Gallipoli (27 page)

‘Let's give it a try, at least.'
²⁸

And merely a try it is, for, as it is covered in grease, they cannot get a grip. After rubbing their hands in the dirt, they make another attempt, even as the roar of the enemy artillery goes on, and this time,
this time
, they manage to hoist it on Seyit's back.

Slowly, carefully, straining with every fibre of his being, Seyit begins to shuffle towards the stairs leading up to the gun, two yards above the ground. He grunts, he groans, he
continues to climb
– Ali suffering every step of the way with him, as he sees the pain his friend is going through – and on reaching the top of the stairs Seyit manages to actually get the shell in the gun, which, despite being damaged, might still be able to fire.

Taking approximate aim, Seyit pulls the firing mechanism and the cannon roars.

It will be the stuff of cherished – if disputed – Turkish legend ever after that it is this shell that also strikes a significant blow.

Whether by mine or shell, it is not clear, but just after 6 pm – near the same spot where
Bouvet, Inflexible
and
Irresistible
have come to grief –
Ocean
is now decisively hit, with the resultant explosion destroying the ship's capacity to steer, reducing the magnificent battleship to an abandoned hulk doing figure eights on the Dardanelles as the Turkish gunners pour fire onto her …

All is mayhem and madness, and with discretion the better part of valour, de Robeck gives the order and the signal to withdraw is hoisted. Battered and bloodied, and entirely stunned that the Turks have been able to give them such a mauling, the once imperious Imperial Fleet, along with its French allies, turns tail and leaves the Dardanelles. And yet, perhaps not as stunned as the Turks themselves …

Whatever happens, Captain Mehmet Hilmi could not be prouder of his men. Descending from his lookout post, he now walks among the brave soldiers, many of whom are severely wounded – even the battery officer has stayed till the end, despite having part of his tongue cut off by shrapnel.

‘I talked to them like a father talks to his son,' Hilmi would later recall. ‘It was heartbreaking. Their wounds were very serious, but they didn't want to grieve me, so they spent their last effort trying to hide their suffering.'
²⁹

Of all the forts, the Rumeli Mecidiye has sustained the most casualties: 12 dead and 30 wounded.

Watching the enemy ships finally retreating through the Straits, the Chief of Staff of the Fortified Defences, Major Selahattin Âdil, takes a deep breath.

‘As night began to fall …' he would later recount, ‘our hearts [were] full of gratitude and thanks to Allah for assuring our people this important victory.'
³⁰

Meanwhile, the Commander of the Mine Group, Captain Hafız Nazmi, who had been out on the silent mission to lay the last auspicious row of mines at Erenkeui, is ecstatic that their plan has worked. He sits down for the first time that day and writes a diary entry with far more emotion than his usual cursory note: ‘… ships hit the mine; the mines we lay at Erenkeui!'
³¹

At fortress command's headquarters, the officers line up to congratulate their Commander, Major-General Cevat. There is a feeling of deep reflection in the room as the men come to terms with the victory – the victory for their people, their fatherland. ‘
Şahıslar gelip geçici, millet daimidir.
Individuals come and go, but a People is forever.'
³²

After the moment passes, the Turks realise how much they have to do. First, they must determine the number of casualties and take stock of the state of their defences. With communications down, they are in the dark about how they have fared on the ground. They must not delay. Tomorrow could bring more attacks. Long through the night and into the next day, the Ottoman officers and soldiers work to repair the damaged guns and redistribute ammunition. Overall, the Turkish defenders have been fortunate, incurring just 29 fatalities and 68 wounded.
³³

After everything has calmed, in a tired stupor late that night, Captain Hafiz Nazmi takes out his diary and notes, ‘Thanks be to Allah no great damage was done to our forts.'
³⁴

The same cannot be said of the Allied ships, nor of their Commander the next day after a sleepless night. With only 12 of the 18 warships that had gone into battle still capable of re-entering the fray, the ‘somewhat depressed' Admiral de Robeck refers to the events of previous day as a ‘disaster',
³⁵
and is even surprised that he has not been sacked.
³⁶

General Ian Hamilton is also shocked and has no hesitation in making his feelings known to Lord Kitchener in a cable:

The answer from Lord Kitchener in London is not long in coming:

So it is all coming back to the army.

The commander of the Anzacs, General Birdwood, is not in the least surprised. He strongly puts to General Hamilton his view that the Royal Navy has ‘shot their bolt'.
³⁹
It is obvious to him that they will not be having another go. There is now no time to lose in getting ready for a landing.

For his part, Admiral de Robeck's Chief of Staff, Commodore Roger Keyes, is outraged at the lack of resolution shown by his superior officer. It is his overwhelming view that the Turks are now vulnerable, that the fleet must go in again, and quickly, as soon as the strong wind now blowing abates. But nothing he says or does can convince the only officer who can make such a decision on the spot, Admiral John de Robeck, to do so.

Very quietly, it is Keyes' strong opinion that from the moment of losing the three battleships, de Robeck had ‘ceased to exist' as ‘a fighting admiral'.
⁴⁰

On his side, Churchill is so sure de Robeck
will
attack again shortly that he quickly despatches the battleships
London
and
Prince of Wales
to join
Queen
and
Implacable
, which are already on their way.

10 AM, 22 MARCH 1915, LEMNOS, ENTER, A MAN WITH A PLAN, PULLING A CHESTNUT OUT OF THE FIRE

General Hamilton, Admiral de Robeck, General Birdwood, General Braithwaite and the Base Commander at Lemnos, Admiral Rosslyn Wemyss, are in deep conference in a private wardroom on
Queen Elizabeth
, moored in Mudros Harbour on Lemnos, and dealing with a difficult task. Once again, they must determine how to force the Dardanelles, as London is demanding with ever greater urgency.

Again, they wrestle with the key problem, as later characterised by Admiral Wemyss: ‘The battleships could not force the Straits until the mine field had been cleared – the mine field could not be cleared until the concealed guns which defended them were destroyed – they could not be destroyed until the Peninsula was in our hands, hence we should have to seize it with the Army.'
⁴¹

From the first, de Robeck is outspoken on that very view.

‘I am quite clear,' he says to his army confederates, ‘that the Navy cannot get through without the help of all your troops.'
⁴²
Well, then …

Generals Hamilton, Birdwood and Braithwaite exchange looks. With an agreement beforehand to say nothing for or against land operations until the sailors abandon the idea of forcing the passage by ships alone, it is clear their worst fears are realised. Up front, the navy men have asked for the army's assistance.

The five military men turn to the task of planning one of the largest amphibious invasions in history. As General Hamilton would later record in his diary,
The sailors want me to pull this particular chestnut out of the fire
.
⁴³

Quietly, General Hamilton is distressed by just how much there is to organise. ‘[Had I been a German general,]' he would later comment, ‘plans for a landing in Gallipoli would have been in my pocket – up-to-date and worked out to a ball cartridge and a pail of water.'
⁴⁴

Not only does Hamilton have no such plan, he does not even have a full staff to advise him on logistics at the most basic level: Where will their fresh water supply come from? How will the wounded be evacuated? Where will they
land
?

And of no small importance, just how many Turkish soldiers would be defending the Peninsula? The intelligence estimate is that there may be as many as 40,000, with perhaps another 30,000 above Bulair and an undetermined number of divisions on the Asian side. It is possible that the 75,000 men the Allies are about to throw into the fray could be taking on 100,000 soldiers.

As to when to land, Hamilton's temptation is to cede to the urging of his old friend General Birdwood – who, in his diary, he refers to as, ‘Little Birdie, now grown up into a grand General'
⁴⁵
– that they go immediately with the troops they have, so as to forestall the strengthening of the defences that the Turks are now clearly engaged in.

But against that, it is Hamilton's view that it will be better to wait for the arrival of the 29th Division – even though, because of Kitchener's own wavering about whether or not it would be required, the 29th is still three weeks away. So Hamilton feels he cannot give his assent to a quick assault. The meeting breaks up and the Admirals and Generals make their way back to their own quarters, each with his own thoughts as to what their chances of success in three weeks' time will be.

One thing that has given Admiral Wemyss a little confidence in the last few days is the vision of all the different soldiers by the shores of Mudros Harbour, ‘a curious medley, French uniforms of every description mingling with our khaki …

‘The differences in national character come out very strongly when brought so close together in such a small space; but all have one thing in common, a good-tempered gaiety which is pleasant to see … Through all this motley crowd there is a continual stream of perspiring Australians carrying huge loads of stores and pushing improvised carts. They are magnificent specimens of the raw material of humanity. I think I have never seen finer.'
⁴⁶