Despite British naval supremacy, World War I had yet to see a decisive naval engagement when Churchill posited an ambitious plan to take the Dardanelles, the first of two channels through Ottoman Turkey (a German ally) that would link up France and Britain in the Mediterranean with Tsarist Russian in the Black Sea.
The plan was to have British and French warships simply charge through the Turkish blockade via sheer power, and then land troops (including many members of the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps, the ANZACs) at Gallipoli. The heavily mined coast and unexpectedly high number of gun emplacements took their toll on the attackers, and when the troops landed, they were largely unsupported by the panicked high command at sea, who refused to move to close to the shore. Early gains weren’t followed up, allowing the Turkish forces time to reinforce their position, turning this hopedfor quick campaign into another entrenched slog, only up a cliff face instead of over a Belgian field. Between 25 April 1915 and 9 January 1916, 252,000 Allied soldiers were killed before evacuation and an Australian war reporter broke the censorship to smuggle out a damning report of the commander on the ground, General Hamilton. The problem was in the planning and the divided chain of command. Churchill, who insisted the Ottomans would crumble, and General Hamilton, who was slow to take the initiative, bore the brunt of the blame, both castigated in the press and forced from their positions, but others too should have been held to account, perhaps even more so – Admiral John de Robeck refused Churchill’s order to bring his ships in and provide support, while military planners in London had cut the numbers of troops set aside for the mission.
Future Influence
Churchill’s enthusiasm for decisive action (and greater control of the commanders in the field) was strengthened – something that would influence just how much responsibility he took on during WWII. Even if he did not deserve all of the blame he bore, the setback hardened his resolve to prove himself.
Death Toll
- Turkish: 56,643
- British: 34,072
- French: 9,789
- Australian: 2,721
- New Zeland: 1,358
- India: 1,358
- Newfoundland: 49
