First battle of Krithia
Map of Cape Helles, red dots are the starting positions of the first battle for Krithia
| date | April 28, 1915 |
|---|---|
| place | Cape Helles , Gallipoli , Ottoman Empire |
| output | Turkish victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 13,000 | |
| losses | |
|
3,000 |
|
Naval Operations - Arıburnu - Helles - Krithia I - Krithia II - Krithia III - Zığındere - Sarı Bayır - Kirte Bağları - Kanlısırt - Anafartalar - Anafarta - Kılıçbayır - Conk Bayırı - Scimitar Hill - Height 60
The First Battle of Krithia was the first Allied advance after landing at Cape Helles during the Battle of Gallipoli . The attack began on April 28, 1915 at Cape Helles, where British troops had landed three days earlier, and collapsed as a result of incompetent leadership, lack of communication and the exhaustion and demoralization of the troops.
location
On the morning of April 25, 1915, the British 29th Division under the command of Major General Aylmer Hunter-Westons landed on five stretches of beach around Cape Helles on the extreme southwest tip of the Gallipoli peninsula . The two main landing zones 'V' and 'W' were fiercely contested and the British had suffered heavy losses. A flanking landing operation on the beach section 'Y' on the Aegean coast met with no resistance. But since the troops had received no further instructions there, they made no further attempt to advance inland or to dig in. On this first day, the British milestones , the village of Krithia (Turkish: Kirte , today Alçıtepe ) and the nearby hill Achi Baba , were completely undefended. When Turkish reinforcements approached later that day, the British were forced to evacuate stretch of beach 'Y'. The chance for a quick win was missed.
After fierce fighting, the British managed to establish themselves on the beach and secure two landing heads. The French Corps expéditionnaire d'Orient , which on April 25 had initially launched a diversionary attack on Kumkale on the other side of the strait, had now crossed and had taken up positions on the British right flank. On the afternoon of April 27, the Allies succeeded in shifting the front line about 2 km inland towards Krithia. This new front line was the starting point for the attack on Krithia planned for the next day.
The bitter resistance the Turks had put up on the day of the landing led the British to overestimate the real strength of the defenders. Since they considered the Turkish soldiers to be weak fighters, they believed that they were facing two Turkish divisions. In reality, the number of defenders was inferior to the attackers by a ratio of 1: 3. The Turks only had two regiments there, but they resisted doggedly until reinforcements arrived.
The battle
The battle began on April 28 at around 8:00 a.m. with barrage from the ship's artillery. It was planned that the French would hold their position on the right wing while the British would swing, capture Krithia and storm Achi Baba from the south and west.
This overly complicated plan of attack was only roughly explained to the brigade and battalion commanders. Division commander Hunter-Weston remained far from the front in his command post and was unable to actually lead the battle.
The advance made good progress at first, but when the British encountered pockets of Turkish resistance, the closed front was torn apart and the advancing units no longer had flank protection. Further inland, the advance was delayed by the difficult terrain; the British soldiers came across four deep gorges running from the heights around Achi Baba towards the Cape.
On the far left wing of the British was the Gully Ravine gorge, which was rough and torn like the entire area on Anzac Bay . Two battalions of the 87th Brigade , the 1st Battalion of the Border Regiment and the 1st Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers , entered the gorge but were stopped by a machine gun nest near the beach section 'Y'. A further advance in this gorge was impossible until the 1st Battalion of the 6th Gurkha Rifles finally succeeded in the night of May 12th to 13th, 1915, to occupy and eliminate this Turkish defensive position. The area there has since been known as 'Gurkha Bluff'.
The exhausted, demoralized and leaderless British troops were no longer able to gain further ground in the face of the increasing Turkish resistance. On the contrary, they were thrown back to their original positions by Turkish counter-attacks.
At 6:00 p.m. the attack was canceled.
Review
13,000 Allied soldiers took part in this attack. They suffered losses of 3,000 men. Compared to the later battles, the first battle at Krithia was only a minor one. But it made it very clear that the British assumption of an easy victory over a weak opponent was an illusion.
After that day, Cape Helles became the scene of several attrition battles, in which success was measured by gaining ground of a few hundred meters or taking a ditch.