ried to break the union of the two forces, they did not succeed
in doing so.

However, General Marshall's force was hard pressed. Once more the
unceasing Turkish counterattacks drove them back to the very edge of
the heights overlooking Beach X, where only the intense bombardment of
the protecting warships saved them. General Marshall was wounded, but
refused to relinquish his command, and a very large proportion of the
total force was either killed or wounded in the day's fighting. When
night fell the British troops held only half a mile of territory
around their original landing place, with their right wing resting on
Hill 114, linked up with the force from Beach W.

Here at Beach W, a mile and a half down the coast, midway between
Tekke Burna and Hellas Burna, was being enacted a feat of arms which,
in the opinion of competent military men, is fit to rank with the
great military accomplishments of all time. In speaking of it
subsequently Sir Ian Hamilton made use of the following terms:

"So strong, in fact, were the defenses of Beach W that the Turks may
well have considered them impregnable, and it is my firm conviction
that no finer feat of arms has ever been achieved by the British
soldier--or any other soldier--than the storming of these trenches
from open boats on the morning of April 25."

At Beach W the Turks, fully foreseeing a landing, had prepared as at
no other point. The beach is in a wide bay and leads into a gully
flanked on one side by the hills extending to Cape Tekke and, on the
other side by the steep cliffs extending to Cape Hellas.

Every inch of the ground had been prepared against attack. Sea and
land mines had been profusely laid, wire entanglements had been placed
along the shore and stretching out into the water. Deep trenches had
been dug on the heights and on the sides of the slopes while strong
redoubts had been built at two dominating positions. Every bush and
cover contained a sniper while larger covers concealed machine guns
trained to sweep the beach and the slopes leading to the Turkish
trenches.

As a defensive position Beach W was almost ideal. It had two weak
points, however, which in the end turned the scales and made success
possible for the attacking force. At either end of the bay were small
rock positions from which it was possible to enfilade the elaborate
system of defenses.

The landing party at Beach W consisted of the First Battalion
Lancashire Fusiliers, under