The Dardanelles campaign

by Henry Woodd Nevinson

FAILURE OF WATER DISTRIBUTION

The Divisional Generals reported to the Corps Commander that they were unable to move owing to the exhaustion of their men.[186] Undoubtedly the men were exhausted. The sea journey, the sleepless nights, the great heat, the excitement of their first battle, the toilsome marching upon loose sand, and the rations of hard biscuit and salt “bully” had exhausted them. The 11th Division from Imbros was also infected with the prevailing diarrhœa, and in a few cases with dysentery. But the worst exhaustion came from thirst. In spite of all those elaborate precautions, the water supply broke down. Plenty of water was there. The water-lighters had arrived on the 7th. One was at A West; one went aground at “Old A,” and men swam out to her; but Commodore Keyes towed her near enough ashore for the hose to reach the men that afternoon. A third was on C Beach, and probably the fourth, for the Krene had tugged in two, and was there herself, her stem on the shore. What was wanting was not water, but the troughs and receptacles for issuing and distribution. Men came with nothing but water-bottles, sometimes a dozen or more, slung round their necks, and went naked with them into the sea in hopes of drawing from the tanks. When a hose was attached, they pierced holes in the cover, and drank, then leaving the water to run waste. By Sunday morning a poor and leaking trough was stuck up at one point, but it would not hold water, and the men and mules crowding round it impeded distribution. The Prah (containing all the requisites for supply—troughs, hose, and implements for well-sinking), owing to some over-scrupulous observance of regulations, did not issue them till some days later. The anguish of thirst was intolerable. Up in the firing lines some went almost mad.[187] The suffering of the men exposed to the glaring sun upon the rocks of Kiretch Tepe was most severe during Sunday, though it was afterwards (perhaps that night) relieved by the kindly generosity of a destroyer (some say the Grampus, but evidence is for the Foxhound), which was deputed always to patrol that Gulf of Xeros coast, and on this occasion cut her own water-tank loose and brought it ashore. Even on the beach, where fresh water was running to waste, men filled water-bottles from the sea. So serious were the reports from the front that General Stopford ordered the disembarkation of the artillery horses to be delayed till the mules for carrying up water had been landed.[188] Thus one thing acted upon another, for it was want of artillery which finally induced the Corps Commander to believe that immediate advance was impossible. Brigades and even battalions were also much confused and scattered, as we have seen. But the ultimate cause of the confusion, and of the failure in water supply, and so of the lack of guns, was the decision to land part of the force inside the bay, and at a beach where any observer might have suspected shallows fit only for wading.[189]

SIR IAN AT SUVLA

Meantime Sir Ian, growing continually more impatient at the silence, resolved about noon to leave his central position at Imbros and investigate for himself the situation of his northern force. For some unexplained reason his destroyer, the Arno, instead of keeping steam always up, had just had her fires drawn, and could not start till 4 p.m. During those hours of maddening delay, Sir Ian’s worst suspicions were confirmed by a telegram from a General Staff Officer (Lieut.-Colonel Aspinall, a trustworthy judge of military affairs) “drawing attention to the inaction of our own troops, and to the fact that golden opportunities were being missed.”[190] Arriving at Suvla at 5 p.m., Sir Ian at once visited General Stopford on board the Jonquil, where he still kept his headquarters so as to advise upon any action, if any action seemed advisable. There Sir Ian heard, as he dreaded to hear, that nothing could be done that day. The exhaustion of the men, the confusion of units, and other pleas mentioned above were given as reasons. But the deeper reason lay in comfortable satisfaction with present results, and in the absence of inspiring or remorseless energy. It is an old military principle that “A General who refuses to pursue a retreating enemy on the plea that his troops are tired, should be at once relieved of his command.” In Sir Ian’s own words: “Driving power was required, and even a certain ruthlessness, to brush aside pleas for respite for tired troops. The one fatal error was inertia. And inertia prevailed.”

Finding it so, Sir Ian, driven by the extremity of the crisis, took a step unusual in a Commander-in-Chief. He resolved to try what personal influence he could use upon the Divisional Commanders. The Corps Commander raised no objection, and, accompanied by Commodore Roger Keyes and Lieut.-Colonel Aspinall, Sir Ian hastened to Major-General Hammersley’s headquarters at the foot of Lala Baba. He pointed out that time above all price was slipping away unused; that “the sands were running out fast”; that information showed Turkish reinforcements already approaching. General Hammersley replied that his force was much scattered; it was impossible to get orders for a night attack round to the battalions; and that a general attack was arranged for the early morning. He admitted, however, that the 32nd Brigade (formerly under Haggard, who was wounded on the previous day, and now under Colonel Minogue) was more or less concentrated and could move. His General Staff Officer, Colonel Neil Malcolm, an experienced soldier, confirmed this opinion, and Sir Ian took the further unusual step of directly ordering this brigade or any force, even if it were only a company, to advance at once without waiting for the morning’s general attack. Their objective was to be the high ground rising towards Tekke Tepe on the north of Anafarta Sagir. They were to act as the advance guard to the attack.

POSITION OF 32ND BRIGADE, EVENING, AUGUST 8

SCIMITAR HILL ABANDONED

It was now 6 p.m. In ignorance, Sir Ian had given an order destined to entail disaster. It appears almost certain that neither General Hammersley nor his Chief of Staff knew exactly where the battalions of the 32nd Brigade stood at the time. Otherwise they must have informed Sir Ian that, as a matter of fact, one of the battalions (the 6th East York Pioneers) had advanced that day, had occupied Hill 70 (Scimitar Hill), and were at that moment in position there—Scimitar Hill, next to W Hill the most vital of all the semicircle of heights overlooking the bay! Closely supported by the 7th South Staffords, the Pioneer Battalion was there only waiting for the brigade’s further advance upon W Hill or Anafarta Sagir, to both of which it is the key. Lieut.-Colonel Moore, in command of that battalion, had even sent out three officers’ patrols, one of which actually reached the top of Tekke Tepe, another the outskirts of Anafarta Sagir, the third a point near Abrikja, though unable to return till dark. But no one in high authority appears to have known of these movements. In consequence of this ignorance, the Divisional General, instead of leaving the selection of battalions to the Brigadier, named the 6th East York Pioneers as the battalion to lead the advance, believing it to be the freshest and least tried. Colonel Minogue obeyed and ordered the battalion to rejoin the brigade concentrated at Sulajik. Colonel Moore, commanding the 6th East Yorks, obeyed also, but did not receive the order till 3 a.m. of the 9th. He then withdrew his tired and sleepless battalion to Sulajik. Without a blow, Scimitar Hill was abandoned. It was one of those apparently casual misfortunes which throughout the campaign balked the fairest hopes just at the moment of victory, as though an evil and ironic destiny mocked at the best-laid schemes.

Having heard from General Hammersley that the water supply was now arranged and the troops rested, Sir Ian returned to the Arno and remained on board that night in the bay. Hearing no sound of fighting, he assumed that the brigade had accomplished its task and established itself on the slopes of Tekke Tepe overlooking Anafarta, without opposition.[191]