Quote Originally Posted by pevergreen View Post
I disagree, the ANZACs simply had to take a beach where the Turkish forces had entrenched. It was a bad landing position, and not a good battle for the ANZACs but they still won...eventually.

Edit: Yeah it was not the British, it was the ANZACs (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps)
I'm not sure which Gallipoli you are referring to.

About 480,000 Allied troops took part in the Gallipoli campaign. The British had 205,000 casualties (43,000 killed). There were more than 33,600 ANZAC losses (over one-third killed) and 47,000 French casualties (5,000 killed). Turkish casualties are estimated at 250,000 (65,000 killed).

That's the one I'm talking about and the Brits took the majority of allied casualties by far. 43,000 killed in 6 months and they pulled out without ever having established anything more than a beachhead. The tactical retreat was cleverly executed with only one casualty. They were unloading empty cargo boxes by daylight while pulling out their troops at night. It is an excellent example of an army with inferior supplies and training winning. When the German officer who was commanding the Turks initially reviewed the troops the Turks had to pass their lice infested uniforms from one unit to the next because they did not have enough uniforms to go around. They used the bodies of their own dead to reinforce walls in their trenches. They were a tough bunch as the Brits found out the hard way.

For a detailed look at the battle I would recommend Castles of Steel.