Download Commonwealth + Gallipoli (Introduction)

A Visitor’s Introduction to the
Navies of the Commonwealth and Gallipoli Exhibits
on Frigate Unicorn
Navies of the Commonwealth
Members of the Commonwealth made significant contributions to both World War I and
World War II and while the exhibition focuses on the four largest of the Commonwealth
navies, those of Australia, Canada, India and New Zealand, the contribution of other
Commonwealth countries, particularly as merchant seamen, must also be recognised and
acknowledged.
The material on the panels has been chosen to reflect the nature of the contributions of
the above navies and, as such, is obviously selective in its approach. The content must not
therefore be seen as reflecting the entirety of those navies contributions, but rather as a
series of interrelated details which together form a narrative thread. For those seeking
more detail, the research notes provide access to additional background while the
bibliography1, and in particular the web sites listed, supports more in-depth research.
Points of note, not all of which are on the panels, include:
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The Battle of the Atlantic which recognises the contribution of merchant seamen as
well as the growth of the Canadian Navy during World War II.
The destruction caused by the Halifax Explosion of 1917.
The loss of the cruisers HMAS Canberra, HMAS Perth and HMAS Sidney during World
War II, and the subsequence discovery of the wreck of the latter.
The contribution of New Zealand which paid for the construction of the battlecruiser
HMS New Zealand prior to World War I, finally paying off the loan in the 1944/45
financial year.
HMS New Zealand was generally considered as a luck ship, in part attributed the to
fact that the Captain wore a piupiu, a Māori warrior’s skirt, gifted to the ship to ensure
good fortune when in action.
The long history of the Indian Navy stretching back to the 17th century and the East
India Company.
Throughout both of World War I and World War II, the ships of the Commonwealth navies
operated in close association with the ships of the Royal Navy, for instance the
battlecruisers HMAS Australia and HMS New Zealand served with the Grand Fleet
throughout World War I and fought in the Mediterranean in World War II. It is here that a
connection to Unicorn is found as in World War II, men trained in the Royal Naval
Volunteer Reserve manned many of the escort vessels for the Atlantic convoys.
Frigate Unicorn is trying to build up a picture not only of the ship and its position in
Dundee, but also those who have association with and memories linked to her time in
Dundee. If you have any material; photographs, text, etc. or would be prepared to
contribute to an oral history recording, then please contact Frigate Unicorn.
1
Downloadable from the EVENTS page of the Frigate Unicorn web site (www.frigateunicorn.org)
Gallipoli and The Dardanelles
In 1914 the men training on the then HMS Unicorn in Dundee expected in case of war to
be called up to man ships of the Royal Navy. Instead, in August of that year, they found
themselves formed as part of the Hood Battalion in the Royal Naval Division (RND) and on
their way to Belgium where they were caught up in the Siege of Antwerp before returning
to Britain.
The next action for the Royal Naval Division was to be at Gallipoli when following the
failure of the plan to use pre-dreadnought battleships to force the Dardanelles it was
decided to land troops on the Gallipoli Peninsula.
The main landings on 25 April 1915 were carried out by the British 29th Infantry Division
and the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), the Plymouth Battalion of the
RND landed at Y Beach, only to be withdrawn that night.
As can be seen from the maps on the panels, neither the landings at Cape Helles nor
those at Anzac Cove, where the ANZAC troops incorrectly came ashore, achieved any
significant success and the campaign rapidly became deadlocked.
The men of the RND, including the Hood Battalion, landed and took part in actions both
around Anzac Cove and at Cape Helles.
The Gallipoli Campaign involved forces from Britain, Australia, New Zealand, India and
Newfoundland (at that time not a part of the then Dominion of Canada) as well as from
France. Though marked by significant determination and courage on all sides, from the
perspective of the Allies the campaign was a failure and they eventually withdrew, in what
was the best executed part of the campaign, in January 1916.
Following the failure of the Gallipoli Campaign the Liberal Prime Minister HH Asquith was
forced into coalition with the Conservatives with Winston Churchill, who at the time was
the Liberal Member of Parliament for Dundee, losing his post as First Lord of the
Admiralty, remaining in the Cabinet as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Churchill
eventually resigned in November 1915 to take command of the 6th Battalion of the Royal
Scots Fusiliers, which had been involved in the Battle of Loos in September 1915, at
Ploegsteert (‘Plug Street’) in Belgium as a temporary Lt Colonel.
The Dardanelles Commission was set up in July 1916, producing its final report in 1919.
The commission determined that the expedition had been poorly planned and executed
and that difficulties had been underestimated. It further concluded that these problems
had been exacerbated by supply shortages, personality clashes and procrastination at
high levels.