Landing at Cape Helles - Y Beach

Y Beach

The proposal for a fifth landing was made by General Hamilton, and not Hunter-Weston. Y Beach was a considerable distance north along the Aegean coast, close to the village of Krithia and well to the rear of the defences at the Cape. The "beach" was narrow and dominated by cliffs, the only way off being up a steep gully. Consequently it was completely undefended. Had the landing at Y Beach been properly managed, the outcome of the Gallipoli campaign could have been significantly different. Instead, it became a fiasco.

Two thousand men were landed at Y Beach, starting at 5.45 am. They consisted of the Plymouth Battalion, RND, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Godfrey Matthews, the 1st Battalion, King's Own Scottish Borderers under Lieutent Colonel Archibald Koe and a company from the 2nd Battalion, South Wales Borderers.

Matthews discovered the area devoid of Ottoman defenders. He and his adjutant were able to walk inland within 500 metres of Krithia village, which was deserted and there for the taking. The British never got so close again. The orders for the landing were vague. Instructions had been given to capture an Ottoman artillery piece but none was found in the area. Soon, there arose a dispute between Matthews and Koe as to who was in command. As a result, the inexperienced British troops mingled aimlessly on the beach and the area with no orders over what they should do while Matthews and Koe continued to bicker with each other over chain of command. The British did not begin to fortify their beachhead until 3 pm and as a consequence, their trenches were incomplete when the Ottomans launched a counter-attack at dusk.

The fighting continued all night and by dawn, the British had suffered 697 casualties out of the 2,000-strong landing force, including Colonel Koe. Desperate pleas by Matthews for reinforcements were completely ignored by Hunter-Weston. When boats were sent in to take off the wounded, a panicked and unauthorised withdrawal began. The landing area was finally abandoned at 11.30 pm on 26 April.

In the afternoon, a naval officer returned to Y Beach in search of wounded who had been left behind. He was able to wander around the battlefield for two hours without sighting the Ottomans, who had moved south to fight at the other beaches.