Gallipoli Trench Maps

[Joe Sheldon]

I have not used this site before so please excuse me if I get things wrong.

My grandfather (7th North Staffs Rgt)  left a diary giving the information I have.

I am searching for copies of Trench Maps relevant to the following areas at Gallipoli.

He landed at W beach Cape Helles in July 1914 and was in constant action at

several places advancing to, ''Walkers Ridge'', ''Russells Top'',

Advancing through,  '' Gully Ravine'', ''Shrapnel Gully'' to the ridge of ''Gully Dagh'', and involved in heavily contested ground beyond, ''Allah's Pass''.

then mentions taking Turkish trenches at the edge of a large valley, from the other side of which the Turkish counter attacked and all would have been lost if not for the difficult terrain the Turks had to cross and the heavy bombardment of the area from the allied warships.

In his diary he records that his original, ''platoon''? of 16 men there were only four left at this stage.

They were relieved on 30th July boarding HMS Mars for R&R before landing again from HMS Magnificent, at ANZAC Gaba Tepi., overlooked by Sari Bair.

He fought at Hill 60 and Sari Bair.

He records arriving at a point known as, ''Bauchops Kopje'',  at the foot of Hill 971

(On/Or), ''Damakjelik Bair''.

He says they could see the movements of the, ''Canterbury and Otago infantry'' 

who were pushing forward on their left and along the, ''Biyuk Valley'

He stated that he was the only survivor of the original 16 men when they withdrew.

Many Thanks,

Joe Sheldon

 

[robertb]

The War Diary of the 7th North Staffs, part of 39th Brigade, 13th Division is available on Ancestry.  The War Diary of the 39th Brigade contains a number of maps for their specific role in Gallipoli.  However there is a DVD, produced by The Western Front Association, which contains many trench and other maps of Gallipoli - it costs about £20.

Contact: www.westernfrontassociation.com.

I've attached a map of the area around Sari Bair and ANZAC Cove.

 

[michaeldr]

3 hours ago, robertb said:

there is a DVD, produced by The Western Front Association, which contains many trench and other maps of Gallipoli - it costs about £20.

Contact: www.westernfrontassociation.com.

 

http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/shop/dvds/mapping-the-front-dvd-gallipoli/

 

Robert is absolutely right with his tip here

It's an invaluable tool and easy to use

 

[michaeldr]

On 23/11/2017 at 13:38, Joe Sheldon said:

He landed at W beach Cape Helles in July 1914 and was in constant action at

several places advancing to, ''Walkers Ridge'', ''Russells Top'',

Advancing through,  '' Gully Ravine'', ''Shrapnel Gully'' to the ridge of ''Gully Dagh'', and involved in heavily contested ground beyond, ''Allah's Pass''.

then mentions taking Turkish trenches at the edge of a large valley, from the other side of which the Turkish counter attacked and all would have been lost if not for the difficult terrain the Turks had to cross and the heavy bombardment of the area from the allied warships.

 

He would have first landed at Helles in July 1915 and was involved in the fighting at that time at the northern end of Gully Ravine in trenches H12 and J11

enlarged and cropped below

 

Walkers Ridge, Russels Top, Shranpnel Gully, etc were later in August when his battalion was moved to the Anzac front 

and those places can be found on the map provided by Robert

 

 

Edited 25 November , 2017 by michaeldr

[michaeldr]

Most of the places which you have mentioned on the Anzac front will be found on (the two halves) of this map

 

 

 

Good luck

Michael

[emrezmen]

Two diagrams showing Walker's, Russell's, Nek, Quinn's, Chessboard and Pope's area.

 

 

...and the last one is an Old Turkish map (from the famous 'Shevki Pasha Maps') showing true Sari Bair (top left), Russell's (middle) and the Walker's/The Nek (top middle).

 

"Biyuk Valley" (Büyük Dere) is the place actually known as "Shrapnel Valley." Any map showing Shrapnel Valley would be useful for "Biyuk Valley" as well.

Edited 25 November , 2017 by emrezmen

[Joe Sheldon]

Many thanks Robert and Michael.

Best wishes,

Joe Sheldon

 

Many thanks to all of you.

I have learned a great deal.

My grandfathers notes are often without dates, mixed and have pages missing. Apparently preceding the battle for Hill 60 as he was the only member of his section left and classed as experienced, he was ordered to accompany an officer  by the name of  Lieutenant DUGUİD (an expert in mapping) out into, 'no mans land', and penetrate the enemy positions and map them.  He was issued with extra rations and a Webley with 100 rounds.  They set off at night crawling through rotting corpses and managed to get behind the Turkish positions. They were out for three or four days. This occurred  somewhere to the rear of 'Hetman Chair', near, ' W' Hills' .  He refers to number of sections  that had, 'disappeared',  in this area.   Shortly before their return they came across  a gully in a forest, lined with dead ANZAC's who had been tortured by Arabs (Not Turks). He describes terrible atrocities. He  states that the Arabs were still occupying the gully  which was a natural fire trap. They left all their 'trappings', at , 'Pine Hill'?, except their Webley's.  Lt Duguid and my Grandfather set the area on fire and the wind did the rest. Many Arabs were burned alive. He says the fire sent flames hundreds of feet towards the sky.  Once the collected their trappings after about two hours they re-entered the line of , 'The Royal Warwicks'.  (In the darkness)  He said it became like daylight for miles. He says he heard later the flames had been seen from Imbros 14 miles away.

Could anyone comment or supply further information or maps about this?

I would be very grateful.

Joe Sheldon