Section 4
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THE LIFE AND TIMES OF A HERO Section 4 |
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GALLIPOLI 1915
On 16th November 1914, 21 officers, 43 sergeants, 15 drummers and 816 other ranks of the 2nd Battalion, Hampshire Regiment had finally left Bombay on board SS Gloucester Castle. They travelled in a large convoy of merchant ships and troop transports and landed at Plymouth on December 22nd. They immediately entrained for Romsey, near Winchester. Some were billeted in local houses, schools and church buildings, others were in tents. Most of the men were allowed leave at this time and William travelled home to Woolwich on Christmas Eve 1914. Edith, his mother, had organised a grand homecoming party inviting friends neighbours and relations, who were all there to welcome him home. He had by now been away since October 1911 and the pale innocent youth who had left England with little education or prospects was now returning a healthy young hero, who would help save mankind from the dreadful scourge of German aggression. |
 S.S.GLOUCESTER CASTLE AT CAPETOWN |
He left the bus and half ran, half walked towards home. The last few yards were downhill and his boots slid on the shiny flagstones outside No26 Willenhall Road in Woolwich, South London. The front door opened as he walked up the short path. His mother was there in the doorway with open arms, a small dog yapping at her feet, and behind in the hallway were Ruth and Joan, his sisters, who he had grown considerably whilst he had been away, Ruth now a woman. The rest of the house was alive with people who wanted to shake his hands and kiss him. He was overwhelmed and slightly embarrassed by the attention, he really only wanted to be with his mother and the best moments for him were when he was alone with his her. She treated him like her baby and he felt completely cocooned and safe in her presence. He loved the smells of the house and of her and whilst he was there he was transported back to his younger days when he had no responsibilities or worries.
It was at this time that his mother was losing Jim Simpson the man who had taken the place of her husband. Why? She had been with him for many years and most of her children were his but for some reason their love had died. He was definitely still in love. Her? We'll never know... Anyway, whilst Will was in Woolwich he met, for the first time, John Landers, the man who would marry his mother later in the year. William does not like him. He is a professional soldier, a Sergeant Major in the Army Service Corps, and can only talk of the army and army life. William finds him narrow minded and boring, and is reminded of the strict regime of drill on parade grounds that he is soon to rejoin. He is happy that his mother will have more security but is not happy with her choice of husband.
While William was wrapped up in the business of his homecoming, meanwhile, the war machine continued to slowly lurch into life. His 2nd Hampshire Battalion was to become part of the 29th Division of Major-General Sir Aylmer Hunter-Weston, C.B., D.S.O. It was the last Regular Army Division to be put into the fray and was made up of eleven Regular Battalions and one Territorial totaling around 12,000 men at arms.
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In 1914 Great Britain's small army was made up entirely of volunteers. The Regular Army consisted of only about 137,000 men who were backed up by part time Territorials and Reservists. France & Germany, on the other hand, had much larger, conscripted armies, each of around four million men, with a small core of professionals.
The structure of the British Army was based on Regiments and Divisions, and a Regiment was usually named after the local area from where it recruited most of its strength. Hence the Hampshire Regiment, which was based at Winchester in Hampshire. Each Regiment consisted of one or two Battalions, each with the strength of about a thousand regular officers and men. Before the First War the British Army was employed to keep order across the Empire and one Battalion of each Regiment would be abroad in one of His Majesty's colonies whilst the other was based in England, and mainly used to train new recruits ready to fill gaps in the overseas Battalion. At the outbreak of war in 1914 the 2nd Hampshire Battalion was stationed at Mhow in India.
Each Battalion of a thousand men was split into four Companies, each of about 200 men, plus the Headquarters staff and a machine gun section. Each Company was again split into four Platoons, a Platoon being made up of four Sections each of about 12 men.
During the war an infantry Battalion was more or less permanently part of an infantry Division. Each infantry Division was made up of three Brigades of infantry. Four Battalions were attached to each Brigade, which therefore contained about 4000 men. Usually one Brigade would be engaged at the front, one in support and one in reserve.
From when they returned to England late in 1914 until the end of the war the 2nd Hampshire Battalion was part of the 88th Brigade. This Brigade was nearly always attached to the 29th Division, which was attached to different armies and moved to different parts of the line as circumstances and requirements of Army HQ changed.
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The first assignment for Hunter-Weston and the 29th Division was to be the ill fated attack on the Turks at Gallipoli. Late in 1914 the stalemate on the Western Front prompted some politicians and generals to look for other ways to defeat the Germans. As early as November 1914 the idea of hitting Turkey, an ally of Germany, with British sea power, was submitted to the war cabinet by Winston Churchill, who was then the First Lord of the Admiralty. Russia was being badly mauled by the Germans and they were in desperate need of supplies and even reinforcements. The plan was to defeat Turkey and open a new route to the beleaguered Russians in the East. The Russian forces would be strengthened sufficiently to fight back at the Germans with the resulting movement of German troops to the Eastern Front and the reduction of pressure on the Allies in the West. To attack Turkey the Dardanelles passage would need be forced, the Allied forces would then pass into the Sea of Marmara and Constantinople (modern Istanbul), Turkey’s capital in Europe, would fall. This would enable the British Navy access into the Black Sea, at Russia’s back door, and at the same time a new front would be opened up, the allies pushing up through Turkey and Greece to strike at Austria, Germany’s main ally.
MAP OF THE GALLIPOLI PENINSULAR IN THE AEGEAN
By January 1915 the Gallipoli plan was approved and during February and March both British and French ships were dispatched to bombard the Turkish fortified positions at the entrance to the Dardanelles. No serious Turkish attempts were made to counter the early attacks. However, by March the Turkish defences had been strengthened and were able to give some resistance. On March 18th three Allied warships were sunk by mines laid in the Dardanelle channel. One French and two British ships were lost. Despite these losses it is probable that a regrouped naval force could have forced the channel, but by now the Army was on its way and the fateful decision to wait for them was taken.
Even before the early setbacks it was clear that ground troops would be needed. They would land on the lightly fortified beaches of the Gallipoli peninsular in order to neutralise the strong artillery defences on both sides of the Dardanelles channel. Once these fortifications were put out of action mine-sweepers would clear the Dardanelles of sea mines to allow the Allied navy free passage into the Sea of Marmara. From there they could mount an attack on Constantinople and the weak Turkish Government would, hopefully, fall.
The political and military arguing over whether or not to attack the Turks went on until March and the fate of the 29th Division was not finalised until Lord Kitchener, Secretary of State for War, announced on the 27th February that they would go to the Dardanelles. Even after this Sir Henry Wilson, the Army’s Director of Military Operations, and Sir John French, Chief of Imperial General Staff, were pressing for them to be used to relieve the tired and depleted French troops at Ypres, in Belgium.
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By January 13th the homecoming parties were over and Will was back with his Battalion stationed at Stratford-on-Avon preparing for the serious business of war. They were taught in the use of trench mortars, hand grenades and methods of supply & relief – Arts of trench warfare learnt at such terrible cost by the British Army in the defence of Ypres the previous year. William was billeted with Mrs ‘R’, who treated him and his comrades like heroes. They were all young, tanned and fit - she loved them all and mothered them like her own.
The breakup of his mother's relationship with Jim Simpson was lingering on and on 3rd March Jim wrote a heartrending letter to Edith. It appears to be written by a broken hearted man:
My Dear Edie
I received your letter with parcel when I arrived home last evening & I will try to get a cheap box with lock to it to keep my clothes & papers in.
I am extremely sorry for what has happened & sorry ay (sic) thousand times about your dear face [EDITH OFTEN SUFFERED WITH ABSCESSES] & I hope & trust that it will soon get better. I will not call or give you anymore cause of trouble. My love for you has always been & always will be from the bottom of my heart. I hope you will forgive me. I have always been a good father to the children & done my utmost for them & you my dear & love them all & will continue to do well by you all if you will let me. I hope they will never rise up against me or you but always love & honour you is my best wishes to them.
Dear Edie I should like to meet you on Saturday as you say if you are able & will always be glad to see you my dear if you write & say where you will meet me when you feel you can.
Dear Edie you mentioned in your letter about stopping the money. I would not be guilty of such a mean act to you & them (sic) children. You shall have your money the same as you have always had it each Saturday & more if I have it to give you.
Dear Edie I shall be at Lyon’s on Saturday about 1.15pm if you or Vida can come for the money.
My best love to you and the children & kiss Betsy for me I hope she is better the dear of her cold. I was dreaming last night & thought I was covering her over to keep her warm.
I must now close with fondest love to you from your
Ever Affectionate
Jim
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William was oblivious to the details of his mother's love life and was anyway concentrating on doing his job and on the forthcoming fight. On 12th March the 29th Division was reviewed by the King George V at Nuneaton. Straight afterwards the 2nd Hampshires boarded a waiting troop train, which took them to Warwick, where they stayed for a further two weeks sorting final details. They left Warwick on 20th March bound for Avonmouth in the Bristol Channel, and at the recently completed Royal Edward docks they boarded two ships. ‘W’ & ‘X’ Company sailed on the HT Aragon a Royal Mail steamer. ‘Y’ & ‘Z’ Companies were on the SS Manitou. William was part of ‘Z’ Company. On 21st March they set sail for Egypt, and four days later passed the Rock of Gibraltar. The convoy of twenty two ships carrying the 29th Division stopped briefly at Malta to refuel. William did not leave his transport ship, but he did get his first glimpse of Malta. He would return for a longer stay later in the year. The convoy arrived in Egypt on 2nd April, but before they could go on to the Dardanelles all the transports had to be unloaded, their cargoes sorted and then reloaded. The 2nd Hampshires docked in the port of Alexandria and while they waited they stayed at Mustafa Pasha barracks in the city. |
 THE H.T. ARAGON |
At last, on 8th April, the transports were ready and the 2nd Hampshires prepared to leave. William washed himself and packed his kit ready for inspection. The tents were struck and loaded onto mule carts. His company lined up for parade in the morning sun and afterwards had breakfast. At 0930am they were inspected by the C.O. When everything was ready they again lined up and marched, in fours, back down to Alexandria harbour. Once on the quay they milled around, smoking or chatting, waiting for their units to be called aboard. Rifles were piled neatly in pyramids and kit bags strewn on the quay-side nearby. A line of horse drawn carts were at the water’s edge, the unharnessed mules munching absently mindedly on bags of oats. A pile of rolled up tents made a comfortable place to catch forty winks for a few bored men. Others stood, their cloth covered cork topees cocked, gazing at the ship, which would soon be their home. Egyptian workers ran back and forth whilst the Officers' shouted orders echoed around the loading sheds. A field kitchen served tea to the waiting troops. With the snort of a ship’s steam winch coming to life and the rattle of railway bogeys more equipment is stowed aboard. Wild eyed mules whinny as they are shoved, unceremoniously, up the wooden gangplanks and on to the waiting ships.
As the sun moved quickly overhead the temperature climbed. The waiting troops, who by now were used to the heat, were never-the-less still irritable and squabbled with Egyptian fruit sellers, who walked up and down the quay offering overpriced oranges and dates. Eventually the whole battalion and its equipment were aboard the transport HT Aragon . On board, and in fairly cramped conditions, they were to train and to amuse themselves for the next week. The following day the ship cast off from the crowded quay, steamed to the start position outside Alexandria harbour and waited for the last ship to join them. Finally, at sunset and with a flurry of signals, they were part of the convoy that was bound for the peninsular of Gallipoli.
They docked at Moúdhros on the island of Lemnos late on 13th April. Over the next ten days the sea around became more and more full of transports, destroyers, battleships, mine-sweepers, and hospital ships, the waters between them seemingly always full of small cutters or pinnaces rushing back and forth. The assembled fleet of over 150 ships was now just 40 nautical miles from the landing point of Cape Helles on the Turkish Dardanelle peninsular. Laughter was becoming louder, the smokers lit up more frequently and everyone wrote home to wives, mothers and girlfriends. |
 THE ALLIED FLEET AT ANCHOR IN MOUDHROS HARBOUR |
Whilst waiting at Moúdhros they practiced again and again sea bourne landings ready for the attack soon to come. Climbing down rope ladders from the transports to ships boats. Landing from whalers, rowed by men of the Royal Navy, they splashed through the shallows onto the sandy beaches. Once on shore they charged through the low scrub at an imaginary foe, racing each other to the top of the low hills surrounding the bay.
The plan was to land from the River Clyde, a Collier which had been chartered to the Admiralty to take bunker coal to the fleet at the Dardanelles in early 1915 and was subsequently purchased (at a very good price!) from the owner Ormond Cook for the subsequent conversion into a landing ship.
Ormond Cook was born in Glasgow in 1876 and worked as a shipbroker for the Glasgow firm of Hardie & Co. In 1904 he formed a partnership with a Mr.Ferguson and established the company of Ormond Cook, Ferguson & Co. of Baltic Chambers, Wellington St., Glasgow. The same year they ordered their first ship, to be named River Clyde, from Russell & Co., Port Glasgow. She was of 6,700 tons deadweight and 3,913 tons gross. She was delivered in 1905. In 1906 a second vessel was ordered on the Tyne. Named River Forth she was slightly larger at 4,413 gross tons and delivered in 1907. Around this time, Ferguson left the partnership and the company was restyled Ormond Cook & Co. Ltd. Whilst the fate of the River Clyde is well documented, the River Forth is less well known, but she was sunk with heavy loss of life during the war. Thereafter, Ormond Cook took no further part in ship owning.
At midnight on 23rd April the troops left Moúdhros harbour and steamed the 30 nautical miles to the assembly point off the small island of Tenedos, some 10 miles from Cape Helles. ‘Y’ & ‘Z’ companies (William was with 'Z' company) of the 2nd Hampshires transferred from the transport Alaunia to the waiting River Clyde. Landings were planned for 0530am on 25th April. The biggest burden was to fall upon the 29th Division, commanded by Major General Sir Aylmer Hunter-Weston. These were the best trained and best prepared of the assembled troops. Three landings were to take place plus two small diversionary landings. Cape Helles, the most westerly point of the Gallipoli peninsular, was the intended landing place. The main attack would be on ‘V’, ‘W’ & ‘X’ beaches, ‘S’ & ‘Y’ beaches were to be diversionary. Just before daybreak further landings, by Australian and New Zealand troops were planned at ’Z’ beach, which was situated on the Aegean coast and about 15 miles away. |
 THE TINY ISLAND OF TENEDOS |
GALLIPOLI PENINSULAR & THE DARDANELLES CHANNEL
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