Battle of Gallipoli - World War I - HISTORY.com Battle of Gallipoli A+E Networks Introduction The Gallipoli Campaign of 1915-16, also known as the Battle of Gallipoli or the Dardanelles Campaign, was an unsuccessful attempt by the Allied Powers to control the sea route from Europe to Russia during World War I. The campaign began with a failed naval attack by British and French ships on the Dardanelles Straits in February-March 1915 and continued with a major land invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula on April 25, involving British and French troops as well as divisions of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC). Lack of sufficient intelligence and knowledge of the terrain, along with a fierce Turkish resistance, hampered the success of the invasion. By mid-October, Allied forces had suffered heavy casualties and had made little headway from their initial landing sites. Evacuation began in December 1915, and was completed early the following January.

Google Launch of the Gallipoli Campaign With World War I stalled on the Western Front by 1915, the Allied Powers were debating going on the offensive in another region of the conflict, rather than continuing with attacks in Belgium and France. Early that year, Russia’s Grand Duke Nicholas appealed to Britain for aid in confronting a Turkish invasion in the Caucasus. (The Ottoman Empire had entered World War I on the side of the Central Powers, Germany and Austria-Hungary, by November 1914.) In response, the Allies decided to launch a naval expedition to seize the Dardanelles Straits, a narrow passage connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara in northwestern Turkey. If successful, capture of the straits would allow the Allies to link up with the Russians in the Black Sea, where they could work together to knock Turkey out of the war. Did You Know? In May 1915, Britain's First Sea Lord Admiral John Fisher resigned dramatically over the mishandling of the Gallipoli invasion by First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill. His political capital damaged by the debacle, the future prime minister later resigned his own position and accepted a commission to command an infantry battalion in France.

Spearheaded by the first lord of the British Admiralty, Winston Churchill (over the strong opposition of the First Sea Lord Admiral John Fisher, head of the British Navy), the naval attack on the Dardanelles began with a long-range bombardment by British and French battleships on February 19, 1915. Turkish forces abandoned their outer forts but met the approaching Allied minesweepers with heavy fire, stalling the advance. Under tremendous pressure to renew the attack, Admiral Sackville Carden, the British naval commander in the region, suffered a nervous collapse and was replaced by Vice-Admiral Sir John de Robeck. On March 18, 18 Allied battleships entered the straits; Turkish fire, including undetected mines, sank three of the ships and severely damaged three others. Gallipoli Land Invasion Begins In the wake of the failed naval attack, preparations began for largescale troop landings on the Gallipoli Peninsula. British War Secretary Lord Kitchener appointed General Ian Hamilton as commander of British forces for the operation; under his command, troops from Australia, New Zealand and the French colonies assembled with British forces on the Greek island of Lemnos.

Meanwhile, the Turks boosted their defenses under the command of the German general Liman von Sanders, who began positioning Ottoman troops along the shore where he expected the landings would take place. On April 25, 1915, the Allies launched their invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula. Despite suffering heavy casualties, they managed to establish two beachheads: at Helles on the peninsula’s southern tip, and at Gaba Tepe on the Aegean coast. (The latter site was later dubbed Anzac Cove, in honor of the Australian and New Zealand troops who fought so valiantly against determined Turkish defenders to establish the beachhead there.) After the initial landing, the Allies were able to make little progress from their initial landing sites, even as the Turks gathered more and more troops on the peninsula from both the Palestine and Caucasus fronts. In an attempt to break the stalemate, the Allies made another major troop landing on August 6 at Sulva Bay, combined with a northwards advance from Anzac Cove towards the heights at Sari Bair and a diversionary action at Helles.

The surprise landings at Sulva Bay proceeded against little opposition, but Allied indecision and delay stalled their progress in all three locations, allowing Ottoman reinforcements to arrive and shore up their defenses. Decision to Evacuate Gallipoli With Allied casualties in the Gallipoli Campaign mounting, Hamilton (with Churchill’s support) petitioned Kitchener for 95,000 reinforcements; the war secretary offered barely a quarter of that number. In mid-October, Hamilton argued that a proposed evacuation of the peninsula would cost up to 50 percent casualties; British authorities subsequently recalled him and installed Sir Charles Monro in his place. By early November, Kitchener had visited the region himself and agreed with Monro’s recommendation that the remaining 105,000 Allied troops should be evacuated. The British government authorized the evacuation to begin from Sulva Bay on December 7; the last troops left Helles on January 9, 1916. In all, some 480,000 Allied forces took part in the Gallipoli Campaign, at a cost of more than 250,000 casualties, including some 46,000 dead.

On the Turkish side, the campaign also cost an estimated 250,000 casualties, with 65,000 killed. Tags Gallipoli campaign - All About Turkey Gallipoli campaign Dardanelles The Gallipoli campaign took place between April and December 1915 in an effort to take the Dardanelles from the Turkish Ottoman Empire (an ally of Germany and Austria) and thus force it out of the war. Some 60,000 Australians and 18,000 New Zealanders were part of a larger British force. Some 26,000 Australians and 7,571 New Zealanders were wounded; and 7,594 Australians and 2,431 NZs were killed. In numerical terms Gallipoli was a minor campaign but it took on considerable national and personal importance to the Australians and New Zealanders who fought there. The Gallipoli Campaign was Australia's and New Zealand's introduction to the Great War.

Many Australians and New Zealanders fought on the Peninsula from the day of the landings (April 25, 1915) until the evacuation of 20 December 1915. The 25th April is the New Zealand equivalent of Armistice Day and is marked as the ANZAC day in both countries with Dawn Parades and other services in every city and town. Shops are closed in the morning. It is a very important day to Australians and New Zealanders for a variety of reasons that have changed and transmuted over the years. World War I Turkey ( Ottoman Empire then) came into the war by the end of October 1914, which had not yet recovered from its wars of 1911 to 1913. Turkey 's treasury was empty. Its leader, a thirty-three year-old military officer and national hero, Enver Pasha, saw the war in Europe as an opportunity for Turkey to take back lands that had been absorbed by the Russian Empire. Enver dreamed of reinvigorating Turkey 's empire.

And Enver feared that if Britain, France and Russia won against Germany and Austria-Hungary, they might deprive Turkey of more of its empire. So he decided to take Turkey into the war on the side of Germany. Ottoman Government ordered two battleships to England just before the war broke out and paid for them. But close relationship between Turkey and Germany scared the Allies and thus Britain decided to not to deliver those battleships which have already been paid. This caused an uproar among the Turks against Britain and their friends. This would be a great opportunity for Enver Pasha to use it against the Allies. Turkey cooperated with two German warships in the bombardment of two Russian seaports: Odessa and Nikolayev. Russia responded three days later, on November 2, by declaring war on Turkey . France declared against Turkey on November 5, and so too did Britain. And Britain found this an opportune time to annex Cyprus and Egypt, lands that had been nominally a part of Turkey 's empire while under British authority. Turkey closed the straits ( Bosphorus and Dardanelles ) between the Mediterranean and Black Seas , preventing Russia from exporting her wheat or receiving shipments of materials from her allies.

To protect its oil wells in the Middle East, Britain moved a military force up the Persian Gulf to Iraq, where it began engaging Turkish forces. And in December, Turkey began an assault into Russia's Caucasus Mountains. Frustration came with Turkey 's failed offensive against the Russians in the Caucasus Mountains. In a five-day battle ending January 3, the Russians smashed Turkey 's offensive, and of the 95,000 men that Turkey sent on the offensive only 18,000 returned, about 50,000 of them having frozen to death. The shocked Turkish people wondered who to blame for this disaster. Gallipoli Campaign Meanwhile Winston Churchill, responsible of the navy at that time, planned an offensive against Gallipoli to capture Dardanelles , open a secure passage for the navy on their way to Istanbul , capital of the Ottoman Government . Allies gathered their battleships in front of Dardanelles Straight under the command of Admiral De Robeck. The Allied fleet chasing the German warships blockaded the Dardanelles , began bombarding the Turkish batteries at the entrance to the Straits on 3rd November 1914.

This bombardment continued intermittently until 12th March 1915. Naval Battle On 17th March they sent some boats into the straight and the military intelligence reports said that there were no sea-mines creating a risk for their attack. But the same night a small Turkish mine-layer Nusrat laid many sea-mines into the Dardanelles . On 18th March 1915, at the beginning of the Dardanelles campaign, the commander of the Allied fleet, Admiral de Robeck divided the fleet into three sections. The first section entered the straits at 10.30 am. and penetrated as far as the row of mines. The Intepe batteries started a heavy fire. The Intepe, Erenkoy and Tengertepe batteries intensified their fire and a fierce bombardment continued for three hours. In the afternoon Admiral de Robeck withdrew his ships in the third section and threw forward six warships waiting in the rear. During the withdrawal, one of the ships hit a mine and sunk after a terrible explosion. The naval battle continued in all its intensity for seven hours.

In the face of the dogged resistance of the Turkish Straits Defense, Admiral de Robeck decided that nothing further could be done that day. During this operation three ships from the Allied Fleet had been sunk and three badly damaged. It was under these circumstances that Admiral de Robeck, at 17.30 brought the days' operation to a close with the order, "All ships, general withdrawal.". The Allied assault stalled, and the British withdrew to Egypt to prepare for another, bigger assault. On 18th March eighteen battleships entered the straits. The fleet included Queen Elizabeth, Lord Nelson, Agamemnon, Inflexible, Ocean, Irresistible, Prince George and Majestic from Britain and the Gaulois, Bouvet and Suffren from France. At first they made good progress until the Bouvet struck a mine, heeled over, capsized and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Soon afterwards two more ships, Irresistible and Ocean hit mines. Most of the men in these two ships were rescued but by the time the Allied fleet retreated, over 700 men had been killed. Overall, three ships had been sunk and three more had been severely damaged.

Land Battles In spite of all the efforts in the Dardanelles from 19th February to 18th March nothing had been gained by the Allied Forces. Now, alongside the Naval bombardments and amphibious operation was under consideration in order to capture the peninsula. The Anzac Corps, the 29th British Territorial Infantry Division, the 1st Royal Naval Infantry Division, the 29th Indian Infantry Brigade and the French 1st Infantry Division were to take part in this action. These forces were to be split into two groups, the first group was to seize the Seddulbahir area and open the Straits whilst the second was to land in the Kabatepe region, seize the Conkbayir area and obstruct the Turkish Forces moving down from the north. The Commander of the Ottoman 5th Army had evaluated the defense of the Gallipoli peninsula as of secondary importance. Thus out of six divisions he allocated two divisions and one cavalry brigade to the defense of the Gulf of Saros, two divisions to the defense of the area between Anafartalar and Seddulbahir and the remaining two divisions to the defense of the Asian coast.

Of the two divisions deployed on the Gallipoli peninsula one was the 19th division which served as the Chief of Command Reserve Force in Bigali. The commander of this brigade was Mustafa Kemal . At the beginning of the 1st WW, Staff Lieutenant Colonel Mustafa Kemal was Military Attaché in Sofia. Preferring to participate personally in the struggle of his county against invading super powers of the time, rather than watching from the sidelines, he requested active military duty from the Chief of Staff. Upon his insistence, he was appointed to the 19th Divisional Command founded in Tekirdag on 1st February 1915. In less than one month, Mustafa Kemal had the division prepared for war. On 25th February, his division was at Eceabat (across Çanakkale ) and ready for combat. The Seddulbahir Battles At dawn on the 25th April, the Seddulbahir coast was seen to be surrounded by several ships and landing crafts. At 5.30 am. a hellish fire was opened from the allied warships. Bombardment from the sea held the tip of the peninsula under fire from three sides.

The 29th British Infantry Division attempted to move into the land. The defending forces broke the first wave of the invading forces with success. Then, with the reinforcements which were later brought in, the operation was extended on the land without much success. The 1st., 2nd., and 3rd Battles of Kirte and Kerevizdere continued from 25th April until the end of May when it turned into chronic local clashes. In June 1915 the battle again intensified and after the bloody Zigindere Battles which began on the 28th June continued for eight days. Ariburnu Battles The area chosen by the Anzac Corps as a landing area was the coast to the north of Kabatepe. However, the Anzacs had landed in the steep, inaccessible area of Ariburnu (later it was called as Anzac Cove) due to their boats having been carried by the strong current. First landing group consisted of 1500 men with the same number again in a following wave. The first target to be captured after the landing was the "Karacimen Bloc".

One of the battalions of the 27th regiment of the 9th Turkish Division in Ariburnu was guarding the coasts of the area. One company of the battalion had spread from the Ariburnu hills to Agildere. This company consisted squads; one on the Ariburnu hilltops, one in Balikcidamlari and one other in reserve on Haintepe. The Anzac attack began at 4.30 on 25th April. They landed at Ariburnu in the form of a surprise attack. The defending squad opened fire on the invading forces, but the Anzacs advanced. The Turkish company defending the coast immediately reported the situation to 27 regimental Command to the west of Eceabat. While the Regimental Commander was giving his report to the 9th Division, at the same time he informed the 19th Division. The 8th Company Commander brought up reinforcements to counter the first wave of attacks, however, the heavy losses caused by the intense cannon fire from the ships and the lack of ammunition led him to retreat.

Although Staff Lieutenant-Colonel Mustafa Kemal had sent reports to the army and the Corps Command at Gallipoli, he received no reply. Using his initiative he attacked the Anzacs. Reinforcing the 57th Regiment with a hill-top cannon battery, he advanced towards Ariburnu via Kocacimen. In a critical moment Mustafa Kemal gave the order for a company to rapidly reach the area and for the forward battalion to immediately enter the fray. With their arrival, the Turkish forces attained the initiative. The 57th Regiment completed their battle preparations by noon and moved southwards from Conkbayiri to the Anzac forces. This strike could not advance any further than Duztepe because of the effective cannon fire from the ships. He arrived at Korucakoy and reported the situation to the Army Headquarters. He met the commander of the 3rd corps at Maltepe from whom he received permission to deploy the entire 19th Division after explaining to him the situation. He moved those forces forward.

Mustafa Kemal 's decision, on the night of 25-26th April was to take the command of the 27th Regiment and to attack the Anzacs with two regiments from the south and two regiments from the north and to drive them that night at whatever cost into the sea. Same night the attack was deployed. Since the majority of the 27th Regiment which arrived from Aleppo (Halep) was composed of aged soldiers, the action on the southern flank did not develop as hoped. The 57th and 72nd Regiments forced the Anzacs to retreat further south from the Cesarettepe hill-top. The Anzacs were in great difficulty to defend their positions with this latest assault. The allied commander decided to evacuate his forces into Hamilton. Due to the lack of necessary vehicles, the evacuation move was suspended. Dig-in and defend order was given instead. As time passed both sides were gradually reinforced. The 16th Division was rushed from Thrace and the 2nd Division from Istanbul . Fierce Anzac assaults on Ariburnu continued steadily and the fighting went on until the end of May.

Finally, from the end of May onwards it turned into a French warfare. The clashes of Seddulbahir and Ariburnu in June and July of 1915 were typical of stationary warfare. The opposing forces were extremely close to each other, indeed as close as eight meters (25 feet) on certain locations. The Anafartalar Battles General Hamilton , unable to achieve any success on the Seddulbahir and Ariburnu fronts in the past five months decided to open a third front in Anafartalar bay in order to encircle and destroy the Turkish Army from the rear. He assigned this task to the 9th British Corps. The aim was to immediately seize the Conkbayiri and Kocacimen blocs, advance from there and take control of the Straits . During this landing limited action was to be taken in order to keep the Turkish forces in the Seddulbahir and Ariburnu regions pinned down. British Army Corps began landing on the night of 6-7 August, to start the final attack against the Turkish troops approximately on the 9th of August.

They landed to the south of the Buyukkemikli and Kucukkemikli headlands. Due to the hot weather and exhaustion of the British soldiers, 9th corps spend a day on the beach front instead of moving to the target hills immediately. During this time two Ottoman divisions were transferred to the front with Mustafa Kemal as commander. One of these divisions pushed the 9th corps into the sea while the other one prevented the Anzacs to reach to the battle front. The 12th Division attacked the 9th Corps front lines. The most critical point was over for the Turks . The 9th Corps, under the fire of the Turkish Forces, fell in great numbers on the beaches and were left totally ineffective. Even though the 9th Corps, that was later reinforced, attempted more flank attacks from Ismailoglu Hill to Anafartalar and from Mt. Karakol to Ece Harbor and Tekke Hill, they could not succeed. The pinning-down and encircling action against the Northern Group was halted but some sections did come within 25 meters of the crest-line.

The 9th Turkish Division, which had counter-attacked for two days in order to alleviate this dangerous situation was not able to achieve a success. Then, Liman Von Sanders , Commander of the 5th Ottoman Army reinforced the 8th Division with two regiments and put it under Mustafa Kemal 's orders. Colonel Mustafa Kemal arrived at the headquarters of the 8th Division, the night of 9-10th August and ordered his soldiers to attack using only bayonets at dawn on the 10th of August. The attack succeeded and even the British Brigade Commander was among the dead. Upon the seizure of the land that would guarantee the security of the defense line, the order to dig-in and defend was given. The British operation that had been carried out with strong attack groups in high hopes on Ariburnu and the landings at Anafartalar were paralyzed and as in the other regions were brought to a standstill. Thus the allied forces clearly saw that no possibility remained either of breaking the Turkish defense in the Dardanelles or of achieving any result in the Gallipoli Campaign, above all of achieving their ambition of taking Istanbul .

On 20th December 1915 they ordered the evacuation of Ariburnu - Anafartalar and on the 9th January 1916 Seddulbahir. Mustafa Kemal was stationed at Edirne and Diyarbakir after the Çanakkale wars and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general on 1 April 1916. Over 33.000 allied and 86.000 Turkish troops died in the eight month Gallipoli campaign which achieved none of its objectives. A British royal commission later concluded that the operation had been ill-conceived. Gallipoli cost 8700 Australian dead and 19000 wounded. Large numbers of the dead have no known grave. The story of Anzac has had an enduring effect on the way Australians see themselves. Turkish nation who lost about 253.000 men at battle, had managed to emerge in honor against the Allied forces. Actually the fate at trenches changed when Mustafa Kemal addressed his soldiers with the words "I am not giving you an order to attack, I am ordering you to die!".

This was the biggest failure of Churchill and of the Allies of course, they underestimated the military skills of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his brave soldiers. Both sides suffered heavy loss of lives. Today Gallipoli (Gelibolu) peninsula is a national park nearby Canakkale and there are many war memorials and cemeteries belonging to Turks , Australians, New Zealanders, British and French. Every 25th April war veterans (few left today) from both sides and their children meet here to commemorate the Gallipoli Campaign . It is also possible to dive at the shipwrecks along the shores. Many tours also passes from this area. Some Words about the War Kemal Ataturk ; (Inscription on Gallipoli Memorial put up by Turkey in 1934, also on Ataturk Memorial at Tarakina Bay, Wellington.) "Those heroes who shed their blood and lost their lives, you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side in this country of ours.

You, the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries wipe away your tears, your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they become our sons as well." Russell Weir; (Tolerton, In the shadow of war p. 202) "We landed, I suppose, somewhere about nine or half past nine in the morning. On the Sunday morning, Sunday the 25th of April. And through a mistake made by the navy, we played into the Turk 's hands beautifully. Because you can imagine a narrow strip of beach, nothing but stones, no sand, and from that narrow stretch of beach straight up were high cliffs composed of clay and rock. And the Turks had the machine guns and the rifle fire and the full view of the beach, and the only protection we could get when we advanced was to get in close to the cliff and hug it." Alexander Aitken; (Aitken, Gallipoli to the Somme p. 33-34) "... I slid the rifle-sight to '450', aimed and fired.[...] The Turk plunged into the trench in a swirl of dust ...

This, of course, was what I was there for, but it seemed no light matter, and kept me awake for some time. I would come to no conclusion except that individual guilt in an act of this kind is not absolved by collective duty nor lessened when pooled in collective responsibility. I further found that I bore the Turk no trace of enmity - nor for that matter did any of us; he was to us "Johnny Turk " or "Joe Burke", almost a fellow sufferer. We were not indoctrinated against him, as we had been against the Germans by propaganda, the cartoons of Louis Raemakers, and tales of atrocity. But I saw, still further, that this Turk , at the moment of shooting, had not even been a person; he might have been big game. It was a single step to the thought that certain 'colonial' campaigns, not infrequent in our annals, might have been conducted in almost this game-hunting spirit. Here I balked; to become analytical might lead to doubt of the cause for which we were fighting; for this had been called, in those early years, the 'war to end war'.

I was far from such doubt then, and would have repudiated pacifism." Major General Godley; (in a letter to the NZ Minster of Interior, Ronald Graham, July 1915, Boyack p. 59) "I hear that Winston [Churchill] has arrived, and suppose we shall see him within the next few days. He certainly is a plucky fellow, and I think he ought to be given a V.C. and then taken out and shot. I wonder what sort of reception he will get if he comes among the troops, whether they will cheer, or shoot him. I think the former." All About Turkey © Burak Sansal 1996–2016, a certified professional tour guide in Turkey. Contact Burak at info@allaboutturkey.com for all kinds of regular and/or private travel services throughout the country.

First World War.com - Battles - The Gallipoli Front - An Overview What's New Battles - The Gallipoli Front - An Overview Winston Churchill is widely credited as the man who committed British, French and - above all - untested Australian and New Zealand forces to the ill-fated campaign to seize control of the Dardanelles Straits and western Turkey. Indeed, although it was Churchill's drive and aggressiveness - not to mention cunning - which resulted in the campaign actually taking place, the notion of capturing the Turkish Dardanelles Straits had long been given consideration. Sponsored Links It was widely believed however - at least in professional circles - that a purely naval attempt to win the Straits was bound to end in failure. The Value of the Straits But why attempt the Straits in the first place? The answer lay in the great strategic value control would give the Entente Powers . The Straits linked the Mediterranean Sea with the Sea of Marmora. This not only gave ready access to the Turkish capital Constantinople and much of the Turkish Empire's industrial powerhouse, but also provided a lane to the Black Sea.

Just as importantly, if not more so, access to the Sea of Marmora was bound to give Britain and France supply route access to their eastern ally, Russia. Therefore it was quite feasible that should Britain and France gain the Straits they could succeed in not only eliminating Turkey from the war, but in also drawing Greece and Bulgaria into the war against the Central Powers . The Difficulty in Seizing Control Control of the Dardanelles Straits was therefore a prized ambition of the Entente Powers. As might be expected given the huge tactical and strategic value placed upon the Straits, they were however heavily defended, chiefly by natural geography. To the north they were protected by the Gallipoli Peninsula; to the south by the shore of Ottoman Asia. In addition, fortresses were well positioned on cliff-tops overlooking shipping lanes. Potential Greek Support It seemed obvious to the Entente Powers - chiefly Britain - that no attempt upon the Straits could be considered without the requirement for support from ground troops. The Greek government led by Eleutherios Venizelos was of the same opinion.

As soon as the First World War was underway Greece approached Britain and offered to provide some 60,000 troops to assist in a combined land operation, the whole to be aided by old battleships as necessary. However both British and French governments - in this case in the form of British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey - were initially opposed to any form of action. Grey retained hopes of bringing Turkey - at that stage still a neutral power - into the war on the side of the Entente Powers, in spite of mounting evidence of increasing (and well established) German influence in Constantinople . In the event Turkey finally entered the war by siding with Germany and Austria-Hungary in late October 1914. By this time Venizelos's government in Greece had fallen and the latter's previous offer of assistance was qualified by a requirement for additional Bulgarian support - which was not forthcoming. Lack of Success on the Western Front In the meantime both Britain and France were finding news from the campaign on the Western Front sober reading.

While much of their time, effort and resources were consumed by the requirements of the struggle in France and Flanders both governments gradually came around to the notion of opening up another front in the Mediterranean, one that offered possibly better prospects of success. In Britain in particular a number of members of the War Cabinet had long favoured decisive action away from the stagnation of the Western Front's lines of trench warfare. Such "Easterners" - which included future Prime Minister David Lloyd George - embraced a plan put forward by Churchill in January 1915 to attempt a naval capture of the Straits. Churchill took great care in placing such a proposal to the Cabinet. He coerced Admiral Sir Sackville Carden - the commander of British naval forces in the Mediterranean - into sending him a detailed plan for a solely naval attack upon the Straits. Carden obliged but was by no means personally in favour of such an approach. Nevertheless Churchill placed Carden's plans - which were sufficiently detailed to gain credence - to his War Cabinet colleagues on 13 January 1915.

At this time the War Cabinet was somewhat despondent by the patent lack of success in France and Flanders, and further dismayed by a call by the Russian Commander-in-Chief Grand Duke Nikolai for radical action to offset pressure in the Caucasus. Thus Churchill received from Herbert Asquith's War Cabinet general agreement that action in the Dardanelles be given active consideration. Notwithstanding an obvious desire to initiate any plan likely to bring with it a possibility of success, Admiral John Fisher's silence at the War Cabinet meeting was remarkable. As First Sea Lord his naval force was to take prime responsibility in driving forward Churchill's strategy. Given his later violent objections - which ultimately led to his (and Churchill's) resignation - his lack of objection in January was all the more surprising. It is possible however that he envisaged any eventual attack taking the form of a combined naval/ground troop undertaking. Political Approval for a Naval Offensive Churchill however came away from the Cabinet meeting believing that he had been given the authority to place Carden's blueprint into effect. In doing so he planned to make use of 'spare', aged battleships (thus raising Fisher's hackles).

He set a date of 19 February for implementation of a first attack, plans which were formally approved by the War Cabinet on 28 January. Churchill's ambitious approach was however questioned by those who believed that it remained unclear in terms of strategy in the event of an immediate decisive breakthrough. So much for British political opinion. In Paris the government remained enmeshed in affairs on the Western Front and was somewhat less inclined to wholeheartedly support any British-sponsored expedition to the Dardanelles. Nevertheless the incoming French naval minister Jean Augagneur took a political gamble when he effectively disregarded the opinion of his professional advisers in backing the British plan. To some extent this was driven by a decided unwillingness to cede the possibility of a notable breakthrough to the British alone: the French navy needs must share in any potential naval glory. A French squadron was consequently added to the February operation. Dissension Within the Royal Navy By this time Admiral Fisher was growing thoroughly alarmed at the prospect that 'spare' shipping be drawn away from his beloved Grand Fleet - a threat in being in the North Sea - for what he regarded as a highly dubious undertaking in the Mediterranean.

His former close relations with Churchill - who had brought him out of distinguished retirement in October 1914 to his former post of First Sea Lord - began to chill. However Fisher's growing reservations were largely ignored by British war minister Lord Kitchener . On 16 February 1915 Kitchener issued orders to ensure the readiness of Britain's sole available infantry division to assist with operations as necessary. He further specified that Australian and New Zealand forces stationed in Egypt en route for France should be made available if required. On 18 February the French government similarly added a corps of men to the endeavour, although they arrived too late to be used the following day. Initial Attacks - 19/25 February 1915 The first attempt upon the 65km-long, 7km-wide Straits was made on 19 February 1915 by a considerable number of combined British and French battleships comprised of the new battleship Queen Elizabeth, 3 battlecruisers, 16 pre-dreadnought (including four French vessels), 4 cruisers, 18 destroyers, 6 submarines, 21 trawlers plus the seaplane carrier Ark Royal.

Overseeing the effort was Carden. Pounding the outer fortresses the British and French attack proved ineffective in the face of an efficient Turkish defensive system and poor Allied gunnery, although greater damage was inflicted than the bombarding naval forces realised. A renewed bombardment the following week (following a pause for adverse weather), on 25 February, was similarly unsuccessful. While the outer forts were themselves seized the Allied force could not effective silence the Turkish mobile batteries that poured shellfire from the heights. Failure to Force the Narrows, 18 March 1915 Having paused to consolidate following the clear failure of February's attempts to batter the Turkish protective fortresses, a further naval effort was briefly launched on 18 March in an attempt to force through The Narrows (so-named because just 1,600 heavily-mined metres separated the shore on either side). Immediately before the attack's launch however Carden collapsed from nervous exhaustion. He was replaced by Sir John de Robeck . The renewed attack proved a heavy failure, chiefly on account of the presence of an unsuspected Turkish minefield. It was increasingly clear that ground support was required.

A month's pause in operations was undertaken pending preparations for Allied landings at Helles and Anzac Cove. Some 18,000 French colonial troops were despatched to the region on 10 March - prior to the attempt on The Narrows - and on 12 March Lord Kitchener appointed Ian Hamilton (a former protï¿½gï¿½) as regional Commander-in-Chief responsible henceforth for the success of the expedition, accompanied by a force of 75,000 comprised largely of untested Australian and New Zealand troops. Preparations for a Ground Offensive Hamilton, unsure of the appropriate strategy, sought advice from de Robeck and agreed on 27 March to a straightforward invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula. Preparations for the Allied landings were not auspicious, and were distinguished by hesitation, indecision and confusion. Meanwhile Turkish defences were further boosted by the arrival of ground forces around the Straits. As a measure of the extent of German influence over Turkish policy regional command was placed in the hands of Liman von Sanders . Liman brought with him approximately 84,000 troops which he dispersed to strategic locations around Gallipoli.

As it transpired however Liman's careful positioning of his men was found wanting once Hamilton actually launched his attack on the southern peninsula: Hamilton chose to attack where the Turkish concentration was as its weakest. Landings at Helles and Anzac Cove, 25 April 1915 The landings were initiated on 25 April 1915 but were largely mismanaged. But for the relative weakness of Turkish strength on the southern peninsula the whole operation might well have been thrown back into the sea. As it was heavy casualties were incurred at those locations where Turkish defenders were available in any force. Even so two beachheads were established by Hamilton's force, at Helles on Gallipoli's southernmost tip (led by Sir Aylmer Hunter-Weston ), and further up the coast near Gaba Tepe - the latter soon to be renamed Anzac Cove in honour of the Australian and New Zealand corps who bore the brunt of operations in the area (led by the rather more competent Sir William Birdwood ). Three Failed Attacks at Krithia, 28 April-4 June 1915 Having established two beachheads at great cost Hamilton determined to extend the Allied position in the south, with attacks directed towards Krithia.

Unduly optimistic in its aims three successive operations were launched upon Krithia by Hunter-Weston in April , May and June 1915: all were thrown back by Liman's increasingly effective Turkish defence force. Meanwhile British First Sea Lord Admiral Fisher's dramatic resignation on 15 May 1915 over Churchill's handling of the Gallipoli campaign led to the latter's own downfall as Churchill too resigned, his wartime political career apparently effectively over. Churchill had earlier, on 23 March, reluctantly admitted the failure of the purely naval bombardment to the War Cabinet, denting his already frail political credibility. Landings at Suvla Bay, 6 August 1915 It was clear that operations in Gallipoli were going badly. The newly formed Dardanelles Committee in London met on 7 June to consider what steps next to take. Agreement was reached to send additional forces to Hamilton, greatly reinforcing the Allied presence on the peninsula by some three divisions - a decision made by Kitchener in the face of fierce opposition from hard-pressed commanders on the Western Front.

Unfortunately for the Allies their Turkish opponents were bringing forward additional reserves at a greater pace than they themselves could manage, with forces despatched from both Palestine and Caucasian Fronts. Such an injection of additional Allied resources signalled another major offensive. When put into effect on 6 August 1915 it took the form of a three-pronged attack: a diversionary action at Helles; movement northwards from Anzac Cove towards Sari Bair ; and the centrepiece of the offensive, a landing in force at Suvla Bay by freshly arrived divisions operating under General Sir Frederick Stopford . The idea was for Stopford's forces to link with the troops at Anzac Cove and make a clean sweep across the Gallipoli peninsula. In the interim Hunter-Weston pressed on with further attacks directed towards Achi Baba in Helles. These were uniformly unsuccessful, maintaining Hunter-Weston's particular record of poor results since arriving on the peninsula. To Hamilton's credit the landings at Suvla Bay achieved total surprise and Stopford made initial progress unopposed.

However the wider offensive rapidly lost momentum by 10 August as local command indecision - Stopford was particularly at fault - and lack of firm decision from Hamilton's headquarters took their melancholy toll, although fighting continued at Sari Bair until 12 August. Three Indefensible Beachheads: A Move South Hamilton's position was an unenviable one. He had command of three beachheads - at Helles, Anzac Cove and Suvla Bay - but each was overlooked by high ground commanded by Turkish forces. Progress was therefore not only infeasible, but his forces found themselves under more or less constant heavy fire. Hamilton - by now rapidly losing credibility among local commanders and - worse - among his troops - determined to try and make a break south from Suvla Bay to link up with Anzac Cove, a distance of some 5km. Consequently he provided additional resources to Suvla Bay, including a new set of commanders to replace the discredited structure already in place. In spite of additional men and materials Hamilton's attacks against Hill 60 and Scimitar Hill in August 1915 came to nought.

With Allied casualties running at around 40,000 an especially uncomfortable form of trench warfare settled in, a disastrous state of affairs for the Allied forces. Hamilton, feeling the pressure, requested a further 95,000 reinforcements from Kitchener in London. He was offered barely a quarter, 25,000. Confidence in the operation in London and Paris was dwindling. Nevertheless Churchill pressed both governments to provide continued support. French General Maurice Sarrail suggested a combined offensive against the Asian coast, a proposal rapidly over-turned by his Commander-in-Chief Joseph Joffre , who insisted upon retaining French focus on the Western Front. Salonika Affairs outside of Gallipoli began to intrude upon strategy in the region. The invasion of Serbia and plans for an extensive landing at Salonika exhausted resources from both French and British governments, with the latter offering to provide up to 125,000 troops (much against Kitchener's inclination). Such were the demands for men intended for Salonika that forces were diverted away from Hamilton in Gallipoli, to the latter's great dismay.

As it was Hamilton was facing increasing criticism from London as grim news of the expedition reached home, along with complaints of his mismanagement of the campaign (from the Australian journalist Keith Murdoch among others). Evacuation Thus with the possibility of further reinforcements to the region seemingly ruled out, Hamilton received word on 11 October 1915 of a proposal to evacuate the peninsula. He responded in anger by estimating that casualties of such an evacuation would run at up to 50%: a startlingly high figure. The tide was clearly moving against Hamilton. His belief in what was widely viewed as an unacceptable casualty rate in the event of evacuation resulted in his removal as Commander-in-Chief and recall to London at a meeting of the Dardanelles Committee on 14 October. Hamilton was replaced by Sir Charles Monro . Monro lost no time in touring Helles, Suvla Bay and Anzac Cove upon his arrival on the peninsula on 28 October. His recommendation was prompt: evacuation. This did not however meet with Kitchener's approval. He travelled to the region to see the state of affairs for himself.

Upon his arrival however he quickly reversed his thinking upon seeing the conditions facing the Allied force and recommended evacuation on 15 November 1915, overriding arguments by senior naval figures Sir Roger Keyes and Rosslyn Wemyss to attempt a naval seizure once again. The British government, having prevaricated for several weeks, finally sanctioned an evacuation on 7 December. Unfortunately by this stage a heavy blizzard had set in making such an operation hazardous. Nevertheless the evacuation of 105,000 men and 300 guns from Anzac Cove and Suvla Bay was successfully conducted from 10-20 December 1915. The evacuation of Helles was conducted - comprising 35,000 men - from late December until 9 January 1916. The evacuation operation was easily the most successful element of the entire campaign, with casualty figures significantly lower than Hamilton had predicted (official figures quote just three casualties). Painstaking efforts had been made to deceive the 100,000 watching Turkish troops into believing that the movement of Allied forces did not constitute a withdrawal.

Winston Churchill however viewed Monro's achievement with a somewhat jaundiced eye: "he came, he saw, he capitulated" he wrote of Monro, and the sneer has remained through the years to blight Monro's correct decision and remarkable follow-through. Campaign Summary Some 480,000 Allied troops had been dedicated to the failed campaign. British casualties (including imperial forces) amounted to approximately 205,000. French losses were estimated at around 47,000. Turkey incurred around 250,000 casualties. The subsequent Dardanelles Commission established to investigate the expedition's failure produced its final report in 1919; its conclusions were regarded as insipid with no figures (political or military) heavily censured. To view maps detailing the progress of the Gallipoli campaign click here ; and here ; and here ; and here . Click here to read a journalist's account of a return visit to the Gallipoli peninsula following its surrender to the Allies, on 9 November 1918. Date What countries were involved in the Gallipoli campaign? | Reference.com What countries were involved in the Gallipoli campaign?

A: Quick Answer The Gallipoli campaign was an attack by England and France against the Ottoman Empire. Soldiers from Australia, New Zealand, India and Canada aided the forces from the United Kingdom, while France's force included troops from French West Africa. The Ottomans had support from Austria-Hungary and Germany. Full Answer One of the chief difficulties the Allies faced during World War I was the fact that Russia's main route to the sea passed through the Dardanelles, a strait controlled by the Ottoman Empire. As the Ottomans had come into the war on the side of Austria and Germany, this meant Russia's naval power and shipping capacity were both crippled. The Gallipoli campaign was an amphibious attack launched in April 1915 aimed at securing the Dardanelles and then attacking Constantinople. The Gallipoli campaign was a major failure on the part of the Allies and an unexpected victory for the crumbling Ottoman Empire. After more than eight months of fighting and around 250,000 casualties on each side, the Allies withdrew.

The war served as an important point of national pride and identity for Australia and New Zealand, and it led directly to the rise of Kemal Ataturk and the founding of the Republic of Turkey eight years later. Anzac - Australians at war - Gallipoli Canakkale Turkey Battle of Gallipoli Gallipoli is a peninsula which is located in northwest coast of Turkey between Gulf of Saros and Dardanelles. This battle took place in the year 1915 and it was fought during World War I (1914-1918). In the Battle of Gallipoli troops were landed by the British using Australia and New Zealand Army Crops. Battle of Gallipoli was a combat between the Central powers and Allied Powers and during this battle Gallipoli peninsula became the center of bloody war. Central powers were Germany, Ottoman Empire (modern Turkey), Hungary, Bulgaria; Allied Powers were Russia, France, Australia, USA, United Kingdom and Germany. In January 1915 Russia asked Britain and also France for assistance and the Gallipoli Campaign was born. Allied powers were extremely in need of an alternative route to Russia. Russia found itself isolated and it lacked modern weapons although had a large army.

England and France wanted to supply Russia with weapons and munitions. There wasn’t any land route available to Russia and routes by sea had risks for running Russian ports because they were very far away from the fighting and some very close to enemy naval. The plan of British and French armies was to force opening waterway to Allied shipping to allow Russia to receive weapons and munitions from its allies. The Black Sea’s only entrance was through the Bosporus so Dardanelles which is a waterway to reach Russia from Aegean and Bosporus was the most ideal place to conquer. If attack could be successful on the Dardanelles, it would link the separated Allies. Allied leaders believed that Ottoman Empire could be eliminated from the war when its capital Constantinople could be captured. The Dardanelles was controlled by Ottoman Empire, modern Turkey today and Ottomans was the member of Central Powers. Winston Churchill who was the first Lord of the Admiralty put forward his plans for a naval attack on the Dardanelles. Task was assigned in February 1915 by The Royal Navy and French Navy.

First naval attack to the Turkish shores was on February 19, 1914 and the second one was March 18. First naval attack was the greatest assemblage of naval firepower ever seen with eighteen battleships. It is believed that history repeated itself because three thousand years ago the strongest navy of that time had also sailed to the Dardanelles with thousand black ships and 10000 Greek soldiers for fighting against Trojans. On 19 February 1915 the black ships were once again in the Dardanelles. Then they attack again on 18 March but they got huge damages on their ships. 18 March 1915 was the Turks’ first victory for many years. After the failure of naval attacks, Allies understood that naval power alone would not be enough to open Dardanelles so the first part of the great adventure, the sea battle, was over. It was easy to understand for Turks that land attack was being prepared because a silence settled over peninsula; no ships and no guns were fired around. They had to fortify the Gallipoli Peninsula. Something had to be done quickly because allied attack was expected at any time.

They posted lookouts on hilltops and cliffs. Allies had all plans and The Mediterranean Expeditionary Force was formed of the volunteer Australian and New Zealand Army Crops (Anzac). The plan was to take the Gallipoli Peninsula with a military force composed of Australian, New Zealand, British, French, Indian soldiers. Approximately 60,000 Australians and 18,000 New Zealanders were part of a larger British force. Commander of the Allies’ troops was Sir Ian Hamilton. They chose the sandy beach as the best landing place on peninsula because high ridges close to the beach formed a natural defense. Turks didn’t made arrangements to defend this beach because they hadn’t expected a landing in this coast. Just they sent a part of battalion of infantry here. Turks lay in supplies and waited and their commander was Mustafa Kemal. Hamilton directed his first attack for the conquest of the Gallipoli Peninsula very early in the morning on April 25th. The royal Navy’s covering fire began at 4.30am. Some battalions landed under heavy fire and battle started on 25th of April, 1915.

Turks had been pushed back at mid morning and Australians trudged toward the first range of hills so war had moved inland. It was a successful landing for Allies but it was not a right place. Anzacs found themselves at the foot of an exceedingly steep hill. They realized that an error had been made. Current of the sea drifted them to the north and they landed on the steepest and the most inconvenient part of the peninsula. But maybe the landing at Anzac Cove was not accidental because General Birdwood wrote to the Australian Minister that disembarkation at Anzac Cove had been his own idea. When Australians had reached their first objective, Plugge’s Plateau at 5:30 am Turkish elements had been dealt with there. Gun fire of Turks went on for all day long. Australians cold not dig trenches because of gun fire and shrapnel bursting. Anzacs could not see where the firing was coming from. Australians and New Zealanders fought as long as they could before giving up. Soldiers died in fearful numbers. At the end of April the number of dead and wounded on Turkish and Anzac sides ran into the tens of thousands.

Allied troops began to depart from the peninsula and the last troop departed on January 9, 1916. Allies lost over 44000 men and 97000 wounded; Turks lost over 87000 men and 165000 wounded. It will be right to say the attempt failed with heavy casualties on both sides. As a result of this failure Britain’s influence in its dominions had declined and this failure has put an end to the British Empire’s apogee also. Countries on the Black Sea coast had negative effects on international trading; the course of history for Russia had been changed. It was a successful evacuation and even the sound of battle never returned to Gallipoli. On 20th of December, 1915 at 4 o’clock in the morning there was not a living Anzac left on peninsula. During the armistice Anzacs saw Turks in a new light and they realized that Turks were not barbarous savages or fiercely evil as the propaganda proclaimed.

During the battle the distance between the Anzac and Turkish trenches in some places was 15-20 meters and there was a constant traffic of gifts, Turks threw over dried raisins and sweets to Anzacs, Anzacs threw tinned food and cigarettes to Turks. Turks, Germans, Austro-Hungarians, British, French, Australian, New Zealanders, Indians, Ceylonese, Greeks, Arabs, Egyptians, Newfoundlanders (Canada) and Maltese were nationalities involved in the Gallipoli Campaign. © Copyright by Anzac.com 1998-2017. All Rights Reserved. Nothing contained on this website may be reproduced without express written permission. Anzac.com does not assume responsibility for errors or omissions in the content of this website. Gallipoli Jewish Heritage - Gallipoli Gallipoli Geography and General History of Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (Turkish: Gelibolu Yarımadası) is located in Turkish Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles straits to the east.

Gallipoli derives its name from the Greek Kallipolis , meaning "Beautiful City." After the devastating 1354 earthquake, the Greek city was almost abandoned, but swiftly reoccupied by Turks from Anatolia, the Asiatic side of the straits, making Gallipoli the first Ottoman possession in Europe, and the staging area for their expansion across the Balkans. The peninsula, which was inhabited by the Byzantine Empire, was gradually conquered by the Ottoman Empire starting from 13th century onwards until the 15th. The Greeks living there were allowed to continue their everyday life. Gallipoli (in Turkish, Gelibolu) was made the chief town of a Kaymakamlik (district) in the vilayet (a Wali's province) of Adrianople, with about 30,000 inhabitants, Greeks, Turks, Armenians and Jews. Gallipoli became a major encampment for British and French forces in 1854 during the Crimean War, and the harbour was also a stopping-off point on the way to Constantinople.

The peninsula did not see any more wars up until World War I when the British Empire allies trying to find a way to reach its troubled ally in the east, Imperial Russia, decided to try to obtain passage to the east. The Ottomans set up defensive fortifications along the peninsula with German help. The "Gallipoli War" The Gallipoli Campaign took place at Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey from 25 April 1915 to 9 January 1916, during the First World War. A joint British Empire and French operation was mounted to capture the Ottoman capital of Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), and secure a sea route to Russia. The attempt failed, with heavy casualties on both sides. In Turkey, the campaign is known as the Çanakkale Savaşları, after the province of Çanakkale . In the United Kingdom, it is called the Dardanelles Campaign or Gallipoli. In France it is called Les Dardanelles. In Australia, New Zealand and Newfoundland, it is known as the Gallipoli Campaign or simply as Gallipoli. It is also known as the Battle of Gallipoli. The Gallipoli campaign resonated profoundly among all nations involved.

In Turkey, the battle is perceived as a defining moment in the history of the Turkish people—a final surge in the defense of the motherland as the centuries-old Ottoman Empire was crumbling. The struggle laid the grounds for the Turkish War of Independence and the foundation of the Turkish Republic eight years later under Atatürk , himself a commander at Gallipoli. In Australia and New Zealand, the campaign was the first major battle undertaken by a joint military formation, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), and is often considered to mark the birth of national consciousness in both of these countries. Anzac Day (25 April) remains the most significant commemoration of military casualties and veterans in Australia and New Zealand, surpassing Armistice Day/Remembrance Day. Monument in mid town Gallipoli depicting the life of Ataturk.The monument was donated by ANZAC veterans. Dardanelles Campaign - World War I - HISTORY.com Google Dardanelles Campaign: Background As the only waterway between the Black Sea in the east and the Mediterranean Sea in the west, the Dardanelles was a much-contested area from the beginning of World War I .

The stakes for both sides were high: British control over the strait would mean a direct line to the Russian navy in the Black Sea, enabling the supply of munitions to Russian forces in the east and facilitating cooperation between the two sides. The Allies were also competing with the Central Powers for support in the Balkans, and the British hoped that a victory against Turkey would persuade one or all of the neutral states of Greece, Bulgaria and Romania to join the war on the Allied side. Finally, as British Foreign Secretary Edward Grey put it, the approach of such a powerful Allied fleet toward the heart of the Ottoman Empire might provoke a coup d’état in Constantinople, leading Turkey to abandon the Central Powers and return to its earlier neutrality. Did You Know? Winston Churchill was born in 1874 at Blenheim Palace, near Oxford, England. The palace was a gift from Britain’s Queen Anne to John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, following his victory at the Battle of Blenheim in 1704. Support from the rest of the British war command came none too soon for Winston Churchill (1874-1965), the British first lord of the admiralty (akin to the secretary of the U.S.

Navy), who had long been a proponent of an aggressive naval assault against Turkey at the Dardanelles. Though others, especially the French military command, led by Joseph Joffre , argued that the navy should not strike until ground troops could be spared from the Western Front, Churchill pushed to begin immediately. Dardanelles Campaign: March 1915 The attack, planned throughout the winter of 1915, opened on March 18, 1915, when six English and four French battleships headed toward the strait. The Turks were aware that an Allied naval attack on the strait was a strong possibility, and with German help, had greatly improved their defenses in the region. Though the Allies had bombarded and destroyed the Turkish forts near the entrance to the Dardanelles in the days leading up to the attack, the water was heavily mined, forcing the Allied navy to sweep the area before its fleet could set forth. However, the minesweepers did not manage to clear the area completely: Three of the 10 Allied battleships (Britain’s Irresistible and Ocean, and France’s Bouvet) were sunk, and two more were badly damaged.

With half the fleet out of commission, the remaining ships were pulled back. Though Churchill argued for the attack to be renewed the next day, claiming, erroneously as it turned out, that the Turks were running low on munitions, the Allied war command opted to delay the naval attack at the Dardanelles and combine it with a ground invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula, which bordered the northern side of the strait. Gallipoli Campaign: April 1915-January 1916 The Allied landing on Gallipoli, which took place on April 25, 1915, met with a fierce Turkish defense inspired by Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal (1881-1938), who was the future president of Turkey and later known as Ataturk, and directed skillfully by the German commander Otto Liman von Sanders. For the remainder of the year, Allied forces, including large contingents from Australia and New Zealand, were effectively held at the beaches where they had landed, hampered by cautious and ineffective leadership from their British commander, Sir Ian Hamilton. Hamilton was replaced near the end of 1915 by Charles Monro, who recommended that the Allies abandon the operation.

The armies were fully evacuated by the end of January 1916. Dardanelles and Gallipoli Campaigns: Casualties The failure of the campaign at the Dardanelles and at Gallipoli resulted in heavy casualties—approximately 205,000 for the British Empire and 47,000 for the French (there were also 250,000 Turkish casualties)—and was a serious blow to the reputation of the Allied war command, including that of Churchill, who resigned his position with the admiralty after being demoted, and headed to the Western Front to command a battalion. Tags

Question: In what modern-day country did the Battle of Gallipoli take place?
Answer: Turkey