Dardanelles

The Dardanelles is a narrow strait in the northwestern area of Turkey that connects the Aegean Sea with that of the Sea of Marmara. Roughly 38 Miles (61 kilometers) long, it varies in width from 3/4 miles at its narrowest to 4 miles at its widest (1.2 to 6 kilometers). The strait connects the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea; in addition to this it separates mainland Europe (on the western side of the Gallipoli peninsula) to that of mainland Asia (on the eastern side).

Timeline of events (from source material contemporary with the Great War from a British perspective).

1914

1 October	Closed by the Turks.
3 November	Forts bombarded by the Allies.

1915

19, 20 and 25 February	Outer forts bombarded by warships.
25–26 February	Anglo-French squadron destroys four entrance forts.
2–4 March	After bad weather, bombardment of inner forts and Bulair.
5–7 March	HMS Queen Elizabeth, HMS Ocean and HMS Agamemnon shell Narrows forts from the Gulf of Saros.
18 March	The big attack fails; HMS Ocean, HMS Irresistible and the French battleship Le Bouvet are sunk by mines; HMS Inflexible and the French battleship Gaulois are damaged.
20–30 April	Expeditionary Force (120,000 men) including six Divisions under Sir Ian Hamilton and a French force under General d'Amade, lands early in April; British submarine exploits.
25–26 April	Landing of forces at Cape Helles and Anzac Cove.^[a]
12 May	HMS Goliath sunk by torpedo destroyer.
26–27 May	HMS Triumph and HMS Majestic torpedoed.
5 June	Optimistic view of the operations taken by Winston Churchill in his speech at Dundee.
19 July	Number of casualties are announced: approx. 8,000 killed, 30,000 wounded and 11,000 missing.
6 August	Suvla Bay landing takes place.
16 August	Large number of reinforcements are refused.
2 September	Four Turkish transports are sunk by British submarines.
16 October	Sir Ian Hamilton is relieved by Sir Charles Monro.
Withdrawal is being considered during the autumn. The decision to evacuate is made in November.
18–20 December	Evacuation of Suvla Bay and Anzac Cove successful.

Notes

↑ See Gallipoli for events pertaining to land fighting.

Sources: Various material contemporary with the war have been used to compile The Great War On This Day and its associated Compendium.

On This Day pages are styled as timelines and have been transcribed from two out-of-copyright sources: Chronology of the War (1918-1920), and History of the Great War – Principle Events 1914-1918 (1922). The spelling of place-names is a particularly convoluted subject. Some names were spelt differently depending on source, others have changed over time for various political or geographical reasons. In general, spelling of place names are original to British use at the time of, and shortly after, the war. Some typos have been altered or corrected for consistency. Similar events between these sources have been amalgamated; as a result the date and wording may differ to their original texts.

Compendium entries form the central hub of (a) An index-like collection of places, people, ships, battles, political events, etc., and (b) Words and phrases of the Armed Forces of Great Britain during the Great War. The majority of these have been transcribed from Chronology of the War (1918-1920) and Soldier and Sailor Words and Phrases (1925) respectively, the later which is reflected in the language used and some may seem derogatory by today's standards.

Images come from scans or photographs of original sources, Wikimedia Commons, and the Imperial War Museum's online collections under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence. Attribution is given separately to the latter and does not come under the general licence of this site. Please be aware that some images, although very few, may depict distressing scenes.

Advisory note: The information in these sources may not accurately represent updated histories, present-day spellings, or geographical borders. It is also written from a British perspective, and words such as "enemy" are used extensively. For further details and a full list of sources, click here.

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[1] See Gallipoli for events pertaining to land fighting.

[a]