Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Miscellaneous Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Volunteering and Training, September 1914–July 1915
- 2 The Voyage to the Dardanelles, July–August 1915
- 3 Gallipoli: Landing at Suvla Bay and the Next Ten Days, 7–17 August 1915
- 4 Gallipoli: Digging In, 18 August–October
- 5 The Serbian Front and the Battle of Kosturino, October–December 1915
- 6 The Salonika Front and Hospital, December 1915–September 1917
- 7 Egypt and Palestine, September–December 1917
- 8 Defending Jerusalem and the Battle of Tell ‘Asur, December 1917–July 1918
- 9 France, July–11 November 1918
- 10 Armistice, 12 November 1918– 11 March 1919
- Appendix 1 6th Royal Dublin Fusiliers leaving home for service overseas, 10 July 1915
- Appendix 2 The Effects of the Gallipoli Campaign on the 6th Royal Dublin Fusiliers
- Appendix 3 Officers of the 6th Royal Dublin Fusiliers at Hastière-sur-Meuse, Nov 1918
- Biographies
- Bibliography
- Index
3 - Gallipoli: Landing at Suvla Bay and the Next Ten Days, 7–17 August 1915
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 June 2023
- Frontmatter
- Miscellaneous Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Volunteering and Training, September 1914–July 1915
- 2 The Voyage to the Dardanelles, July–August 1915
- 3 Gallipoli: Landing at Suvla Bay and the Next Ten Days, 7–17 August 1915
- 4 Gallipoli: Digging In, 18 August–October
- 5 The Serbian Front and the Battle of Kosturino, October–December 1915
- 6 The Salonika Front and Hospital, December 1915–September 1917
- 7 Egypt and Palestine, September–December 1917
- 8 Defending Jerusalem and the Battle of Tell ‘Asur, December 1917–July 1918
- 9 France, July–11 November 1918
- 10 Armistice, 12 November 1918– 11 March 1919
- Appendix 1 6th Royal Dublin Fusiliers leaving home for service overseas, 10 July 1915
- Appendix 2 The Effects of the Gallipoli Campaign on the 6th Royal Dublin Fusiliers
- Appendix 3 Officers of the 6th Royal Dublin Fusiliers at Hastière-sur-Meuse, Nov 1918
- Biographies
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The landing of the 10th (Irish) Division as part of IX Corps1 commanded by Lieutenant General Frederick Stopford at Suvla Bay was a part of a renewed effort to consolidate and break through on the Gallipoli Peninsula. While Australian, Indian, and New Zealand forces would break out from Anzac Cove, the 10th (Irish) and the 11th (Northern) divisions would secure a winter harbour at Suvla Bay. The 11th (Northern) Division led the landings and were ashore before midnight on 6 August. The 10th (Irish) Division, including Drury's 6th Royal Dublin Fusiliers, followed the next day. The battalion was put ashore around 06.00 on steel barges and faced only light gunfire from Turkish positions. The landing was therefore relatively easy, but there were no orders about what to do once they had established a beachhead, prompting Drury to note ‘we went to Gallipoli without any orders, and without any maps’. At one stage the battalion commanding officer ‘was looking around for someone to give us our orders but no staff were to be seen’. Drury was also critical of the 11th (Northern) Division for not being where he believed they were meant to be, a theme to which he would return during his time at Gallipoli. The next day, the battalion was again without any sense of direction. They were attached temporarily to 33rd Brigade in 11th (Northern) Division and were ordered to make a short move towards Chocolate Hill (taken by the 7th Royal Dublin Fusiliers on the evening of 7 August) but were soon sent back and Drury noted, ‘I cannot understand the delay in moving inland. There has been no fighting all day and the Turks haven't fired a shot and are probably moving up reinforcements and digging new trenches. The men are all talking about the waste of valuable time.’
On 9 August, the 6th Royal Dublin Fusiliers finally got orders to take part in an advance from Hill 50 towards Ali Bey Chesme. This was Drury's first real action and he recalled, ‘The firing was worse than I imagined it would be and I felt very scared’, with snipers hidden in trees a particular problem.
- Type
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- Information
- First World War Diary of Noël Drury, 6th Royal Dublin FusiliersGallipoli, Salonika, the Middle East and the Western Front, pp. 46 - 70Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2022