First Battle of Krithia

First Battle of Krithia
Part of the First World War
Map of the Helles front in 1915
Date 28 April 1915 Location Helles, Gallipoli, Adrianople Vilayet, Ottoman Empire Result Ottoman victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom France	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Aylmer Hunter-Weston	Halil Sami Bey
Strength
19 battalions, 13,500 men	9 battalions
Casualties and losses
British: c. 2,000 French: 1,001	2,378 casualties

The First Battle of Krithia was the first Allied attempt to advance in the Battle of Gallipoli during the First World War. Starting on 28 April, three days after the Landing at Cape Helles, the attack broke down due to the defensive power of the Ottoman opposing forces, poor leadership and planning, lack of communications and exhaustion and demoralisation of the troops.

On the morning of 25 April 1915, the 29th Division (Major General Aylmer Hunter-Weston), landed on five beaches around Cape Helles at the southern tip of the Gallipoli peninsula in the Ottoman Empire. The main landings at 'V' and 'W' Beaches were hotly contested and the British suffered heavy casualties. A supporting landing made at 'Y' Beach on the Aegean coast to the north was made without opposition but the troops were without instructions and made no attempt to either advance or dig in. At that time, the first-day objectives of the village of Krithia and the nearby hill of Achi Baba were virtually undefended. When Ottoman reinforcements arrived, the British were forced to evacuate the 'Y' Beach landing and so a major opportunity of early success was lost.

After heavy fighting, the British were able to secure the main landings. The French Corps expéditionnaire d'Orient had made a diversionary landing at Kum Kale on the Asian shore of the Dardanelles and then moved across the straits to Helles, to hold the right of the Allied line. By the afternoon of 27 April, the Allies were able to make an advance of about 2 miles (3.2 km) up the peninsula towards Krithia in readiness for an assault on the following day. The success of the Ottoman defence of the beaches, led the British grossly to overestimate the opposition they faced. Believing at the time that the Ottomans were indifferent fighters, they assumed they were faced by two divisions when they outnumbered them 3:1 and were confronted by two weak regiments who fought a delaying action.

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