4 h 15 min, 25 avr. 1915 ans - Y beach landing

Description:

Y Beach was a considerable distance north along the Aegean coast, close to Krithia and behind most of the Ottoman defences at Cape Helles. The sea at the shore was deep enough for boats to sail within a few yards and the coast was a steep cliff about 150 feet (46 m) high, with two gullies giving easy access to the top. The area was undefended and the nearest Ottoman troops were two platoons 1-mile (1.6 km) south near Gully Ravine, a platoon of the 2nd Battalion, 26th Regiment at Sari Tepe and the 25th Regiment at Serafim Farm, 5 miles (8.0 km) away. The 1st Battalion, 26th Regiment was stationed between Semerly Tepe and Sari Tepe, 1.75 miles (2.82 km) north of Y Beach but was held back to guard against another landing for two days. The cruisers HMS Amethyst and HMS Sapphire with a transport N2 and eight trawlers rendezvoused 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Y Beach with the covering force, the battleship HMS Goliath and the cruiser HMS Dublin. At 2:30 a.m. the troops transferred to the trawlers which steamed inshore, with Goliath 4,000 yards (3,700 m) out and the cruisers 2,000 yards (1,800 m) closer to the shore. At 4:15 a.m. trawlers steamed forward until they touched bottom and then embarked their troops in the boats, which were rowed to the beach as the bombardment on Cape Helles began.[66]

The Plymouth Battalion RND (Lieutenant-Colonel Godfrey Matthews), the 1st Battalion, King's Own Scottish Borderers (Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald Koe) and a company of the 2nd Battalion, South Wales Borderers landed at Y Beach from 5:15–5:45 a.m. Scouts moving forward in the centre and on the flanks found four Ottoman soldiers, two of whom were killed and two captured. Two companies advanced to Gully Ravine, about 300 yards (270 m) beyond the cliff top and at 7:30 a.m., two companies of marines moved forward south-eastwards across the ravine, to search for a suspected Ottoman artillery piece. News of the success of the landing was passed to Hamilton as Queen Elizabeth steamed past at 8:20 a.m. The landing force waited until mid-afternoon for the expected advance from Cape Helles, in conditions so quiet, that Matthews and an adjutant crossed Gully Ravine and walked to within 500 yards (460 m) of Krithia and found no sign of Ottoman troops.[67]

The marine search party moved for about 1-mile (1.6 km) south-east but found no sign of a gun and retired at 11:00 a.m. unchallenged. A message was sent to X Beach asking for an update, but no reply was received. At 9:00 a.m. and at noon, firing was heard from X Beach but no instructions arrived from 29th Division Headquarters, so Matthews ordered the position to be consolidated. At 3:00 p.m., with no sign of an advance from the cape Matthews withdrew from the ravine and began to dig in again on the cliff top. Dead ground around the landing site forced the British to establish a lengthy perimeter, along which the 29th Division troops were placed in the centre and marines on the flanks. From the ships the retirement could not be seen and digging in on the new positions was slowed, because entangled roots lay under the surface and the heavy digging implements were still on the beach, which resulted in the entrenchments being little more than 18 inches (0.46 m) deep by late afternoon.[68]

At Serafim Farm, Sami Bey the Ottoman 9th Division commander, received news of the landing as soon as it began and at 1:00 p.m. sent an infantry battalion, an artillery battery and a section of machine-guns to the landing site. Just after 4:00 p.m. one of the guns opened fire and at 5:40 p.m., Ottoman infantry began to counter-attack the beachhead. The first attack was made by a company and was dispersed by naval gunfire. When the guns ceased fire after dark, the Ottoman infantry attacked with great determination. By 11:00 p.m. reinforcements had increased the number of Ottoman troops to ​1 1⁄2 battalions and British losses led Matthews to signal for reinforcements, for which he received no reply. At dawn on 26 April, the Ottoman infantry withdrew, having suffered c. 50 percent casualties and inflicted British losses of 697 men. Koe had been mortally wounded and his adjutant killed; ammunition had run short in the beachhead and was complicated by the need to supply Mark VI as well as Mark VII rifle ammunition. As soon as dawn broke, the bombardment ships resumed firing.[69]

During the night, some British troops began to straggle back to the beach and their morale was depressed further, when a ship salvo fell short into the beachhead. At 6:30 a.m., the ships received a request for help from a party ashore, which had run out of ammunition and was the first indication that things were amiss. Boats sent to the beach to re-embark the party and its wounded were seen by other troops on the beach, the impression was formed that a general re-embarkation had begun and some stragglers climbed aboard the boats. Unknown to Matthews and the troops on the heights who had spent the night repulsing Ottoman infantry attacks, the evacuation had already begun. A few minutes later Matthews signalled that the ships should fire 1,000 yards (910 m) beyond the cliff edge, onto Ottoman troops who were massing for another attack, which began at 7:00 a.m. and broke through the centre of the British line.[70]

With no reserves, the British rallied and routed the attackers by a bayonet charge, which ended the threat to the beachhead. The initial Ottoman breakthrough had caused a panic behind the British defenders, which was reflected in signals received by the ships. After the attack had been repulsed, Matthews toured the positions on the right flank and found that they were empty. When he realised that the troops nearer the beach had been re-embarking, he saw no option but to allow it to continue and collected a party of men to defend the gully, until the wounded had been evacuated. By 11:00 a.m. all of the troops on the beach had left and the rearguard withdrew from the cliff and was rowed away within thirty minutes. During the departure, no gunfire was received from the Ottoman troops in the vicinity and when a naval officer led a party of marines ashore in the afternoon to look for survivors, they were able to search the area for an hour without interference.[70]

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