Gallipoli Landing Essay

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The landing plan of Gallipoli did not go to plan. In fact it was quite the disaster. The original plan consisted of landing on a 4mile or 6km stretch of beach about a mile or 1.6km north of Gaba Tepe to a point near Fisherman’s Hut. To attain surprise the landing would commence about an hour before sunrise. The landing would begin with the arrival of a “covering” force which would capture the area surrounding the landing zone to make it secure for the main force. This “covering” force was the Australian 3rd Brigade. Three battalions, and one battalion is roughly 300 to 1200 men, were to seize the third ridge line and Gaba Tepe while the fourth would stay in reserve. Following the covering force, the Australian 2nd brigade would land and move to the north climbing to Hill 971 and protecting the left flank of the landing. The original plan included capturing Mal Tepe on the first day as long as the landing was successful. The first troops to land were two companies of each of the 9th, 10th and 11th battalions of the Australian 3rd Brigade. The companies were embarked from three battleships. Each battleship dispatched four steamboats towing three row boats- a total of 48 boats. The boats were released at 3:30am. This didn’t go to plan. Since it was pitch black when the boats were released, the tows could not see the geography of Anzac Cove. So, they solely relied on the fact that the battleships had been in the correct position when the boats were released. There are many theories why the journey went to shambles but there is one thing for sure; the boats were meant to land on a two mile front in between Hell Spit and Gaba Tepe, but they landed around Ari Burnu, 1.5miles north of their intended area. The Australians had come ashore at 4:30am and were met by rifle and machine gun fire. The casualties were not too bad but the battalion which landed just north of

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