8 ore 30 min, 25 apr 1915 anni - W beach advance
Descrizione:
At 8:30 a.m. Hunter-Weston ordered the main body to land and diverted some of the troops bound for V Beach to W Beach as reinforcements, which arrived at 9:00 a.m. and at 10:21 a.m. Hamilton ordered that the troops bound for V Beach be diverted to W Beach. Many casualties were incurred by the first reinforcements from long-range rifle fire as they approached the beach but were then obscured by the cliffs and were able to land and move between the flanks of the Lancashire Fusiliers. On the left flank the Fusiliers gained touch with troops from X Beach by 11:30 a.m. and complete the capture of Hill 114. On the right, troops landed and tried to reach Hill 138 but were pinned down half way to the crest. Another attack was made after another battalion had landed and the area had been bombarded by Swiftsure and Euryalus.[54]
The first redoubt was captured at 3:00 p.m. and then after a difficult advance through barbed wire, took the second redoubt unopposed and with few casualties after the garrison retreated. The fall of the two redoubts enabled the troops pinned down near the lighthouse to advance towards V Beach until more wire was encountered. Troops tried to cut through but were visible on the sky line and shot down. Observers on Queen Elizabeth and Albion 1-mile (1.6 km) offshore watched the attempts while unable to open fire due to ignorance of the situation ashore. After an hour the wire was cut but the troops were pinned down again on the far side.[54]
It was not until 5:00 p.m. that the disaster at V Beach was reported to Colonel Wolley-Dod on W Beach, who ordered the troops at the two redoubts to capture the cliff above V Beach. The troops were already advancing to Fort No 1. but the Ottoman defenders at V Beach swiftly stopped the advance and the troops dug in, which ended the attempt to retrieve the situation at V Beach. On the northern flank, Hill 114 was consolidated but an advance to the second objective from W Beach was not made and despite outnumbering the Ottoman troops 6:1, the British awaited fresh orders, which were not forthcoming, due to the loss of the commander of the landing force and the difficulties in communication with the headquarters staffs still afloat. The plan for a combined advance to the second objective broke down and there was no-one ashore to devise an alternative. With a definite objective the troops and officers of the 29th Division overcame many novel obstacles but then the twelve battalions between Hill 114 and Hill 138 did not press on against an exiguous defence.
Aggiunto al nastro di tempo:
Data:
8 ore 30 min, 25 apr 1915 anni
Adesso
~ 110 years ago