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FEBRUARY 2010
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Rev. Eric Freeman |
As I considered what to write
about for this month, I received a reminder about a major Royal
Navy action during February 1915. Strangely though, this came
in news about an army affair – with no reference to the navy at
all.
It was of course a news report of
the first re-burial service for one of the men found nearly two
years ago in mass graves in Northern France and dating back to
the Battle of Fromelles in July 1916. The connection lies in
the fact that many of the 250 men in those graves were actually
Australians who had taken part in the Gallipoli campaign, where
of course the Royal Navy and Royal Marines played major parts
and suffered substantial losses.
Incidentally, there was another
connection in that, also in February 1915, naval forces were
involved in an action to prevent the Turks from invading Egypt
from the Sinai Peninsula by crossing the Suez Canal. After
their exertions at Gallipoli, the Australian troops took over
responsibility for the Canal for a while until they were
transferred to Flanders. |
As we all know, with the
benefit of hindsight, the whole Dardanelles campaign was badly
conceived and disastrously planned. However, the naval element
carried out their part well – despite being asked to perform in
less than ideal conditions. With a combination of gunnery
bombardment and landings by the Royal Marines, all the outer
defences of the Turkish positions were destroyed.
Unfortunately though,
the planners had not reckoned on the Turkish ability to lay
extensive minefields in the Straits and this caused some heavy
losses, including capital ships. This then meant that the naval
bombardment capacity, which had been planned to support the
troops, could not be deployed.
In the subsequent
attempt to penetrate the Straits a total fleet of eighteen
battleships, including three from France were involved. But the
French ship Bouvet struck a mine and was sunk. Soon after the
British ships HMS Irresistible and HMS Ocean also struck mines
and sank. Most of the crews were saved, but that was the end of
the naval campaign and by the time the fleet was withdrawn over
700 shipmates had lost their lives.
"Till
the seas be no more, we will remember them!"
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