Interesting post from Michael. Must look in to RFA in Gallipoli sometime.

Source: GALLIPOLI - DEPLOYMENT OF RFA

I visited Gallipoli a few years ago... it would be interesting to see where the guns were positioned, particularly in the Anzac Cove area. I can appreciate the problems of finding wagon lines for the horses in such a congested area. This is not exactly a good location for 18 pounders with limited elevation.

And remembering one of the hero's of Gallipoli - John Simpson Kirkpatrick (the man with the donkey) is a Northumbrian Gunner and served with the South Shields Battery of the 4th Northumbrian (County of Durham) Howitzer Brigade RFA (TF) before emigrating to Australia.

John Simpson Kirkpatrick "the man with the donkey"

On 04/02/2011 at 00:21, michaeldr said:

Clearly space and the availability of water was a problem on the Peninsula.

Yardley

From: APPENDIX IV

INSTRUCTIONS TO MAJOR-GENERAL H. DE LISLE, C.B., D.S.O.

(see http://www.gutenberg...-h.htm#Page_336)

4. You will have at your disposal the following troops:—

11th Division,

10th Division,

53rd Division,

54th Division,

(less 29th Brigade),

and there is on its way from Egypt to join you the 2nd Mounted Division (5,000 men dismounted), which should be available by August 18th. The 10th, 11th and 53rd Divisions are considerably depleted, and the moral of the latter at present leaves much to be desired. There are at present ashore, belonging to the above two F.A. Brigades (three batteries of which are awaiting horses to bring them up from Anzac) and[Pg 337] two Heavy Batteries. In addition, two Highland Mountain Batteries, attached to the 9th Corps, are ashore, and the 1/4th Lowland Brigade (two batteries 5-inch howitzers) are at your disposal when they can be brought up from Anzac. It has only been possible to land a bare minimum of horses owing to difficulties in respect of water and the landing of forage.

Three further F.A. Brigades and the 57th Brigade (two batteries) 4.5-inch howitzers are at Mudros ready to be brought up as soon as it is possible to land them. These Brigades will probably have to be landed without any horses in the first instance, and taken into position by the artillery horses already ashore.

So you can add to you list fodder or forage, which seems also to have been a problem. And then there is the question of waste disposal. Somewhere or other I have seen a complaint by a Medical Officer that the manure from the horse lines was not being disposed of properly, which in turn was aggravating the already serious health hazard from flies.

Fortunately the (lack of) depth of the various fronts meant that once the guns had been landed they did not have to be moved very far. I imagine that those which could not be man-handled could possibly have make use of the available horses already ashore - see above quote

I have not studied this particular aspect of the campaign, however I would not be surprised if leaving the horses behind turns out to have been a more common practice. You will see from other places in the Hamilton Diary's Appendices references to a 'modified scale of horses' [eg: see page 322] so I think that some problems with horses was anticipated, and perhaps the situation got worse as the landings progressed

I shall try and follow this thread and learn more.

Good luck

Michael

Source: GALLIPOLI - DEPLOYMENT OF RFA