[Illustration: Map: Gallipoli and surroundings]
MAP OF THE GALLIPOLI PENINSULA Showing the various landing places,
with inset of the Sari-Bair Region.
A strong current continually sifts down the straits from the Sea of
Marmora.
Forts were placed at the entrance on both the north and south side, but they were not heavily armed and were merely outposts. Fourteen miles from the mouth the straits become quite narrow, making a sharp turn directly north and then resuming their original direction. The channel thus makes a sharp double bend. At the entrance to the strait, known as the Narrows, were powerful fortresses, and the slopes were studded with batteries. Along both sides of the channel the low ground was lined with batteries. It was possible to attack the forts at fairly long range, but there was no room to bring any large number of ships into action at the same time.
At the time of the Gallipoli adventure there were probably nearly half a million of men available for a defense of the straits, men well armed and well trained under German leadership. The first step was comparatively easy. The operations against the other forts began at 8 A.M. on Friday, the 19th of February. The ships engaged were the Inflexible, the Agamemnon, the Cornwallis, the Vengeance and the Triumph from the British fleet, and the Bouvet, Suffren, and the Gaulois from the French, all under the command of Vice-Admiral Sackville Carden. The French squadron was under Rear-Admiral Gueprette. A flotilla of destroyers accompanied the fleet, and airplanes were sent up to guide the fire of the battleships.
At first the fleet was arranged in a semicircle some miles out to sea from the entrance to the strait. It afforded an inspiring spectacle as the ships came along and took up position, and the picture became most awe-inspiring when the guns began to boom. The bombardment at first was slow. Shells from the various ships screaming through the air at the rate of about one every two minutes.
The Turkish batteries, however, were not to be drawn, and, seeing this, the British Admiral sent one British ship and one French ship close in shore toward the Sedd-el-Bahr forts. As they went in they sped right under the guns of the shore batteries, which could no longer resist the temptation to see what they could do. Puffs of white smoke dotted the landscape on the far shore, and dull booms echoed over the placid water. Around the ships fountains of water sprang up into the air. The enemy had been drawn, but his marksmanship was obviously very bad. Not a single shot directed against the ships went within a hundred yards of either.
At sundown on account of the failing light Admiral Carden withdrew the fleet. On account of the bad weather the attack was not renewed until February 25th. It appeared that the outer forts had not been seriously damaged on the 19th, and that what injury had been done had been repaired. In an hour and a half the Cape Helles fort was silenced. The Agamemnon was hit by a shell fired at a range of six miles, which killed three men and wounded five. Early in the afternoon Sedd-el-Bahr was attacked at close range, but not silenced till after 5 P.M. At this time British trawlers began sweeping the entrance for mines, and during the next day the mine field was cleared for a distance of four miles up the straits.
As soon as this clearance was made the Albion, Vengeance and Majestic steamed into the strait and attacked Fort Dardanos, a fortification some distance below the Narrows. The Turks replied vigorously, not only from Dardanos but from batteries scattered along the shore. Believing that the Turks had abandoned the forts at the entrance, landing parties of marines were sent to shore. In a short time, however, they met a detachment of the enemy and were compelled to retreat to their boats. The outer forts, however, were destroyed, and their destruction was extremely encouraging to the Allies.
For a time a series of minor operations was carried on, meeting with much success. Besides attacks on forts inside of the strait, Smyrna was bombarded on March the 5th, and on March the 6th the Queen Elizabeth, the Agamemnon and the Ocean bombarded the forts at Chanak on the Asiatic side of the Narrows, from a position in the gulf of Saros on the outer side of the Gallipoli Peninsula. To all of these attacks the Turks replied vigorously and the attacking ships were repeatedly struck, but with no loss of life. On the 7th of March Fort Dardanos was silenced, and Fort Chanak ceased firing, but, as it turned out, only temporarily.
Preparations were now being made for a serious effort against the Narrows. The date of the attack was fixed for March 17th, weather permitting. On the 16th Admiral Carden was stricken down with illness and was invalided by medical authority. Admiral de Roebeck, second in command, who had been very active in the operations, was appointed to succeed him. Admiral de Roebeck was in cordial sympathy with the purposes of the expedition and determined to attack on the 18th of March. At a quarter to eleven that morning, the Queen Elizabeth, Inflexible, Agamemnon, Lord Nelson, the Triumph and Prince George steamed up the straits towards the Narrows, and bombarded the forts of Chanak. At 12.22 the French squadron, consisting of the Suffren, Gaulois, Charlemagne, and Bouvet, advanced up the Dardanelles to aid their English associates.