Krithia
Charge of the 2nd Infantry Brigade (Australian) at Krithia (detail)
Why was this image chosen?
For most Australians the name Krithia means next to nothing. The
Landing, Lone Pine and the Nek – these are the actions that have
burnt themselves on the popular consciousness of Gallipoli,
encouraged by Peter Weir’s 1982 film Gallipoli which
featured the charge of the 3rd Light Horse Brigade at the
Nek as its climactic finale.
Krithia is a small village near the tip of the Gallipoli peninsula where
British troops landed on 25 April 1915. As on Anzac, the advance in this area
gradually bogged down into trench warfare. On the evening of 8 May, the four
battalions of the 2nd Brigade, AIF, approximately 2,900 strong,
advanced over flat open ground against the Turkish trenches south of Krithia.
The attack failed and within a matter of an hour and a half 1,056 –
36 per cent – of that 2,900 had been killed or wounded. Most of the
Australian dead at Krithia were never identified for burial and their names
are on the Helles Memorial to the Missing and not at Lone Pine. By comparison
with Anzac, relatively few Australians visit Helles or are aware of the tragedy
of the 2nd Brigade on 8 May 1915.
The painting on this panel – ‘Charge of the 2nd
Infantry Brigade at Krithia’ – was executed by Charles Wheeler.
It shows an incident in the advance when the brigade commander, Brigadier J
W McCay, urged his men forward from a position about half way to the Turkish
line known as the Tommies’ trench. With enemy bullets flying all around,
McCay walked out to his advancing troops waving his periscope and yelling ‘Come
on – Run!’
Krithia
Sir, this is a sheer waste of good men.
Joseph Gasparich
New Zealand soldier, Krithia, 8 May 1915
Also on 25 April the British landed at Cape Helles, the southern point of
the Gallipoli peninsula. This force was to push north to the Kilitbahir plateau.
However, determined Turkish opposition held the British to a small area at
the tip of the peninsula. In an attempt to break out of the position at Helles,
seize the village of Krithia and the commanding hill, Achi Baba, a combined
assault by British, Australian, New Zealand and French troops was planned
to begin on 6 May.
Little initial progress was made and on 8 May the Australians and New Zealanders
were ordered forward. Moving over open and exposed ground towards Krithia
(Alçitepe), the troops found the enemy fire so accurate and intense that some
men raised their shovels in front of their faces to protect themselves. However,
the Turkish lines were not reached and over 1,000 Australian and 800 New Zealand
soldiers were killed or wounded.
Charge of the 2nd Infantry Brigade at Krithia (detail)
by Charles Wheeler. (Australian War Memorial)
KIRITYA
Komutanim, bu iyi askerlerin telef edilmesinden baska bir sey degil.
Joseph Gasparich,
Yeni Zelanda askeri Kiritya, 8 Mayis 1915
25 Nisan günü, Ingilizler,
ayni zamanda, Gelibolu yarimadasinin güney ucundaki Helles burnuna da çikartma
yaptilar. Bu birlikler kuzeydeki Kilitbahir platosuna ilerlemek niyetindeydi.
Ancak, Türklerden gelen güçlü savunma karsisinda, Ingilizler
yarimadanin ucundaki küçük bir alanda çakili kaldilar.
Helles’te içine düsülen konumdan kurtulmak ve Kiritya
köyü ile Alçi Baba tepesini ele geçirmek için,
Ingiliz, Avustralya, Yeni Zelanda ve Fransiz birlikleri 6 Mayis’ta baslayacak
birlesik bir saldiri planladilar.
Baslangiçta fazla bir ilerleme
gösterilemedi.
8 Mayis’ta Avustralya ve Yeni
Zelandalilara hücum emri verildi. Açik ve korunaksiz alanda Kiritya
(Alçitepe) dogrultusunda ilerleyen birlikler düsman atesini o kadar
yogun ve keskin buldular ki, kimi askerler kendilerini korumak için küreklerini
yüzlerine siper yapmak zorunda kaldilar. Türk hatlarina ulasilamadi
ve bini askin Avustralyali ile 800’ü askin Yeni Zelandali öldü
ya da yaralandi.
vustralyali askerlerden olusan 2nci
piyade bölügünün Kiritya hücumu.
(Foto Charles Wheeler) (Avustralya Savas Aniti)
