Saturday, June 06, 2015

June 6th, 1915

- Since the failure of most of the British and French attacks on the 4th, the Ottomans have had the upper hand, as exhaustion and casualties have impaired the ability of the Entente infantry to hold what little ground they managed to seize.  For the past two days, the Ottomans have launched attack after attack on the British and French lines, and at times have come close to breaking through themselves.  In the dire circumstances, Entente artillery fired constantly, slaughtering the enemy infantry as they advanced.  On the front line, extreme measures have to be taken to hold off the Ottomans.  At one point on the line held by 42nd Division, an attack this morning led to a panicked retreat by British soldiers who abandoned two trench lines to the enemy.  A greater disaster is averted only when Second Lieutenant Dallas Moor, who at only eighteen years of age finds himself the senior officer left alive in 2nd Battalion of the Hampshires, confronts the fleeing soldiers and stops the rout by shooting several of them.  The importance of Moor's action is reflected in the award of a Victoria Cross for his actions.  By this evening the Ottoman pressure has slackened, and indeed the Ottomans have suffered greater casualties (9000) than the British (4500) or French (2000) in the Third Battle of Krithia.  Nevertheless, the battle is undoubtedly an Ottoman victory; the British have managed to hold only the most minimal of gains, and these are largely irrelevant given that they have been unable to break the stalemate that is very much to the Ottoman's advantage to maintain.

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