The Helles memorial

The Helles memorial is both the Memorial to the Gallipoli Campaign and to 20,763 men who fell in that campaign and whose graves are unknown or who were lost or buried at sea in Gallipoli waters. Inscribed on it are the names of all ships that took part in the campaign and the titles of the army formations and units which served on the Peninsula together with the names of 18,985 sailors, soldiers and marines from the United Kingdom, 248 soldiers from Australia and 1,530 soldiers of the Indian Army.

Transcribed from the plaque near the entrance of the Helles Memorial

Then another glance at us-“Four minutes …three minutes …two minutes… one minute, men. Are you all ready ? Come on then, men, follow me.” Over we went into the withering machine-gun fire. Poor old Lieutenant-Commander Parsons was killed in the first seconds and many fell back into the trench.

"Gallipoli 1915", (London 1977), Joe Murray, p. 94-95

little to encourage them as they prepared for action; 2000 wounded were lying out on the open beach awaiting evacuation and there was little to be done for them; many died there. On the afternoon of the 12^th they were summoned to attack the Turks. Bugle-Major Peachey raised a silver bugle to his lips and sounded the “advance”; the sun, flashing on his instrument, betrayed him to the enemy and he was the first to fall.

"Gallipoli", (London 2000), Michael Hickey, p. 300

One of the battalions in the 163^rd Brigade was the 8^th Hampshires, still known by its old volunteer name, The Isle of Wight Riffles. They had come ashore at Suvla on 10 August and spent two days in reserve. There was

Captain Jenkinson’s death was, I believe, described later in the Times as one of the greatest losses to science since the war began. He stood quite alone in England, if not in the world, in his own subject, embryology, and had recently embarked on a course of highly specialized investigation in that subject, in which he was a pioneer. I later met some officers who told me that their hope, when at Oxford, had been that when they had taken their degrees in science, they might be able to attend his lectures. He had such a quiet, modest nature that I fear none of us at the time realized his reputation. He had recently been gazetted captain, but said nothing about it, preferring to act as a lieutenant.

"With the Twenty-ninth Division in Gallipoli", (London 1916), Reverend O. Creighton, p. 125

… Mustafa Kemal’s right wing, descended like an avalanche over the flank of Chunuk Bair and on to the Farm. There were so few survivors here that no clear account can ever be given of what happened. Baldwin fell in close combat alongside his brigade major.

"Gallipoli", (London 2000), Michael Hickey, p. 286

On Thursday (*), after lunching with the R.F.’s, I went up to J 12 to try and see if I could discover the bodies of any of the missing officers. I took a guide with me, who said he knew where they had fallen. I went up by Gurkha Bluff and through J 11A –a long communication trench running along the top of the cliff, parallel with the sea for quite 1000 yards, to J 13 and beyond, which was our main gain. The Turks had retaken J 13 and part of J 12, which were difficult for us to hold, but we have held J 11 A and dug a diagonal trench from the junction of J 11 A and J 13 back to J 11, which is now the firing line. Between J 11 and J 12 the ground was littered with dead. A number of Turks had got cut off and

were lying mixed up with our own dead. I went down J 12 and looked through a periscope. A lot of firing was going on and bomb throwing, so it was impossible to do much, but I was shown where Eustace and Ayrton probably were.

"With the Twenty-ninth Division in Gallipoli", (London 1916), Reverend O. Creighton, p. 150

(*) 1^st July 1915

Major Bromley had come out as adjutant to the 2^nd Lancashire Fusiliers. He had been ship’s adjutant on the A____ on our way out and managed everything exceedingly well, showing every one unfailing courtesy. This was the second time he had been wounded. He had been C:O: as well as

Another of Unwin’s party was Sub-Lieutenant Arthur Tisdall of the Anson battalion, Royal Naval Division. Seeing the distress of the soldiers caught on the boats down below he joined Unwin in the water. Tisdall, a parson’s son, had a brilliant academic and sporting career behind him at Cambridge and everything to live for. He now made repeated attempts to resue men off the beach, where they were crying out for help, and pushed them to safety in cutters, helped by volunteers from the River Clyde’s crew. He survived

adjutant for some two or three weeks previous to the 28^th. He had an absolutely cool head and never seemed in the least perturbed or worried, and saw to everything himself. He was very powerfully built, a splendid gymnast and swimmer. His wound was not serious, and he recovered from it in Egypt and set sail on the Royal Edward, where he was put in command of all troops on board some time in August. The Royal Edward was torpedoed on its way to Mudros and sank. Bromley, so I have since been told, started to swim, but a boat collided with him and stunned him, and he was drowned. In my opinion he was one of the finest soldiers in the Division.

"With the Twenty-ninth Division in Gallipoli", (London 1916), Reverend O. Creighton, p. 149-150

An extract from "The London Gazette," No. 29985, dated 15th March, 1917, records the following:-"On the 25th April, 1915, headquarters and three companies of the 1st Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers in effecting a landing on the Gallipoli Peninsula to the West of Cape Helles, were met by

very deadly fire from hidden machine guns, which caused a great number of casualties. The survivors, however, rushed up to and cut the wire entanglements, notwithstanding the terrific fire from the enemy, and after overcoming supreme difficulties, the cliffs were gained and the position maintained. Amongst the many very gallant officers and men engaged in this most hazardous undertaking, Captain Bromley, Serjeant Stubbs, and Corporal Grimshaw have been selected by their comrades as having performed the most single acts of bravery and devotion to duty.

At a quarter-t-twelve we were ordered to show our bayonets above the parapet and to cheer loudly. A great and glorious cheer rang along the whole line as if to say :”Look out, Johnnie. We are coming after you if there are any of you left.” Or was it to tell them to hurry up and get those machine-guns in position? “We will make an excellent target for you, and to make certain that you get the reception ready, we will not come for another fifteen minutes.”
We got the answer at once. The whole enemy line burst into rapid fire – machine-guns swept our parapet and their artillery blanketed our support trenches. They had not been destroyed, but where still there and ready for us.
The next fifteen minutes seemed like fifteen years. Our trench was about five feet deep. Commander Parsons was standing on one of the short ladders that were provided to unable us to get over the parapet, looking at his watch and glancing at us beside him, with a comforting smile on his face. “Five minutes to go men.”

unscathed, but was doomed to die only weeks later on the peninsula. His posthumous Victoria Cross would not be gazetted for almost another year. The citations which gained Unwin and Tisdall their VC’s were unique, for many of the testimonials supporting them were found on bloodstained scraps of paper found later in the boats amongst the dead, having been written on the spot by the dying men they were trying to save.

"Gallipoli", (London 2000), Michael Hickey, p. 300

Leading the second wave of this day was Lt.-Col. J.C. M’Neile with is adjudant, Captain J.C. Lang, both of them cool, intrepid men. “Thr survivors of the charge, never tired of telling what a magnificent example the Colonel, who had endeared himself to all ranks, was to his comrades that day” (Lt. Sorley Brown) "Come away, Borderers! Don't be beaten!" was the stirring cry of Captain A. Wallace as he continued to advance, although badly wounded and with blood streaming down his face, until he was hit again, this time to fall a dying man. Lieut. J.B. Innes had one of his arms shattered by a

bursting shell. He got his cousin, Lieut. W.K. Innes, to cut it off, asked for a cigarette, and continued to cheer the Borderers on until he died from loss of blood.

"History of the 52nd Lowland Division", (Glasgow 1913), Lt.-Col. R.R. Thompson, p. 92