Gallipoli

British officers interrogating Turkish prisoners at Cape Helles during the Third Battle of Krithia, part of the Battle of Gallipoli, 1915. Caption reads: "After a hard fight in the region of Achi Baba. British Staff officers are seen in this photograph interrogating Turkish officers on the field of battle. Two Tommies, with bayonets fixed, keep guard. In the background some British soldiers can be faintly discerned resting and cleaning the dust of battle from their uniforms."
Published in The War Illustrated, 1915.

Gallipoli (Turkish: Gelibolu Yarımadası; Greek: Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, romanised: Chersónisos tis Kallípolis) is a peninsula located in the southern part of East Thrace, what is present-day the European part of Turkey. The Aegean Sea lies to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. The name Gallipoli, so widely-used throughout the Great War, is the Italian form of the Greek name Καλλίπολις (Kallípolis), which means "beautiful city", the original name of the modern town of Gelibolu.

The SS River Clyde beached at Cape Helles, Gallipoli, 1915. Caption reads: "One of the most romantic achievements of the war was the landing on Gallipoli of the British troops from the transport River Clyde. The ship was purposely run aground in order to facilitate rapid disembarkation of the soldiers through spacious doors cut in her side. This photograph shows the River Clyde, a new "Horse of Troy", stranded on the Dardanelles shore."

View of Anzac Cove at Gallipoli, shortly after the landing of 25 April, 1915.

Dugouts of the Australian 1st Battalion on the seaward slope of Steele's Post overlooking Monash Valley, 3 May 1915 during the Battle of Gallipoli.

A French Colonial 75 mm artillery gun in action near Sedd el Bahr at Cape Helles, Gallipoli during the Third Battle of Krithia, 4 June 1915.

British horse lines at Suvla Bay during the Gallipoli Campaign.

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

1915

25 April	▶  Landing of British forces at Cape Helles, and of Australian and New Zealanders at Gaba Tepe (Anzac Bay), on southern shore.	▶  French on the southern shore.
27–29 April	Establishing French and British forces across peninsula.
1–4 May	First battle of Krithia: Turkish attack repulsed.
2–4 May	Unsuccessful fighting at Gaba Tepe.
6 May	British and French civilians sent from Constantinople to; and back 14 May.
6–8 May	Second battle of Krithia; very heavy fighting; advance of 1,000 yards.
9, 10, 18, 19 May	Heavy fighting at Anzac.
15 May	General bridges commanding Anzacs killed.
24 May	Truce agreed.
28 May	▶  Capture of "Le Haricot" by French.	▶  Turkish repulse, and 3 June.
4 June	Third battle of Krithia; severe fighting; advance of 500 yards.
1, 5, 11, 16, 18 June	Turkish attacks.
21 June	French attacks.
28 June	British attacks.
29–30 June, 1–2 July	Turkish attack on our right and at Anzac driven off, General Gouraud wounded.
4–5 July	General Turkish attacks repulsed.
12 July	Allies attack with little result.
13, 21, 23, 28 July	Various attacks by both sides.
6 August	[Allied] losses nearly 50,000 to date; Great British attack begins, attack Achi Baba, land Suvla Bay.
7–10 August	Severe fighting at Suvla, Anzac, and Achi Baba.
12 August	Fighting at Suvla dies away, failure of attack.
15 August	General Stopford relieved by General Byng.
16 August	Large reinforcements refused.
21 August	Second Suvla attack failed.
5 September	Turkish attacks (Anafarta).
15 September	10th and French Divisions withdrawn.
18 September	Heavy artillery brought up from Adrianople, Kirk Kilisse and Chatalja.
27 September	Operations confined to artillery and aircraft.
16 October	Sir Ian Hamilton relieved by General Monro.
15 November	Successful attack by 156th Brigade.
27 November	Blizzard, many frozen.
11 December	Decision to evacuate; Casualties published, 112,000 besides the sick.
18–20 December	Suvla and Anzac evacuated (3 men wounded).
19 December	Covering attack from Cape Helles.
21 December	Turks claim "great victory with heavy British losses."

1916

7 January	Turkish attack on Cape Helles.
7–9 January	Evacuation of Cape Helles (one man wounded).
6 March	Despatch on evacuation by General Monro.

References

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.

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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.

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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.

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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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