|
|
The deteriorating weather gave a foretaste of the difficulties of sustaining a winter campaign on the peninsula. In November storms and blizzards forced the evacuation of 16,000 troops (3,000 of them Australians) suffering from frostbite and exposure. Total evacuation of the force was now seen as the only remaining option. From late-December to early-January the remnants of the Allied force were evacuated in a secret withdrawal operation which appeared as masterful as the original amphibious assault had been lamentable. Various ruses were practised to convince the Turks that the Anzac front line was still occupied. About 90,000 men were evacuated from Anzac and Suvla over eleven nights
from 8-20 December, with only a handful of casualties. The final evacuations
from Helles were similarly successful on 8-9 January 1916. The departing
Anzac troops celebrated Christmas on Lemnos island and on troopships returning
to Egypt. |
|
|
|
||