Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-10-30
THE FAILURE AT
THE DARDANELLES
Turks Have Upset Allies Diplomacy
in the Balkans and Earned
the Admiration of
the World
BY FRANK II. sIMoNDs

| Athcniau expedition to Syracuse which, in
the end. was the cause of the downfall of a
! great sea power, at grips with Sparta yet
! risking all in a campaign far away from the
| main field Of operations. Like all parallels,
! the Syracusan falls down when pushed too
! far. FOR while Sir Ian Hamilton makes fair
Ncias, Winston Churchill will hardly do for
Alclbiades, but there must be mournful like
! nesses for every Briton.
Tho naval attack began in February and
terminated after the sinking of the Bouvet,
! ocean and Irresistible, on March 1S 1t was
| not until April % that the first troops of the
| cNpelitiouary army began to land on the CAL
! lpoli Peninsula. This promontory is perhaps
! 80 miles long, extending westward from the
| European mainland with the Dardanelles
! Straits to the south and the Gulf of Saros to
the north. In his first report Sir Ian Hamil-
| ton compared it to a well-worn boot and this
figure makes 1t easy to describe both the
main features of the battlefield and the prog
ress of the conflict itself.
The Boot Had a Kick in 1t
Thus the toe of the boot is the western end
Of tho peninsula, the extreme point of which
is Cape IIellas. and the notable feature is
the town of Sedul Bahr, the site of the Turk
ish forts commanding the entrance to the
straits and the scene of the first fighting.
IsttSbNdIN IIOll 0tuul lbullT, HlOnE inc SOle
of the boot to the heel is slightly less than
ten miles and exactly at the heel is the
row point in the Dardanees, commanded by
a cluster Of Turkish forts on the Gallipoli
Peninsula and faced by others on the Asiatic
shore.
on the north shore of the peninsula, at
the ankle, is a curving bay-bcginnng at the
hill Of Gaba Tepe and ending at Suvla Bay
a stretch of three or four miles, dominated
by the ridge of Sart Bahr. some 900 feet over
the Gulf of Saros From Cape Heas to
Suvla Bay Is perhaps twelve miles. At Gaba
Tepe, the ankle, the Gallpoli Peninsula is
about five miles wide; at the toe between
Scdul Bahr and Cape Hellas, less than two.
The Vulnerable Heel
The objective of the Allied forces was the
cluster of forts just under the heel, above
the village of Kilid Bahr. To reach this two
ways were open. Troops could be landed
along the shore of the ankle from Gaba Tepe
to Suvla Bay. They could also be landed at
the toe from Cape Hellas to Sedul Bahr, and
just under the toe at Morto Bay-the best
landing place of all, but under fire from
Turkish batteries on the Asatic shore near
the site of Troy. East of Cape Heas as far
Gaba Tepe the character of the coast was
such as to make landing operations difficult,
and an effort here ended in relative failure.
The first problem of Sir Ian Hamilton was
to get his troops ashore and he was obliged
to make a general attempt-that is to fling
his forces at every available landing place
at once-in order to avoid the destruction of
each separate landing party by the Turks,
who could easily concentrate overwhelming
numbers a any threatened point. The land
ing cost $1,000 British casualties-that is, a
number equal to the whole of the first Amer
lean expedition to Santiago in 1895
The landing made mainly at the toe
from Cape Hellas to Sedul Bahr. Meantime
the French landed on the Asiatic side near
the site of Troy, and for the moment so en-
gagged the Asiatc batteries that Morto Bay
was occupied. At the same time, other par
ties were put ashore at the ankle above Gaba
Tepe, and below it on the instep, east Of
Cape Heas and Gaba Tepe. But these two
landing parties were instantly checked and
until the last few days could make no prog
ress whatever.
The Three Attacks
once the main force was ashore it moved
up the toe of the boot, stretching a line
straight across the peninsula. But after
having progressed for some three miles it
reacl.ed the first strong defensive position,
that of Achi Baba. Here a line of hills
stretches straight across the peninsula, rs-
elevation Of 400 feet and from the Straits
to 500 feet, Midway across the peninsula and
just east of the village of Krithia is the DOM
mating Hill OF Achi Bahia, 700 feet high
Against this position the Allied forces moved
on the first day after they landed, but they
We're halted there, and have been unable to
make any substantial progress.
Meantime a second force landed above
Gaba Tepe was designed to move south
across the instep, thus arriving in the rear
of the Achi Baba position and compelling the
Turks to retire from it. But this force was
no less promptly checked along the face of
the Sarl Bahr hill.
The third and last attack was made north
of sari Bahr the landing taking place in the
broad roadstead between SuYla Cape and the
seaward slopes of Sari Bahr. The object was
to seize the ridge of hills extending from
Sari Bahr northeastward to the Gulf of
Saros. marked the map Hanafart and
known in the reports by the name of Ana
farta, to get hold Of Sari Bahr and flow over
the whole range down upon the roadway at
the foot which is the only landward line
of communications of the Turks on the Pc
ninsua
More than 100000 men were used in this
attack; it was momentarily successful; Sari
Bahr, the key of the peninsula was oeeu-
pied, but the Turks retook it, and continued
TO hold a portion of the crests of the Ana
farta range. This operation took place in
the middle of August 1t lasted several days,
but after terrific slaughter ended in new
check. And with the check the DaFdanelles
campaign fell TO a deadlock. BY October 1
it had cost the British alone more than 1OO-
900 casualties. The French loss is not known.