General Hamilton had picked round the southern point of thi land his troops. Two faced tt others the open sea. These lam *beaches)) were designated by alphabet for want of distinct geog tions. Inland from these bead had constructed a vast labyrint and barbed-wire entanglements plainly visible from the ships at spots facing the straits were (1) inside Sedd-el-Bahr about 300 facing a semi-circle of steeply-rising ground, designated Beach V; and (2) a small beach by Eslci Hissarlilc, on the east of Morto Bay, designated Beach S. The others were (3) a small sandy beach just south of Teklce Burnu, Beach W; (4) half a mile north of this was another small break in the cliffs, Beach X; (5) two miles further up the coast the mouth of a small streatn indenting these cliffs, Beach Y 2; with another, one mile and a half up a scrub covered gully which looked as if active infantry might be able to scramble up on the heights, Beach Y. The next (6) was about 12 miles farther up, above Gaba Tepe. As already mentioned, the troops set out from Tenedos on 24 April 1915 and were to be landed early in the morning of the 25th. The landing was begun at 4:20 A.M. Two main landings were talce place— the first at a point just north of Gaba Tepe, the second on the southern end of the peninsula. In addition a landing was to be made at Kum Kale (a promontory on the Asiatic shore), and a demonstration in force to be carried out in the Gulf of Saros (Xeros) near Bulair. The night was calm and very clear, with a brilliant moon, which set at 3 A.M.; the battleships Queen, London and Prince of Wales were delegated to land the troops north of Gaba Tepe, while the battleships Triumph, Majestic and the cruiser Bacchante were to cover the landing by gunfire. In this landing a surprise was attempted. There was no sign of life on the shore; a thin veil of mist hung motionless over the promontory; the sea was as smooth as glass. As soon as it was light enough (5 A.m.) a violent bombardment of the enemy's defenses was begun. Meanwhile the troops were being rapidly transferred to the small boats in which they were to be towed ashore. Not a move on the part of the enemy; and except for a few shells thrown from the Asiatic side of the straits the guns of the fleet remained unanswered. The tows drawing the troops to the Gaba Tepe landing failed to maintain their exact direction and landed the men more than a mile north of the spot selected. The boats approached the land in silence and darlcness, and they were close to the shore be fore the enemy stirred. Then, suddenly, about a battalion of Turks was seen running along the beach to intercept the line of boats. Not a word passed among the invaders— all remained perfectly orderly and quiet in the boats await ing the enemy's fire, which soon opened and caused many casualties among helpless targets. The moment the boats touched bottom, the Australians leaped ashore and went straight for the enemy with fixed bayonets. So vigorous was the onslaught that the Turks made no attempt to withstand it and fled from ridge to ridge pursued by the 3d Australian brigade. The 1st and 2d brigades came shortly after and were all disembarked by 2 P.M., by which time 12,000 men and two batteries of Indian moun tain artillery had been landed. The disembarka tion of more artillery was delayed, owing to the enemy's heavy guns firing on the anchorage and forcing the transports to stand farther out to sea. The wild, rough nature of the ground, the necessity for sending any formed detachments as quickly as they landed to the critical point of the moment, and the headlong valor of the scattered groups who had pressed farther in land than was intended, all led to confusion and mixing up of units. Eventually the mixed crowd of fighting men, some advancing from the beach, others falling back before the on coming Turkish supports, solidified into a semi drcular position with its right about a mile north of Gaba Tepe and its left on the high ground over Fisherman's Hut. During this period parties of the 9th and 10th battalions charged and put out of action three of the enemy's Krupp guns. Meanwhile, the disem barkation of the Australian division was being followed by that of the New Zealand and Australian division— two brigades only. For four hours, from 11 A.M., about 20,003 Turks attacked the whole line; with the assistance of the naval guns the attack was repulsed. Late in the afternoon the Turks made a third de termined counter-attack against the 3d brigade, which stubbornly held its ground. Constant at tacks were launched by the Turlcs during the night, but the line held firm, notwithstanding that the men had had practically no rest during the previous night and had been fighting all day over a most difficult country exposed to heavy shrapnel fire in the open. Very serious casualties were incurred. Persistent attacks by the Turks for the next few days prevented the reorganization of the units, thus malcing any advance impossible until that could be done. On the night of 2 May an effort was made to seize a commanding knoll in front of the centre of the line, but the enemy's machine guns were too scientifically placed, and 800 men were lost without advantage beyond the infliction of a corresponding loss to the enemy. An attempt to seize Gaba Tepe on the 4th also failed, owing to the interminable maze of barbed wire. The Turks also lost heavily; some 24,000 men were constantly kept fighting, many being lcilled and wounded by the Australian snipers. The scene of this particular landing of the Australians and New Zealanders has since become known as °Anzac Cove.x' The first troops landed at Y Beach, the next, the King's Own Scottish Borderers, landed down the coast on the Gulf of Saros. These arrived in two battleships and two transports off Cape Tekeh. At 4 A.M. they approached in the boats covered by fire from H.M.S. Goliath. The landing was successfully and expeditiously carried out, the troops gaining the top of the high cliffs overloolcing this beach without being opposed, a piece of good fortune due to the well-placed fire from the ships. They were followed by the Plymouth Battalion Royal Marines, who met with severe opposition on the top of the cliffs, where fire from covering ships was of little assistance. After heavy fighting they were forced to re-embark on the 26th. The landing of the 2d Battalion Royal Fusiliers at Beach X was met with heavy fire from the cliffs on both sides. The Intplacable came close in shore and bombarded those positions until the boats had reached the beach. The men were all landed by 7 A.M. An hour later the Euryalus approached Beach W and the Implacable Beach X, subjecting both spots to a fierce bombardment, which was kept up until the last moment before landing. But the fire
did not have the expected effect on the wire entanglements and trenches, for the troops en countered a withering fusilade from rifles, ma chine guns and pom poms, and found the ob structions on the beach undamaged. The Lancashire Fusiliers rushed some Maxim guns cleverly concealed in the cliffs, but suffered heav-y losses in taking possession of the beach and its approaches. The W and V beaches were the only two of any size in this area on. which troops, other than infantry, could be landed, and failure to capture Beach X might have produced serious consequences, as the landing at V was held up. Turldsh snipers swept the shore and a fierce infantry battle was carried on around it throughout the entire day and the following night. The boats' crews also lost heavily and had not the satisfaction of being able to return the fire. During the night of April 25-26 the enemy attacked continuously, and it was not until the afternoon of the 26th, when Beach V was really captured, that the British position on W was secured. Beach V caused the most trouble, for its flanks were strongly guarded by the old castle and village of Sedd-el-Bahr on the east and perpendicular cliffs on the west, while its whole foreshore was covered with wire entanglements. As at all the other places, the first landing here was made in boats; but the experiment was tried of landing the retnainder of the covering force bv means of a collier, the River Clyde, which had been specially prepared for the occasion by having large ports cut in her sides, and gang ways built whereby the troops could reach the lighters which were to form a bridge to the beach. The same as W, Beach V was heavily bombarded, with a similar result, namely, that the defense was not put out of commission. When the first troops attempted to land they were met with a murderous fire from rifles and machine guns, which was not opened until the boats had cast off from the steamers. Nearly all -the men of the first trip were killed or wounded; a few managed to find slight shelter under a bank on the beach; one boat entirely disappeared and in another there were only two survivors. As soon as the boats had reached the beach the River Clyde was run ashore under a violent fire toward the eastern end where she could form a convenient breakwater during future landing of stores and other supplies.
As the steamer grounded, the lighters which were to form the bridge to the shore were run out ahead of the collier; but they failed to reach their proper stations, and a gap was left between two lighters over which it was impossible for men to cross. Some at tempted to land by jumping from the lighter which was in position into the sea and wading ashore. This method proved too costly in life, the lighter being soon heaped with dead; the disembarkation was ordered to cease. Com mander Unwin, R.N.. with a handful of mid shipmen and sailors left the River Clyde and, standing up to their waists in water under heavy fire, got the lighters into position. Though the bridge to the shore was now pass able, it could not be used; any one appearing on it was instantly shot down, hence the troops remained on the steamer till dark. A launch and a pinnace manned by volunteer crews from the warship Albion attempted to complete the bridge next morning, but the Turkish fire rendered the undertaking impossible, and the work was finally carried out in the dark. No more troops were landed on Beach V, and those originally intended for this spot were diverted to Beach W. Some of the troops, as already mentioned, found shelter of a precarious nature on the shore, whence they could not emerge as the Turks directed an uninterrupted fire against their cover. For a whole day they lay hidden; the warships and some Maxims mounted in the River Clyde did their best to keep down the enemy's fire. Many heroic deeds were per formed in rescuing wounded men in the water. During. the night of the 25th-26th the men remainmg in the steamer were able to land under cover of darkness and obtain some shelter on the beach and near the village of Sedd-el Bahr, for the possession of which now began a most stubborn fight, which continued until the afternoon of the z6th, supported by gunfire from the Albicm. When that vessel ceased fire the troops charged and stormed Hill 141, the capture of which effectively cleared the enemy from the neighborhood of Beach V, which could now be used for the disembarkation of more troops.
The detachment detailed for Beach S, at Eski Hissarlik Point, consisted of the 2d South Wales Borderers. Their landing was delayed by the current, but by 7:30 A.M. it had been successfully accomplished at the cost of some 50 casualties. A half-company of Dublin Fusiliers had landed without opposition at Sedd-el-Bahr; they made several attempts to enter the village of that name, but were com pclled to withdraw with heavy loss. On Beach S the Borderers and a detachment of the Lon don Field Company (Royal Engineers) were landed in boats; little opposition was encoun tered, and the subsequent enemy attacks were easily repulsed with the aid of the covering ships. The landing at Kum Kale was under taken by the French. This point is on the Asiatic side of the Dardanelles, and it was of great importance to prevent the enemy from occupying positions on this side, whence gun fire could be brought to bear on the transports off Cape Helles. After a strong preliminary bombardment the French began to land about 10 A.m., and by the afternoon their whole force was ashore. When they attempted to advance Yeni Shehr. their immediate objective, they were stopped by heavy fire from concealed trenches south of Kum Kale village. During the night of the 25th-26th the Turks made several counter-attacks, all of which were re pulsed. During one of these fights 400 Turks were captured, their retreat having been cut off by the fire from the battleships. On the 26th, when it became apparent that no advance was possible here without entailing severe losses and the landing of large reinforcements, the order was given for the French to withdraw and re-embark. By the evening of 27 April the Allied forces had established themselves Oil a line some three miles long from Eski His sarlilc northwest to a point on the Gulf of Saros, 3,200 yards northeast of Cape Tekke — the mere tip of the peninsula. All the beaches except Y, which had been abandoned, were in worlcing order so that an advance could be undertaken. On that day the Queen Elizabeth, the most powerful vessel afloat, performed a remarkable feat of naval gunnery in sinking — in three shots— a Turkish transport in the Dardanelles at a distance of nine miles, firing over a range of hills from the other side of the peninsula.