CHAPTER VIII
THE BATTLES OF JUNE
Thus, within five or six weeks of the first landing, the situation had become serious. At home, the originator of the campaign had ceased to hold important office; its opponents were encouraged by despondent criticism; and the Government, which had hitherto controlled it, was transformed. On the Continent, the retirement of the Russian armies in Galicia and Poland cancelled the expectation of a Russian force to co-operate from the Black Sea, and rendered the position of Bulgaria dubious. On the Peninsula, the only lines of communication were threatened by submarines; such assistance as naval guns could supply to the flanks was greatly diminished; the lack of guns and ammunition, specially of howitzers and H.E. shells, was severely felt; the new drafts were unacquainted with their officers, and the officers with each other; at Helles and Anzac the positions were fairly secured, but the men were much worn by almost continuous struggle, and harassed by repeated and random shelling. From this, indeed, the dead ground below the cliffs at Anzac offered protection, but hardly any point at Helles was safe, or even sheltered, whether the enemy’s guns fired from Achi Baba or the Asiatic coast. As reinforcement, Sir Ian had received the 42nd Division and already had been promised the 52nd (Lowland Territorial); but this did not begin to arrive till the middle of June, and he was now compelled to ask Lord Kitchener for two complete army corps in addition. Yet the expedition had justified itself in that, but for its presence in the Dardanelles, the whole of the Near East would have fallen to the enemy’s influence, the Russian left flank would have hung in air without hope of succour, and an overwhelming attack upon the Suez Canal would almost certainly have been attempted.
JUNE 4 AT HELLES
It was now essential to gain more room at Helles, and by repeated assaults to push the enemy’s lines farther away from the landing beaches. Accordingly, Sir Ian issued orders for another general attack on June 4. It was a Friday, the day after Przemysl had fallen into the enemy’s hands once more. At early morning Sir Ian and the Headquarter Staff crossed to Helles, and were there joined by General Gouraud. They stationed themselves on the high ground of the command-post above Cape Tekke, whence a prospect of the slightly hollow plain and opposite slopes of Krithia and Achi Baba could be obtained, although, under the northerly breeze, a violent dust storm blew. As before, the British VIIIth Corps (consisting of the remains of the 29th Division, together with Sikhs and Gurkhas of the Indian Brigade, the 42nd Division, and the R.N.D., in that order from left to right) held the left and centre of the line, while the French and Colonial Corps of two Divisions held the right. The Ægean and the Straits protected either flank, but, as was inevitable on the Peninsula, this very protection rendered flank movements in attack impossible, and every advance was necessarily made straight against the enemy’s front. The British front of about three and a half miles was occupied by 17,000 infantry, with 7000 in reserve.
The attack was preceded by a longer bombardment than usual, probably because the French General had generously lent the British two groups of “75’s” (six batteries of four guns apiece) with H.E. shell. The guns from sea and land opened fire at 8 a.m. and continued till midday, with short intervals. During the latest interval a feint was practised in the hope of inducing the Turks to fill up their first line of trenches, which were thinly held. Our men fixed bayonets, and waved them above the parapets, as though about to advance. The Turks swarmed down the communication trenches to their front line, and were caught by a sudden renewal of our bombardment. At noon the guns lengthened their range, and, protected by their “barrage,” as the manœuvre came to be called later in the war, the infantry advanced in earnest. For the first half-hour the advance was rapid, especially in the centre, and hope of decisive victory rose high.
This success was chiefly due to the extraordinary dash of the Manchester (42nd Division) and the 2nd Naval (R.N.D.) Brigades. Under young and high-spirited leaders such as few troops possessed,[122] the so-called “amateurs” of the Anson, Hood, and Howe Battalions rushed forward through the bushes and small ravines of the neutral ground, stormed the first trench, and captured the southern face of a projecting Turkish redoubt. It was done in a quarter of an hour, and in five-and-twenty minutes their consolidating parties were at work upon the positions gained. The Manchester Brigade (always a model of what Lord Haldane’s Territorials could become) swept forward with even greater success. In five minutes they were over the first line; in half an hour they had captured the second, and it was believed that no defences lay between them and Achi Baba. The belief was probably too sanguine, but at all events they had won a third of a mile, and the working parties began reversing the aspect of the excellently constructed Turkish trenches.
Farther to the left, the 88th Brigade (29th Division), though exposed to heavy fire from front and left flank, and met with the bayonet by Turks who courageously awaited their assault, succeeded in capturing the first line of trenches, the Worcesters especially distinguishing themselves. But the farther advance of the division was checked because the 14th Sikhs on their left were held up by barbed wire at the first trench, remaining undamaged by the bombardment. For the same reason, the 6th Gurkhas, who had skilfully advanced along the extreme edge of the cliffs, were compelled to withdraw, and reinforcements were hurried up from the reserve. But even the new battalions were unable to advance against the heavy rifle-fire, and the left of the British line was thus kept in check, unable to conform with the victorious advance in the centre.
FRENCH DUG-OUT AT HELLES
FAILURE OF FRENCH COLONIAL TROOPS