Here the cliffs are not high and
irregular, but rise about fifty feet from the water's edge, with
stretches of beach at intervals. Five of these beaches were selected for
disembarkation under the cover of warships. It was hoped the Turkish
trenches would be rendered untenable and the barbed wire entanglements
cut by the fire of the ships, but these expectations were not realized.
For example, the landing place between Gaba Tepe and Cape Helles was the
scene of a desperate struggle which raged all day. The Turks held barbed
wire protected trenches in force and their snipers covered the
foreshore. After hours of bombardment the troops were taken ashore at
daybreak. Part of the force scaled the cliffs and obtained a precarious
footing on the edge of the cliffs, but boats which landed along the
beach were confronted with a solid hedge of barbed wire and exposed to a
terrible cross-fire. Every effort was made to cut the wire, but almost
all those who landed here were shot down. Later the troops on the cliffs
succeeded in driving back the Turks and clearing the beach.
The most terrible of all landings, however, was on the beach between
Cape Helles and the Seddul Bahr.
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