7 August 1915: A Tragic Charge at the Nek

The hell of it is, when they conducted the initial landings at the tip of the Gallipoli Peninsula, they beat the defenders to their positions. but instead of rushing up to occupy the empty machine-gun pits and trenches overlooking the beaches, the men dawdled around on the shoreline, swimming and playing. By the time they finally were ready to move, the Turks were in the trenches above and the slaughter began. What a fiasco.

We would see this happen again at Anzio in early 1944, when Maj. Gen. John Lucas had his VI Corps "tidy up its lines" before beginning to move inland. By that time, German artillery and panzers had arrived and occupied the hills overlooking the plain below. It would take Lucas' VI Corps four months to finally breakout and get on the road to Rome.

Amen.