The Navy was not ready for the Dardanelles…
The Navy in the Dardanelles Campaign offers a first-hand account of the Navy’s role in the disastrous Dardanelles Campaign, also known as the Gallipoli Campaign.
Lord Wester-Wemyss, was an Admiral of the Fleet who led the British landings at Cape Helles and Suvla Bay.
Drawing on his own experiences and the recollections and writings of fellow officers, Wester-Wemyss documents and assess the Royal Navy’s role in the joint operations, including:
The initial naval shelling of Turkish fortifications.
The strategies for landing troops on the infamous Gallipoli beaches, noting the heavy losses incurred in order to gain this foothold
The Story of Captain Unwin and his Victoria Cross winning action aboard the SS River Clyde.
The interdependence of military and naval manoeuvres that was required for any kind of success.
This interdependence, he suggests, was in no way comprehended by the politicians back home, a failing perhaps most obviously demonstrated by the fact that the War Council was comprised almost wholly of civilians with no practical understanding of naval or military combat.
The Navy in the Dardanelles is a classic account of the doomed Gallipoli Campaign, through the eyes of one who was there.
Admiral of the Fleet Rosslyn Erskine Wemyss, 1st Baron Wester-Wemyss (1864-1933) joined the Royal Navy as a cadet on the HMS Britannia in 1877. In February 1915 he was prepared for operations against the Dardanelles, and ten months later was responsible for the successful withdrawal of troops from Suvla Bay and Ari Burnu. He was a representative of Britain at the signing of the Armistice in 1918 and was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet in 1919.
