A “BEETLE”
MONITORS, “BLISTER SHIPS,” & “BEETLES”
On July 13 a new and strange type of warship, called a “Monitor,” arrived at Kephalos, and next day began bombarding the guns on the Asiatic coast. The monitors were originally constructed for operations in another sphere. They were, in fact, large floating platforms or flat-bottomed forts, supporting, some two 12-inch, and others two 14-inch, guns of American make, without further armament. Their tonnage was about 6000, and their chief peculiarity a broad, flat shelf or platform extending from the hull just below the water-line; so broad and flat that numbers of men could walk upon it while bathing, so that they appeared to be walking upon the water. The shape of the vessels rendered them difficult to steer, and so slow in motion that their progress against such a current as ran in the Narrows would have been very gradual. About the same time, smaller “monitors” arrived. They were nicknamed “Whippets,” and were marked by numbers only. Four “blister ships” (cruisers protected against torpedoes by bulging protuberances along both sides) also came. The “blisters” reduced their speed by about three knots, but, being safe at anchor, they served especially as marking points for survey and “registration.” All these ships played an important part in the coming operations; and in the later months of the campaign, when cross-observation from De Tott’s Battery point and Cape Helles had been established, the large “monitors” stationed off Rabbit Island did invaluable service by suppressing the heavy guns on the Asiatic side.
Almost equally surprising was the appearance of several motor-lighters, inevitably called “Beetles.” Originally constructed for the same proposal as the monitors, they were long, iron barges moving under their own oil power, and built to transport 500 men or 50 horses apiece. From the prow projected a swinging platform or drawbridge, which, hanging elevated as the lighter moved, had the look of a beetle’s forceps and antennæ. The iron deck and sides gave absolute protection against rifle-fire or shrapnel, and if the lighters had been sent out for the first landings, hundreds of lives might have been saved and the history of the war transformed, but only few were ready before May or June.
THE 10th, 11th, AND 13th DIVISIONS
As to military reinforcement, its necessity was obvious, since by the end of July the casualties amounted to nearly 50,000; in round numbers, 8000 killed, 30,000 wounded (many, of course, returned to service), and 11,000 missing (many killed).[142] The 29th Division was the best supplied with drafts, but on the last day of July it counted only 219 officers and 8424 men. As we have seen, the brigades of the 13th (Western) Division, under Major-General F. C. Shaw, began to arrive in the first half of July, and were stationed with the divisions at Helles to gain experience, which served them well.[143] The 11th (Northern) Division, under Major-General Frederick Hammersley, began to arrive early in the second half of July, two brigades being stationed at Imbros, and one (the 33rd) sent to Helles for a brief experience.[144] The 10th (Irish) Division, under Lieutenant-General Sir Bryan Mahon, arrived towards the end of July, and half of it was stationed at Mitylene (Lesbos) on the inlet of Iero (about 6 miles from the town of Mitylene), guarded by the old battleship Canopus (Captain Grant).[145] These three Divisions belonged to the New (so-called Kitchener’s) Army. The infantry of two Territorial Divisions were also promised—the 53rd (Welsh) and 54th (East Anglian)—but they did not begin to arrive till August 10. They were about half below their nominal strength, and had no guns.[146]
AEROPLANES AND REINFORCEMENTS
As to aeroplanes, compared with subsequent developments the service was necessarily rather primitive. The six or eight seaplanes attached to the Ark Royal were unable to rise to any great height—not over 2000 feet. Commander Charles Samson established an aerodrome at Tenedos early in the campaign for British and French planes,[147] and there was an emergency landing-place at Helles. In June, Tenedos was left to the French, and Colonel Frederick Sykes, R.N.A.S., took command over the two British wings (Commander Samson and Lieut.-Colonel Gerard) stationed at Imbros. At the end of July about 30 planes of different types were in action, doing excellent service in observation and photography. But none of them were “fighting machines,” and, as no anti-aircraft guns were supplied till just at the end of the campaign, the Turkish “Fokker” planes from Chanak were able to continue bombing our lines on the Peninsula and the General Headquarters at Imbros. On the sandy cliff beside the headquarters a large shed was erected for a few small airships, cigar-shaped, with silvery balloons (they were known as “Silver Babies”), which were used to scout over the channel between Imbros and the Peninsula on the watch for submarines. The late autumn gales tore the green canvas covering off the shed, and ultimately it was removed to Mudros.
By the beginning of August, Sir Ian Hamilton had the following military forces under his command: VIIIth Army Corps (29th, 42nd, and 52nd Divisions); IXth Army Corps (10th, 11th, and 13th Divisions); Anzac Army Corps (Australian and New-Zealand-and-Australian Divisions); French Corps Expéditionnaire d’Orient (1st and 2nd Divisions); General Headquarter Troops (Royal Naval Division), together with the infantry of the 53rd and 54th Divisions then on their way out. Eleven divisions present and two more coming represented a nominal force of about 240,000 to 250,000. The actually available forces amounted to less than half those numbers (about 120,000 rifles), always short of howitzers, guns, shells, trench-mortars, and bombs. The Turkish forces on the Peninsula at the same time were estimated at about 61,000, with 39,000 in reserve.[148]
The reinforcements by land and sea rendered a change of strategy possible. They were, in fact, supplied for this purpose. It had now become evident that the Achi Baba lines were too strong for direct assault. Its gradual slopes, free from dead ground, made the hill an ideal position for defence, and this natural advantage had been so increased by a complicated system of frontal and communication trenches, by barbed wire, machine-guns, scattered batteries, and a series of powerful redoubts, that an almost impregnable fortress by this time checked further advance. In fact, the army at Helles was like a besieged garrison, being continually threatened with assault from the front, and by the Asiatic guns on its right flank and rear. The sea remained open, but that outlet for communication, already exposed to the enemy’s submarines and heavy artillery, would soon be imperilled by autumnal storms. The Army Corps at Anzac was similarly besieged, except that the dead ground sheltered by precipitous cliffs reduced the danger to life in rear of the firing trenches. To break down the siege a sortie in force had become essential. The only alternative was to cling to the positions in the hope of a diversion from Russia or Bulgaria. But during July the great Russian retreat from Galicia and Poland continued almost uninterrupted, and on August 4, Warsaw fell. As to Bulgaria, the Russian disasters confirmed Tsar Ferdinand’s confidence in the ultimate victory of his German compatriots, and a resolute people’s ancestral detestation of the Serbs gave him the support of their passionate desire to recover the lands lost to them in the second Balkan War.