by Peter Hart
Sergeant Denis Moriarty, 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers, 86th Brigade, 29th Division
The exhausted British and French troops were hard pressed.
My regiment alone got through 150,000 rounds, and they were only 360 strong. The Turks were simply driven on to the barbed wire in front of the trenches by their German officers, and shot down by the score. At one point they actually got into the trenches, but were driven out by the bayonet. They must have lost thousands. The fighting is of the most desperate kind – very little quarter on either side. The men are absolutely mad to get at them, as they mutilate our wounded when they catch them. For the first three nights I did not have a wink of sleep and actually fell asleep once during the big night attack.5
Lieutenant Henry O’Hara, 1st Royal Dublin Fusiliers, 86th Brigade, 29th Division
The myth of the omnipresent German officers malevolently controlling the Turkish troops, so common in British veterans’ recollections, is surely nonsense given their very restricted numbers, and indeed relatively high rank. It can probably be explained by the better quality and cut of the uniform of the Turkish officers, which provoked unwarranted assumptions that they were German.
These Turkish counter-attacks were launched with maximum intensity against the French on the right of the line. By this time the Colonial Brigade had come ashore and slotted into the line between the Métropolitaine Brigade and the 29th Division. Here there was a real problem for they had had little time to dig in properly. A night attack by massed screaming Turks was a terrifying ordeal and it is unsurprising that many of them bolted. Groups of Turks pushed on, over-running Zimmerman’s Farm, some even reaching Morto Bay. This was not the result of colonial troops simply failing to keep up to the mark but rather of a vicious, well-executed attack carried out on exhausted men. The Turks got almost as far as threatening Sedd el Bahr, where Lieutenant Henri Feuille was encamped even though his 150-mm guns had still not been disembarked.
Fanatical Turks, good brave soldiers, were killed without mercy by our bayonets, in the hand-to-hand struggle. In the course of the night, they broke through almost to the cypress trees not far from our village. We could hear their shouts, their joyful cries in the certain belief that they were close to victory. We retreated, forced back by their savage efforts and heavy sacrifice of human lives. To cover the area of ground in front of us and above the cypresses, and to give the Turks the impression that the hill was occupied, I fired volleys of rifle fire. None the less, the Senegalese were overwhelmed and fell back in disorder. To show their advance, so that their artillery could fire in support, the Turks lit red flares. Green flares marked out the trenches they had recaptured and they also had white flares, which they lit to illuminate our defeat, hopeful that at any moment, if their all-powerful Allah so wished, we would be thrown without mercy into the sea. The night passed in an agonised anxiety as to the outcome of hand-to-hand fighting in which every life is in doubt. The dawn came at last, lighting up a scene of carnage and the Turks retired to their trenches accompanied by salvos of 75mm shells. We have held the line but the dead and the wounded are legion.6
Lieutenant Henri Feuille, 52nd Battery, 30th Regiment, CEO
In the end a motley crew of gunners and hastily scraped-together reserves had managed to halt the Turkish attacks.
At night there was little that the Royal Navy could do to support the French, but once it was daylight again they were perfectly placed to cause devastation to the Turkish troops caught in the open.
Weighed; went up to assist. Could see nothing. Asked French for information. Reply only call for help. Fired blind. Beach officer reported French running, re-embarkation likely. Moved down close in to De Tott’s in case, to cover re-embarkation. 4.30: daylight. Moved up. French advanced. Fired 12-pdr at their shrapnel bursts. Found ourselves 1,500 yards on flank, in view of both sides. Saw Turks retreating. Gave them 6-inch: they went back over brow of hill. Hedge on brow. Moved to see behind hedge. 10 minutes later, 5.15, saw reforming again behind hedge. Saw them signal advance. Let them get well started then let rip. They gave up at once and fell back. Hose-piped trench and waited. 6.25. Another try: got them properly and finished them with 6-inch shrapnel.7
Captain Bertram Smith, HMS Vengeance
Helped by the British Navy, the French counter-attacked vigorously on the morning of 2 May, managing to regain the ground they had lost. Alongside them were the 2nd Naval Brigade of the RND who had hitherto been held back in reserve since being put ashore on the night of 29 April. With no detailed knowledge of the situation or indeed where they were, the Hood Battalion began their advance. It was utterly futile and they soon attracted shrapnel fire. With no time to dig in and unsupported on either flank, they were hopelessly exposed and soon had to retreat. As they did so Lieutenant Charles Lister was wounded in somewhat undignified circumstances.
My company being in the second line retired last, and by the time we were moving the whole of our front was being searched with terrible effect. One of the shrapnel burst on the ground about thirty yards behind me and a pellet ricocheted the ground and struck me in the off-buttock. I thought it was a piece of stone at first. I had already been hit by several spent pellets without any effect. One went through coat and shirt and hardly marked my skin; another knocked in my water-bottle. However, this third one found its billet, and I was soon bleeding like a pig and walking indifferent well – I never fell down. It was an irritating moment, as I should have been there to rally our boys after the retirement. They did well, considering the trying circumstances and their relative rawness. I never saw a Turk within shooting distance. My return to the beach was easily accomplished for me on a stretcher, not so easily perhaps for the poor orderlies who had to carry me, and I had a feeling of great peace as I lay on my back and looked at the blue overhead. I should like to get back quick, because I have seen just enough to tantalise. It is rather like love-making in this.8
Lieutenant Charles Lister, Hood Battalion, 2nd Naval Brigade, RND
Lister had tried to conceal his wound, but was given away when his trousers filled with blood. He may not have been a professional soldier but he was brave enough. He would be back. Overall the Allied counter-attacks achieved little except more casualties.
On the night of 2 May there was a heavy outbreak of firing all along the line but no Turkish attack. Meanwhile, Second Lieutenant Raymond Weil came up to the initial battery position of the 39th Régiment d’Artillerie in the orchards on the outskirts of Sedd el Bahr village. The guns were blazing away into the dark but Weil took the opportunity to try to get some sleep.
I bedded myself down in a hole where another Lieutenant from our Battery was sleeping the sleep of the just! The moon rose and the gunfire quietened down as if enchanted; I profited from this to get a little sleep. I managed to lean my head on something more or less soft. But I was freezing so I got up to try to get warm. I decided to wait till dawn. The bombardment was intermittent and we didn’t fire for longer and longer periods. The sky began to light up the precise outline of the Asiatic coast, and I saw appearing at my feet the magnificent panorama of the bay, the Sedd el Bahr castle half destroyed by the bombardment, the encampment on the beach, and finally what remained of the village of Sedd el Bahr with its picturesque orchards. But then I had a disagreeable surprise when I noticed that my pillow was simply a corpse!9
Second Lieutenant Raymond Weil, 39th Régiment d’Artillerie, 1st Division, CEO
On the night of 3 May the Turks launched another strong night attack utilising their newly arrived 15th Division to augment the fast-fading 9th and 7th Divisions. By this time Weil’s guns were ready for action.
In the pitch dark we immediately let go a furious barrage; the fusillade carried on at the same pitch. It was a dreadful uninterrupted racket. We fired without a break all out! I had to yell in the middle of the din to make myself heard. All the neighbouring batteries were firing without respite. The Turkish batteries replied. The Asiatic coast, behind us, sprayed us copiou
sly with shells. We were perpetually dazzled by the flashes so we couldn’t see and we were deafened. Up to 1 a.m. it was a veritable furnace; the gunfire never stopped for a second.10
Second Lieutenant Raymond Weil, 39th Régiment d’Artillerie, 1st Division, CEO
Later when Weil arrived at a forward observation post he got the chance to see what he and the dreaded French 75mm guns had achieved; but he was all too aware of a potentially fatal weakness.
We had massacred the Turks, but we also had a lot of casualties. And I was aware of one terrible fact: we had no more shells left. The artillery park was exhausted; all that remained at the batteries were empty limbers but that was it! If the Turks attacked that night we were doomed.11
Second Lieutenant Raymond Weil, 39th Régiment d’Artillerie, 1st Division, CEO
During this tense period, rumours of knavish Turkish tricks spread like wildfire. Everyone knew someone who had seen something untoward; few, if any, had experienced anything themselves, but still the rumours proliferated.
We learnt why the Senegalese had fled. A Captain had given the order to withdraw. The same Captain accompanied by two officers claiming to be English had passed through all the French lines, giving orders everywhere. He passed behind us and ordered us to fire higher and then not to fire at all under the pretext that there was nobody in front of us. We continued to fire stronger than ever; this was towards 5 o’clock in the morning. The three so-called officers were German spies who helped the Turkish advance. They were arrested during the day and will be judged as they deserve.12
Sergeant D’Arnaud Pomiro, 3rd Battalion, 175th Regiment, 1st (Métropolitaine) Brigade, 1st Division, CEO
Such stories passed up and down the lines; there was rarely, if ever, any truth in them. In the end the Turkish attacks failed as comprehensively as the previous Allied attempts. The narrow front at Helles restricted the possibility for manoeuvre and raw courage counted for little in the face of modern weapons.
In each case daybreak brought an overwhelming fire from the ships which compelled the Turks to withdraw to their positions. Only a part of the captured machine guns could be carried off. Painful as it was for me, I now had to give orders to abstain from further attacks on the Sedd el Bahr front and to remain on the defensive. But not an inch of ground was to be yielded as the enemy was not far from Achi Baba ridge, his next great objective. I ordered the Turkish troops of the first line to entrench themselves as close to the enemy as possible. A distance of a few paces between the hostile lines would inhibit the fire from the ships which would now equally endanger the troops of both sides.13
General Otto Liman von Sanders, Headquarters, Fifth Army
Even as the last of the Turkish night attacks was failing, a small party of Germans arrived carrying precious machine guns donated from the Goeben.
Lieutenant Bolz reported with a landing party of marines, eight machine guns and thirty-two men, a most heartily welcomed support. He was at once sent to the front line, where he did extremely well in spite of the difficult position, the pitch-black night, without knowledge of the country, in the midst of troops whose language he did not know and whose uniform he did not wear. The Turks naturally took the German sailors for the English, and a terrible catastrophe was only just prevented by the lucky arrival and intervention of Major Mühlmann. The news of the arrival of German machine guns in the front line gave new life to the defenders.14
Colonel Hans Kannengiesser, Headquarters, 9th Division, Fifth Army
Now the British really would be facing massed Maxim firepower; on a front as narrow as Helles this made a genuine difference. But the failure of the Turkish night attacks led to Colonel von Sodenstern being replaced as the commander of the Helles force (henceforth to be known as the Southern Group) by Brigadier General Weber Pasha. Although its theoretical strength had risen to thirty-one battalions, the excessive casualties suffered in the wild counter-attacks had reduced its effective manpower to just 15,000 rifles. Prompted by Liman, the Turks had finally committed to standing where they were, in front of the village of Krithia, defending every yard and counter-attacking wherever possible.
THE SITUATION AT HELLES was by this time highly unfavourable to the Allies. It was evident that the MEF could not possibly advance without significant reinforcements. The 29th Division was exhausted and near demoralised; the RND, an inexperienced formation further hampered by a lack of the proper artillery element, had been split up. The French 1st Division had suffered severe casualties and had already called for reinforcements. The 2nd Division of the CEO, under the command of General Maurice Bailloud, had been despatched by the French but would not arrive at Helles until 6 May. Hamilton needed a substantial injection of troops to have any chance of reaching Achi Baba. Speed was also vital, for it was evident that every day that passed would allow the Turks to further strengthen their defences. He had already sent for the 29th Indian Brigade from Egypt; now he had to swallow his pride and send for the 42nd Division, which had been earmarked by Kitchener as a possible reinforcement from Egypt. These were inexperienced territorial troops, many of whom had only enlisted on the outbreak of war. One young officer, Lieutenant George Horridge, fretted as to how he might respond to the challenges that lay ahead.
On arrival off Cape Helles in daylight it dawned on one more forcibly that this was it. Everyone wonders what will happen when one actually arrives at the war. Will it be horrible, will one be afraid, will one be able to carry out one’s duty, will one be killed or maimed or perhaps only mildly wounded.15
Lieutenant George Horridge, 1/5th Lancashire Fusiliers, 125th Brigade, 42nd Division
As only the 125th Brigade could arrive before the next intended assault it was temporarily attached to the 29th Division, as was the 29th Indian Brigade. It was also decided that, as the situation at Anzac appeared to have stabilised, they could afford temporarily to move the New Zealand Brigade and the 2nd Australian Brigade down to Helles to augment the potential assault force for what would become known as the Second Battle of Krithia, beginning on Thursday 6 May.
The plans prepared by Hunter-Weston for this attack were totally unrealistic given the circumstances at Helles. The French would advance to capture Kereves Dere, and then act as a pivot as the British troops wheeled round to take Krithia and Yazi Tepe before attacking Achi Baba. Although some more guns had gone ashore there were still not enough to create a heavy barrage, even when augmented by naval gunfire. In any case, no one had yet been able to locate the Turkish positions accurately and hence this would still be an advance to contact – one of the most difficult battlefield manoeuvres. All would stand or fall depending on French success on the right, advancing between Achi Baba Nullah and the sea. The desultory bombardment began at 10.30 and although the troops were meant to attack at 11.00 they would be some forty minutes late in setting off. Lieutenant Henri Feuille, who was observing for his heavy guns (which had finally been brought ashore on 4 May), had a close view of the attack.
In perfect order our troops shook themselves out and set out to climb up the long spur which separated them from their enemies – No Man’s Land. They advanced as on exercise, our brave troops, no gaps in the ranks, punctuated by flashes of bayonets and blue glint of the rifles reflecting the rays of the mid-day sun. You would think they were on a training ground. But what is there to say? This wall of steel stops, hurls itself at an obstacle that it can’t breach, hesitates, immobile for an instant. Then, all the geometric lines fall apart. Groups running right, left, thrown into confusion. All the while Turkish machine guns, rattling away, tearing at the air, ceaselessly firing into a wall of palpitating flesh.16
Lieutenant Henri Feuille, 52nd Battery, 30th Regiment, CEO
It was a slaughter, but not all the attacks failed entirely.
Towards midday we reached our designated objective. All of a sudden we become diggers, each one with his entrenching tool hollowing out his trench to defend himself: you’ve got to believe that this doesn’t take long. A few minute
s suffice to get shelter from the bullets. While I’m digging the fire continues from both sides. The bullets pass over my head; but they don’t scare me at all.17
Sergeant D’Arnaud Pomiro, 3rd Battalion, 175th Regiment, 1st (Métropolitaine) Brigade, 1st Division, CEO
Meanwhile, to their left, the British began their advance. There was immediate confusion. To the men of the Hood Battalion, who were advancing up the Achi Baba Nullah, the Turks were invisible, but their bullets seemed to be everywhere.
There’s no sign of the French. It was a beautiful morning. We got to a farmhouse, what was left of it, knocked about but serviceable. We were lying alongside the corner of a vineyard, a bush hedge 3 or 4 feet high, a little ditch on the side. We started numbering. There must have been at least 50–60 men there. Then we were told to swing round behind the house and move forward. We found ourselves alongside another hedge of the vineyard. There was a big gap, about 12 feet wide, it looked like the roadway into the farmhouse. We lay there for a little then we were told to bear left, we were at the junction between the French and the British and we tried to keep connection with both flanks. We kept losing so many men we couldn’t do it. We could never locate these snipers. There were no trenches; it was open fighting. We had to rush along the front of the house and go through this gap. Only four people got through, we had to climb over the dead and the wounded. We got about 10 yards in front, and down we went. The bullets were hitting the sand, spraying us; you were spitting it out of your mouth.18
Ordinary Seaman Joe Murray, Hood Battalion, 2nd Naval Brigade, RND