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'V' Beach and the River Clyde

(IWM: Q 50473b: Lighters clustered round the bows of the River Clyde on the morning of 25 April. On the shore troops can be seen sheltering under the earth bank.)

(IWM: HU 57757: The River Clyde seen from the aft torpedo control of HMS Queen Elizabeth on the morning of 25 April)

View a brief film of V Beach, taken on the recent IWM/AWM Gallipoli 2000 Battlefield Study Tour from the site of the Turkish positions above the beach, or see a panorama of Cape Helles from V Beach to the Lighthouse from the sea. (These require QuickTime 4 player in order to see them.)

Deploying a force of around 2800 men, V Beach was the largest and most important of the Helles landings on 25 April 1915. The 1st Royal Dublin Fusiliers landed on the beach from open boats, but suffered grievous casualties in doing so. Alongside them, the 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers attempted to charge ashore from the River Clyde, a specially adapted ship designed to be run aground so that the men inside could land through a series of large doors cut into its sides. The doors were connected to a bow platform by a suspended gangway and linked to the beach by a bridge of boats. Their fate was the same as the Dublins and the survivors of both landings were forced to shelter throughout the day under a short earth bank that ran along the inland edge of the beach. Within 30 minutes a state of impasse had been reached. All attempts to land met with the same immediate response. 

After nightfall the remaining men from the River Clyde disembarked with relative ease. Following another day's bitter fighting, on the afternoon of 26 April the original objective of the village of Sedd el Bahr was finally secured and a continuous line established with the other beaches.

Nigel Steel (IWM)

Recorded Interviews
Private W Flynn of the Royal Munster Regiment followed Captain Guy Geddes as he led the second wave of attackers down one of the River Clyde's gangways.
2nd Lieut. R B Gillett describes the attempts of his platoon of the 2nd Hampshire's to land at V Beach shortly before dusk, 25 April 1915.