This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (March 2009) |
Landing at Suvla Bay | |||||||
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Part of the Gallipoli campaign of Middle Eastern theatre of World War I | |||||||
Suvla Bay, from Battleship Hill in the south | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
| Ottoman Empire | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Frederick Stopford Horace G. Proctor-Beauchamp † | Otto Liman von Sanders | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
IX Corps |
Gallipoli and Bursa Gendarmerie Battalions (initial) 7th Division 12th Division | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
2 divisions (initial) 27,000 men (final) |
1,500 men (initial) 5 divisions (final) | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
21,500[1] | 9,000–20,000[1] |
The landing at Suvla Bay was an amphibious landing made at Suvla on the Aegean coast of the Gallipoli peninsula in the Ottoman Empire as part of the August Offensive, the final British attempt to break the deadlock of the Battle of Gallipoli. The landing, which commenced on the night of 6 August 1915, was intended to support a breakout from the ANZAC sector, five miles (8 km) to the south.
Although initially successful, against only light opposition, the landing at Suvla was mismanaged from the outset and quickly reached the same stalemate conditions that prevailed on the Anzac and Helles fronts. On 15 August, after a week of indecision and inactivity, the British commander at Suvla, Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Stopford, was dismissed. His performance in command is often considered one of the most incompetent feats of generalship of the First World War.