Interested in making contact with other descendants

[FGT]

My brother, John Thesiger, recently contributed to this article in The Times http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/defence/article4416509.ece concerning the centenary and descendants of the participants.

We are the grandchildren of John Still, East Yorkshire Regiment, who briefly fought at Gallipoli before being captured and spending the rest of the war as a prisoner in Turkey.

My brother and sister will both be attending the centenary ceremony at the Cenotaph on Saturday and are keen to make contact with other descendants there.

My brother John and I will also be on the peninsula between August 8th-10th this summer to commemorate the 6th Battalion's attempt to take Tekke Tepe, from where they were captured and John Still's CO, Col.Moore, bayonetted. Please get in touch if you would be interested in meeting us there.

Frances Thesiger

[Guest]

My brother, John Thesiger, recently contributed to this article in The Times http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/defence/article4416509.ece concerning the centenary and descendants of the participants.

We are the grandchildren of John Still, East Yorkshire Regiment, who briefly fought at Gallipoli before being captured and spending the rest of the war as a prisoner in Turkey.

My brother and sister will both be attending the centenary ceremony at the Cenotaph on Saturday and are keen to make contact with other descendants there.

My brother John and I will also be on the peninsula between August 8th-10th this summer to commemorate the 6th Battalion's attempt to take Tekke Tepe, from where they were captured and John Still's CO, Col.Moore, bayonetted. Please get in touch if you would be interested in meeting us there.

Frances Thesiger

Sadly I will not be there - my grandfather was at Chocolate Hill, Suvla Bay a few days after your grandfather's battalion assaulted Tekke Tepe.

There is a decent thread on the GWF trying to establish just how far the battalion got and the route they took before being overwhelmed. If I recall correctly John Still claimed the forward companies reached the very top of Tekke Tepe and he wrote something to this effect in the papers in the years after. There is some correspondence between survivors and the author of the OH attempting to establish the facts.

For anyone who believes Gallipoli might have succeeded this episode and the Gurkhas assault on Chunuk Bair were about as close as the British got to realising their aims. The 6th Bn East Yorks and Tekke Tepe has long been a fascination. A few years ago I went to Gallipoli to retrace the battalion's steps. GWF member Eric Goosens (aka Plummed Goose) kindly drove me all over the ridge and the spurs in his 4x4 and we discussed this event at length. The key feature of Tekke Tepe is constantly out of view when approached from Sulajik due to the convexity of the slope and it is impossible to determine how far up the slope one is until one actually reaches the top. My personal view having studied the available archive material and survivor's accounts and walked/climbed the ground is that the 6th Bn didn't quite reach the top and were a few hundred yards short before being surrounded, cut off and eventually overwhelmed. This view, is subjective of course.

If John Still left any personal papers relating to the events that day, I am sure it would be of great interest and may help unravel some of the mystery. When you go, you might consider staying at Eric's beautiful place - Gallipoli Houses. He is extremely knowledgeable on the campaign and has an intimate understanding of the terrain which is key for understanding Gallipoli.

If you would like to see the photos of my trip with Eric to the heights of Tekke Tepe I would be happy to send you them via email. Please just PM me.

I am sure you will have a brilliant trip. It is a very moving place, particularly Suvla which has barely changed over the past 100 years. MG

[Guest John Thesiger]

Dear MG,

I will be staying at Mr Goossens' hotel on the anniversary, and hope to reach Tekke Tepe. We have no relevant papers from our grandfather John Still, and the question may remain open.

Regards John Still Thesiger

[Guest]

For others who are not familiar with the detail, here is what John Still wrote in his "A Prisoner in Turkey" *

"About thirty of us reached the top of the hill [Tekke Tepe], perhaps a few more. And when there were about twenty left we turned and went down again. We had reached the highest point and the furthest point that the British Forces from Suvla bay were destined to reach. But we naturally knew nothing of that."

For anyone attempting to do the climb it is extremely difficult due to the overgrown nature of the ground and the ubiquitous holly oak. It is not a challenge for the faint-hearted. It is not particularly rewarding eithaer as it is impossible to see very far due to vegetation. The best approach is to go to the north end of the ridge by car and walk the ridgeline to TT and then descend. If you have access to a 4x4 it is possible to drive most of the length of the ridgeline. There are multiple peaks and it is easy to become confused so a map and compass are essential or better still (excuse the pun) a GPS. If a GPS is not available, a simple resection will establsih one's exact location as views from TT are excellent. I used a Garmin watch which also gives height and worked well. The convexity of the hill works both ways. Standing at the top of TT it is impossible to see Sulaijik Farm and the starting point of the 6th Bn East Yorks. Even half-way up the hill one can not see the top or the bottom of the hill, which is why (I think) there is so much confusion over the positions of the troops attempting to assault the hill.

John Still states that only five men who reached the top managed to get back through the surrounding Turks.

I would stongly recommend taking the Sevki Pasha map as well as the 1:10,000 Britsih map and a print-off of the Google Earth with both overlaid. MG

* more recently published as Gallipoli to Captivity: The First World War Experiences of an Officer of the 6th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment

[Norrette]

Hi Frances, there are a handful going from GWF. Might see you there?

Thread where others attendees notified:

 

 

[BEF RELATIVES]

On 4/24/2015 at 05:01, QGE said:

Sadly I will not be there - my grandfather was at Chocolate Hill, Suvla Bay a few days after your grandfather's battalion assaulted Tekke Tepe.

There is a decent thread on the GWF trying to establish just how far the battalion got and the route they took before being overwhelmed. If I recall correctly John Still claimed the forward companies reached the very top of Tekke Tepe and he wrote something to this effect in the papers in the years after. There is some correspondence between survivors and the author of the OH attempting to establish the facts.

For anyone who believes Gallipoli might have succeeded this episode and the Gurkhas assault on Chunuk Bair were about as close as the British got to realising their aims. The 6th Bn East Yorks and Tekke Tepe has long been a fascination. A few years ago I went to Gallipoli to retrace the battalion's steps. GWF member Eric Goosens (aka Plummed Goose) kindly drove me all over the ridge and the spurs in his 4x4 and we discussed this event at length. The key feature of Tekke Tepe is constantly out of view when approached from Sulajik due to the convexity of the slope and it is impossible to determine how far up the slope one is until one actually reaches the top. My personal view having studied the available archive material and survivor's accounts and walked/climbed the ground is that the 6th Bn didn't quite reach the top and were a few hundred yards short before being surrounded, cut off and eventually overwhelmed. This view, is subjective of course.

If John Still left any personal papers relating to the events that day, I am sure it would be of great interest and may help unravel some of the mystery. When you go, you might consider staying at Eric's beautiful place - Gallipoli Houses. He is extremely knowledgeable on the campaign and has an intimate understanding of the terrain which is key for understanding Gallipoli.

If you would like to see the photos of my trip with Eric to the heights of Tekke Tepe I would be happy to send you them via email. Please just PM me.

I am sure you will have a brilliant trip. It is a very moving place, particularly Suvla which has barely changed over the past 100 years. MG

Have they ever found the bodies or any trace of the 6th East Yorks dead that day?

[michaeldr]

8 hours ago, BEF RELATIVES said:

Have they ever found the bodies or any trace of the 6th East Yorks dead that day?

A quick glance at the CWGC lists suggests that none were found apart from Colonel Moore – he is buried at Green Hill, while all the rest are remembered on the Helles Memorial

[Lawryleslie]

Hello 

my Grandfather, Petty Officer Evan Thomas Ellis RNVR, was drafted into the Collingwood Battalion on RND in early 1915 after the Battalions disastrous events in the relief of Antwerp in late 1914 when only 22 men returned to England. The rest either killed or interned. He was second in command of B Company 3 Platoon under Sub Lt. Arthur Watts during the 3rd Battle of Krithia. His CO was seriously wounded during the fateful few hours of this battle and Grandad was left to lead the remains of his platoon back to relative safety. Grandad was subsequently seriously injured by mortar shrapnel during the Turkish counter-attack on 6th June and was casevaced to HMHS Sudan and spent time in Maltese Military Hospital before returning to UK. Here he spent weeks in Chatham RNH before being medically discharged in November 1915. He carried the shrapnel in his back until his death in 1970. He received the Silver War Badge as well as 1914-15 Star, Victory and BWM which I proudly own.