At 9.30am on 25th April 1915 the 1st
Essex, under command of Lt Col Godfrey Faussett, landed on the
beach at Gallipoli and were immediately under fire.
1st battalion landing at
Gallipoli 25 April 1915
Photo from the Essex regiment Vol 5
by John Wm Burrows
By 2pm they had managed to make a small
foothold by taking Hill 138 and the first enemy defensive
fortification at the cost of 3 officers and 15 other ranks
killed with 8 officers and 87 other ranks injured.
From then on it was slow going with small
gains under heavy fire.
On 2 May 1915 another small advance saw
the taking of another defensive redoubt at the cost of 31
wounded, 5 missing and 14 killed , which included the CO
Lt Colonel Faussett.
The 5th May 1915 saw another attack on
Fir Tree Wood that was fiercely resisted and beaten back. The
Division lost nearly half its strength in this attack although
1st Essex were comparatively lucky with 15 men killed and 142
wounded. The wounded men included Captain Bowen.
After a period of rest and reorganisation
on 18 May 1915 the 1st Essex were back on the attack and this
time took Fir Tree Wood at the cost of 6 dead, 20 wounded and 3
missing.
On 4th June 1915 a further attack was
planned during which 9 men were killed, 36 wounded and 9
missing. The fatalities included Lieutenant Liebenthal and
Lieutenant Wolfe while 2nd Lieutenant Pegler and 2nd
Lieutenant Hellen were amongst the wounded.
The advance made some ground which was
lost during a counter attack on 6th June 1916 during which C
Company led by Captain Shepheard lost 65 of its 70 men when it
was hit by a surprise attack from the rear
By this stage only four officers who had
embarked from England with the 1st Essex were still
serving on active duty. This entailed borrowing some Officers
and men from other Battalions.
A slight lull in the fighting followed
although snipers were very active claiming the lives of men in
the line , including Lieutenant N A de Vere Beauclerk on 17th
June 1915.
On 28th June 1915 another advance saw
some success with gains of up to half a mile although a second
push was less successful. Once again casualties were felt with
11 killed, 49 wounded and 12 missing. The dead included Captain
E O Warden, 2nd Lieutenant C A B Wood and 2nd Lieutenant H F
Grantham.
On 5 August 1915 the last offensive
before they were to move to Sulva Bay saw the 1st Essex into an
offensive to take the Turkish defensive line of trenches .
The Battalion performed well to take the
first two lines of trench but by then they had lost so many men
that they were vulnerable to a counter attack by the Turks and
forced to surrender some of the gains. By cruel luck the Turks
had more men than normal in this area as they were planning an
assault of their own later in the day.
There was a very heavy toll for the gains
with 50 men killed , 202 wounded and 180 missing.
The dead included
Captains D M Black, R S M Hare, Donaldson
and Gepp.
Lieutenants F G B Thomas, A H Footner, RR
Bunting ( 12th Essex) , R G Gabb, Esten and F G Francis ( 3rd
Essex) .
2nd Lieutenants H F Payne ( 3rd Essex) ,
F T Marwick ( 3rd Essex) and J C Gardom ( 12th Essex)