19th April 1915

[michaeldr]

“On 19 April all the senior naval and military commanders, of the British, French and Anzac forces, convened once again in the Queen Elizabeth and completed the outstanding details of the landing. No decision had yet been reached about whether it should begin before first light under cover of darkness or after dawn in full daylight preceded by a concentrated naval bombardment to compensate for the loss of surprise. Hamilton and Birdwood both preferred a landing in the dark. But Hunter-Weston disagreed and was afraid that a night operation might become confused. In this he was supported by De Robeck, who felt that it would be more difficult for the navy to carry out the landing in the dark and almost impossible at Helles, which involved landing troops on a number of beaches spread around a rocky shoreline swept by the strong current of the Dardanelles. A compromise was reached. At Gaba Tebe, along the strait, sandy shore, the covering force would land before first light. But at Helles the landing would not begin until after dawn and be preceded by a thirty-minute bombardment. The one exception to this would be the landing at Y Beach, which would begin shortly before the bombardment.

The other important decision reached by the conference was the date on which the operation was to begin. Thursby and the 2nd Squadron were ready to begin at Gaba Tebe immediately. But, largely due to a shortage of boats, Wemyss and the 1st Squadron would not be ready for another four days. Consequently St. George’s Day, 23 April, was chosen and, as it would take two days to prepare the ships and distribute the troops among them, the preliminary stages were ordered to begin on 21 April."

from ‘Defeat at Gallipoli’ by Nigel Steel & Peter Hart