.
THE LAKDIKG OF THE AUP’MLIJU
O
AT
SULA
GREAT 5ADE. (from the GREAT TfAR,
H.M.WILSOI*. Paet 45. Page 337
For three days the huge fleet of trans^orts and warships in
. Gen e ral
Iludros Bay waited for the period of calm,
acsicixasxBajc make a landing...
Abereromby1 s example, and wh
was taken from the transport
the fleet
settled weather that was needed
Ian Hamilton followed Sir Ralph
waited at Kudros Bay every soldi
anfi transport the shore and from
king and disembark
shore to the ships
By general consent ian and Few Zealand troops were th
finest body of men ever sent forth i> y any country
The
to the field of battle,
average height in some of the battalions was close on six feet, and
every man looked like a trained athlete. I any of the privates had better
positions in civil life than their officers. This led to an intensely demo
cratic spirit in the Australasian Army, with excellent discipline, however
and a keenness for battle which was quite extraordinary. The attack on the
to Suez Canal had been a disappointment
They were eager for as tough a job as the
the men from the m
gular British Army under
taken at the Aisne, at Ypres, and at Keauve Chapelle. In the Dardanelles
they obtained w&at they wanted. For in the new Plevna the stubborn courage
and magnificent endurance of the Turks and the powerful armament and super
organising skill of the German staff gave our Second Expeditionary Force,
hund fifty thousand one of the most
arduous and terrible combats in the annals of warfare. To speak
plainly, we were faced
impossible. Half a mil
Even with half a milli
Dardanelles with a task
quite
¦iHfthe on
ten at least
it would
were
iiave b
needed to carry
a hard, long
that ver^edflm ^B
£ t throu gh •
and costly
operation,
drive ever
battle the
landing
and Germans had
arty back into
good
the
they coul
reason to suppose that
the first weeks of the
exalted to
sea,as
(PJHH^H^^Einnounced thvy had done. Orly men of British stockH
height of heroism surpassing that of their forefathers, could have accompl
shed what our Second Expeditionary Force•achieved. For they accomplished
the 0 # •The beaehese were very numbe
seemingly impossible
rampart of steep cliff being practically continuous, especially on th
where the Australasians proposed to land. Above the cliffs were hosti
positions on the inland hills commanding every line of approach..........
demonstration! against Suvla Bay was similarly intended to move Turkis
s away from Gaba Tepe. It was successful in achieving this end, and i
nared the way for the splendidly audacious feat of the Australian tro
On Friday morning, Apwil 23rd the stormy weather subsided,
ive o'clock in
afternoon the first tran sport ro
ollowed by other hug® liners, all their desks yellow with khaki battal
bands of the fleet played them out, and the crews of the warships
. The last salutation from the fleet was ans'w heered them
y deafening
division
on to victory
cheers from t
of liners, wi
soldiers on the tro
s$ant
pe,
autiful
Then the Australa
steamed towards G g
ril 25th. It was «
calm night, with the
and aft
which was made about one o'clock a.m. on Sunday April
sea lit by a brilliant crescent moon; the
Idiers rested in preparation for their tremendous exertion,
rds served with a last hot meal. At twenty ijinutes past one the boats v r e
wered, and the troops fell in on deck and embarked in the boats, in com -
ete silence and with great rapidity, without a hitch or accident of any
.d.
steam pinnaces towed the boats towards the shore, the great
tleships also steaming towards the land. By ten minutes past four the
ee battleships arrived two hundred and fifty yards fro:1 , the coast, whif
The