Landships II

James H · Legend

"Vehicles" at Gallipoli.

Michael Taylor · Lieutenant-Colonel

I seem to recall seeing a photograph of a traction engine at Gallipoli... Also, the preserved Albion now restored in a Turkish museum is said to have originated there.

Ironsides · Legend

Hi james Im sure that whats meant by this is horse or hand drawn vehicles...

From�"Uncensored letters from the Dardanelles"...

may 15

"The weather is hot. I had a heavy siesta in the tent.
The colours one sees to-day are admirable. The plain is
a swarm of men, horses, guns, munitions, and provision
cases ! The sea is of the bluest blue, and black ships are

lying on it battleships. A huge fountain of water rises
now and then. It is a " marmite " which has fallen into
the sea. Friendly aeroplanes fly over us unceasingly."

may 31

"Sedd-el-Bahr or Sedoul Bahr is the landing point where
the English and French were so admirable, and lost so
many men. It is ruined done for. There are only
soldiers, munitions, horses, material no women."

"The narrow streets of the town are filled with soldiers
of every service, crowded with carts, munition cases,
ambulance carriages, horses, artillery waggons. One must
squeeze up against the wall under the toppling roofs not
to be crushed by them. Heaps of soldiers have occupied
the ruins and are camping there."

�

Cheers smile

James H · Legend

Thank you for responses so far, Citizens.

I know we don't do aircraft here, but Ironsides's mention of them prompted me to look into their use at Gallipoli. This remarkable claim is made here: "Kitchener denied Hamilton air reconnaissance prior to the landing." Extraordinary.

Should anyone be interested, this impressive site appears to be a thorough account of how aircraft were used during the campaign.

-- Edited by James H on Wednesday 3rd of August 2011 06:03:40 PM

Ironsides · Legend

from the Turkish perspective...

http://www.turkeyswar.com/aviation/airop.htm

�

Cheers smile

�

Rob · Legend

Motorcycles would also have come under that heading

Rob · Legend

I found a bit more about motor vehicles at Gallipoli - I visited the battlefield last year and wondered if any motor vehicles, apart from the motorcycles and RNAS Rolls Royce armoured cars, served there. According to The Royal Army Service Corps' by Col. R H Beadon;

" it was there alone on the peninsula (at Suvla), except for a few four-wheel-drive lorries for the artillery at Helles, that mechanical transport was employed a detachment of twenty 30-cwt lorries, Ford Cars and motor ambulances proving useful on the comparatively flat ground.

I'd be very interested in knowing what the 30 cwt lorries were, and also the four wheel drive lorries, possibly FWD's?

Pzkpfw-e · Commander in Chief

http://www.seayourhistory.org.uk/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=13960

"RNAS" armoured car.

No sign of any other motorised vehicles on the various photos I've seen online.

Rob · Legend

A few shots here;

http://landships.activeboard.com/t52166064/british-vehicles-id/

Rectalgia · Legend

Not much detail (just mentions "vehicles") but the logistical plan of the landings is discussed in http://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/utils/getfile/collection/p4013coll14/id/338/filename/339.pdf (conclusion: an utter schamozzle from the offset). Two floating piers were available for the initial landing, also tugs, lighters and the drop-front horse barges (suitable also for artillery landing). Piers were constructed in the following several months including, as I think one of the later ones, Watson's Pier, completed 18 June 1915, 100th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, the celebration of which event was mistaken by the official Australian war historian as a "dust-up" among the Australian Engineers and is commemorated in like fashion to this day (the RAE's annual Waterloo dinners).

-- Edited by Rectalgia on Tuesday 8th of January 2013 03:32:08 AM

Great War Truck · Brigadier

This is an interesting topic. i did not think that there would be much need for much MT in that theatre as it was hardly a war of movement and not much room for them to be parked. I am also very curious as to what they had there and how they unloaded them on to the beach. I think Mr Young had a photograph of a Holt said to be at Gallipoli but i have no idea how they would have got that on the shore.

I have come across several references to FWD's being referred to as "Four Wheel Drives" so i expect that answers that question.

Tim

Pzkpfw-e · Commander in Chief

I assume they'd be crained onto a Lighter, then disembarked onto a jetty, by crane again.

Rob · Legend

That's certainly how the Rolls Royce armoured cars were brought ashore. Later in the campaign, by the Suvla Bay landings in August, they had 'X Lighters' also called Black Beetles which were like modern landing craft with a ramp at the front

Great War Truck · Brigadier

I would assume so, but you would need a pretty big crane to unload a Holt 75.