Battle of Krithia Vineyard

The Battle of Krithia Vineyard was intended as a minor British action at Helles on the Gallipoli peninsula to divert attention from the imminent launch of the August Offensive. Instead, the British commander, Brigadier General H.E. Street, mounted a futile and bloody series of attacks that in the end gained a small patch of ground known as "The Vineyard".

Prelude

The original commander of the British VIII Corps at Helles, Lieutenant General Aylmer Hunter-Weston had departed the peninsula in July, following the last Helles offensive—the Battle of Gully Ravine. His replacement, Lieutenant General Francis Davies, arrived in early August but had not yet assumed command of the corps when a series of diversions were due to be launched from Anzac and Helles to divert Turkish attention from the planned landing at Suvla and break out from Anzac. Consequently, the Helles diversion was planned and conducted by the VIII Corps' chief of staff, General Street, who proved himself an able student of Hunter-Weston's battle strategy.

The battle

Due to the shortage of artillery, the attack was split into two parts with the 88th Brigade of the British 29th Division attacking on the afternoon of 6 August while two brigades of the 42nd Division would attack the following day.

They were facing 4 Turish divisions, 3 of them fresh, and 2 more were in reserve. [Turgut Ōzakman, Diriliş, 2008, p.462]

The 88th Brigade's attack managed to capture some Turkish trenches which were recaptured by the Turkish 30th Regiment during a counter-attack. The British attacked again and once more captured some trenches. The Turks counter-attacked again and drove them out. The British failed to hold any ground and the 88th Brigade was effectively destroyed as a fighting force.

Around 9.40am on the morning of 7 August the 42nd Division attacked on the right of the 88th Brigade's sector. The 127th Brigade managed to break through the line held by the Turkish 13th Division but were forced back by a Turkish counter-attack.

The Turks counter-attacked repeatedly from 7 August to 9 August and the fighting in the area continued until 13 August when it finally subsided. However, this sector of the Helles front would remain one of the busiest and most violent for the remainder of the campaign.

Aftermath

Two Victoria Crosses were awarded to men of the 42nd Division during the fighting at Krithia Vineyard. The British casualties in the first 24 hours of fighting, covering the original attacks of the 88th Brigade and the two brigades of the 42nd Division, were 3,469. The total British casualties for the duration of the battle were probably in excess of 4,000> [AC.F.Aspinal-Oglander, Vol. 2, p.192] . The Turkish casualties for the period of the battle were estimated to be around 7,000 [ATASE, Çanakkale, pp.316-328] .

As for the other diversion at Lone Pine, the attack failed to fulfil its goal of tying down the Turkish reinforcements away from the main offensive. As early as the morning of 7 August, regiments were being dispatched from Helles to the main front in the Sari Bair range.

References