Book-bot.com - read famous books online for free

New York Times Current History; The European War, Vol 2, No. 3, June, 1915 - April-September, 1915 by Various
page 264 of 488 (54%)

While Australians and New Zealanders were fighting so gallantly against
heavy odds north of Gaba Tepe, British troops crowned themselves with
equal laurels at the southern end of the Gallipoli Peninsula. A firm
footing now has been obtained. The line stretches across the southern
end of the entire peninsula, with both flanks secured by the fire of
warships. The army holds many convenient landing places immune from the
enemy's guns.

The problems British landing parties faced differed from those the
Australians solved further north. Here the cliffs are not high and
irregular, but rise about fifty feet from the water's edge, with
stretches of beach at intervals. Five of these beaches were selected for
disembarkation under the cover of warships. It was hoped the Turkish
trenches would be rendered untenable and the barbed wire entanglements
cut by the fire of the ships, but these expectations were not realized.

For example, the landing place between Gaba Tepe and Cape Helles was the
scene of a desperate struggle which raged all day. The Turks held barbed
wire protected trenches in force and their snipers covered the
foreshore. After hours of bombardment the troops were taken ashore at
daybreak. Part of the force scaled the cliffs and obtained a precarious
footing on the edge of the cliffs, but boats which landed along the
beach were confronted with a solid hedge of barbed wire and exposed to a
terrible cross-fire. Every effort was made to cut the wire, but almost
all those who landed here were shot down. Later the troops on the cliffs
succeeded in driving back the Turks and clearing the beach.

The most terrible of all landings, however, was on the beach between
Cape Helles and the Seddul Bahr. Here the broken valley runs inland
DigitalOcean Referral Badge