Note: The following is a short account of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers 1st Batallion landing at Gallipoli. Grandfather James Conlan was in this batallion of the RDF, which were known as the Bluecaps. One of the Byrnes, a grandson of James Byrne of Kildare St., was killed there.

From The Scotsman, undated

SURVIVORS’ TALES OF GREAT LANDING

Cairo, May 7, 1915

The tales recounted here by wounded men show the battle of Seddul Bahr to have been a terrible affair. It was early on Sunday morning, April 25, that the transport Clyde, with one company of Dublin Fusiliers, the Munster Fusiliers, and some Hants, was run ashore near the beach. Gangways had been thrown out on each side of the ship, but the moment the Clyde grounded, shrapnel destroyed one of the gangways, leaving only one for the men to leave the ship by.

The men had to run down the gangway as fast as possible and take refuge in a barge, until such time as the fire permitted their racing across a couple of planks to another barge, then to small boats, and so to the beach. Machine guns swept round continuously, and directly a man attempted to emerge on to the gangway he was picked off.

Shrapnel was falling all round. A shell struck the stern of the boat and killed some Royal Engineers. But some of the Munsters made a rush for it, and also some Dublins, and a few succeeded in gaining the beach. The rest of the party were shot - some on the gangway, some on the barges, and some in the smaller boats near the shore. Fire was kept up all through Sunday night with the same terrific force, the Turks being well entrenched, protected by three lines of barbed wire, about 100 yards away, but by about five in the morning all the troops had left the Clyde.

AN APPALLING SIGHT.

A Dublin man, describing his landing, said he found the barges full of dead and wounded. It was an appalling and sickening sight when morning dawned, but no man hesitated to do his duty; they realised they had to sacrifice their lives, and they did so willingly.

“W” Company of the Dublins appear to have suffered least, but “X,” “Y,” and “Z” were literally wiped out.

Some officers who had been in the retreat from Mons said that Seddul-Bahr far surpassed that experience. It was terrible to see our fellows falling in their efforts to get ashore. Men were hit, one after the other, as they endeavoured to run down the gangway, and one heard successive splashes as their bodies fell into the water. If they were not already dead they were soon drowned, as there was no possible chance of attempting to rescue a man. They all concur that the landing was a great triumph for the British soldier.

Heavy machine gun and shrapnel fire from a fort to the right was rained on our troops while they were landing, and the command was given to take this position. The heavy guns of the fort had, of course, been silenced by the fleet, but the work was holding about 200 of the enemy with machine guns. Major Grimshaw, of the Dublins, was now making himself very conspicuous, moving about courageously in the open and rallying his men together.

The Dublins, with the Munsters on their left and the Hants on their right, assaulted the fort.

LIEUTENANT’S FINE DASH. Lieutenant Bastard, of the Dublins, now did a very brave thing. Leaving the men, who had momentarily taken cover from the machine-gun fire, he ran fearlessly to the opening in the fort and repeatedly fired his revolver, and it is thought he must have killed or wounded some of the gunners, as the fire from the fort became reduced. He escaped miraculously. Soon after the British rushed the fort and cleared out the enemy.

It was in passing a loophole in the fort that Lieutenant Bastard was wounded, receiving a bullet through the cheek.

The troops then searched a neighbouring village, but met with no opposition here. After this came the attack on the hill on the left, from which the troops had also been subjected to heavy firing. A wounded Worcester soldier said it was fine to see the dash of the Irishmen taking that hill.

One of the soldiers who took part in the attack said Major Grimshaw continually rallied his men, exposing himself throughout. He also said that there was a Colonel, with a cane in his hand, going amongst the troops encouraging them, and that it was he who led the men in their bayonet dash up the hill.

The British completely routed the Turks and established themselves on the hill, but the brave Colonel and the gallant Major Grimshaw, who had done so much to ensure the success of the attack, were found dead on the field of battle.

The Colonel of the Dublins was killed in the boat before he had a chance of landing.