May 1915 – Gallipoli Campaign

• The Australian Army

• Consisted of around 50
000 men at Gallipoli
• Standard issue rifle was
the SMLE Mk3
• Were largely untrained,
but fought with ferocity
• The Ottoman Army
• Consisted of around
315 000 men at Gallipoli
• Did not have a standard
issue, but mostly used
the Mauser Model 1893
• The Ottomans had an
efficient army, but they
were not well trained,
and fought mostly with
outdated equipment
 The dardenelles
• On the 2nd of January 1915, the British government
agreed to stage a campaign against the Ottoman
Turks, due to an appeal by the Grand Duke Nicholas
in command of the Russian armed forces.
• The goal was to take the Dardenelles strait, via the
navy, which would allow the army to land closer to
the capital city of Constantinople.
• Initially, the navy began by shelling the coastal
defenses. This bombardment continued for 6 days.
• It was stopped by bad weather, but resumed on
March 16th. By this point however, 3 dreadnoughts
had been sunk, both by weather and Ottoman
coastal batteries.
• It was decided that for the Royal Navy to continue,
they would need to land troops in order to capture
the strait.
• As well as the Anglo-French forces, the ANZAC, the
Australia and New Zealand Army Corps took part in
the landing.
 Cape helles
• The landings began on the 25th of April early in the morning. They took place at Cape Helles and Tekke
Burnu.
• Small beacheads were eventually secured with great difficulty, as the troops were under Ottoman fire as they
disembarked.
• The ANZAC were particularly held up by Mustafa Kemal, an Ottoman military leader.
• It was incredibly difficult for Allied forces to advance, as they had to scale cliffs by using narrow paths whilst
the Ottomans kept them suppressed.
• The ANZAC XX Corps had some initial success in an attack on an Ottoman fortress up the plateau of Cape
Helles, but were ultimately forced to retreat after taking excessive casualties.
• Further landings up the coast at Suvla Bay took place, but made little ground after some initial progress.
• Attempts to break out of the beacheads until September 1915.
• By this time, Lieutenant General Charles Monro and the secretary of war, Lord Kitchener both recommended
withdrawal.
• Pressure from the Australian and New Zealand public hastened this decision.
• The forces were withdrawn in stages as not to alert the Ottomans that they were withdrawing. Trench lines
were evacuated one by one, and soldiers were taken away on supply ships
• By the 6th of January 1916, all Allied forces had been withdrawn from Gallipoli.
• This marked the largest Ottoman victory of the war.
• By the end of the campaign, ANZAC and British losses amounted to over 300 000
• Ottoman casualties were valued at 250 000
• Despite these massive casualties, Gallipoli did not have a huge effect on the war overall.