in the centre of the bays, where higher ground was reached by rough winding tracks. From the top of the cliffs a view of Achi Baba was obtained—a sight interesting enough, and even exciting, at first, but the interest soon palled and gave place to detestation. The top was no place to linger upon, for its occupants were plainly visible to the Turk in front, as well as to the Turk in Asia. Low scrub and grass covered it; beyond, the ground dipped slightly before it began to rise nearly 600 feet to the summit of Achi Baba, about six miles to the north-east. It was mainly uncultivated ground, though a certain amount of young grain afforded good grazing for the horses while it lasted, and there were one or two small vineyards more than a mile inland, the young grapes from these being made into delectable puddings later by enterprising A.S.C. officers. The only trees near the Helles beaches were small groups of wind-swept firs and a few limes, but further inland, near the nullahs, and away on the right, in the French area around Morto Bay, more foliage could be seen. There were many wild flowers, including a lovely pink cistus, wild thyme and very fine wild roses; and here and there the vivid red of a patch of poppies relieved the general impression of green.
For nearly two miles inland this ground formed a narrow, congested bivouac for troops newly landed or in reserve, and a rest camp for those which had suffered heavily. Corps Headquarters, ordnance, supplies, hospital tents, transport vehicles, and long lines of picketed horses and mules, covered large expanses. At first men lay in twos and threes in small natural hollows, in coffin-shaped holes hastily dug to the depth of two or three feet, or in wide shallow trenches which provided some little cover for men lying down. Later, oilsheets were used to cover these trenches as a protection from the sun by day and the cold at night. The difference in temperature was keenly felt by men who had passed the preceding seven months in Egypt. Indeed, on the first night ashore officers and men, unable to sleep because of the cold, stamped backwards and forwards until tired, then huddled together until forced to take violent exercise again. The dawn was exquisite as the first rays of the sun touched the snow-tipped mountains to the east, but few were in the mood to appreciate it. What was then asked of the sun was warmth, not beauty.
Very little protection from shell fire was to be found on the peninsula owing to the nature of the ground, to the position of the allied armies between the guns of Achi Baba and the batteries of the Asiatic shore, and to the entire absence of material for revetting trenches and constructing shelters and dug-outs. Wood and other material could only be brought from Egypt or Mudros in small quantities—small as compared with the vast amount required—and even these seldom found their way beyond the beaches, and sandbags during the first months were as precious almost as drinking-water. Moreover, there was no time for work on defences, and no men were available. The cliffs themselves provided shelter from shell fire from the north, but none from “Asiatic Annie,” the heavy gun (or rather guns) which shelled “W” and “V” Beaches continuously from various points along Erenkoi Bay east of Kum Kale, inflicting many casualties and much damage.
Into this too-crowded, unprotected area the Turk consistently pitched his high-explosive shells, and the ear-splitting crash and “coal-box” effect greeted the Territorials on arrival and gave them their first impression of real warfare. It was amazing that the casualty list was not far heavier. Had the enemy at this period been in possession of more and better ammunition the position in Gallipoli would have been untenable. Owing to this shortage in these early days solitary wagons and pack-animals could be moved about freely by day behind the lines, within view and range (with open sights) of the guns on the slopes of Achi Baba; for the Turk rarely wasted a shell on the chance of destroying one man or horse, and, by extending to a distance of 400 yards, even a battalion transport could often go forward and backward unmolested by day. The incessant rifle fire at night made the area immediately behind the front lines more dangerous then than by day.