Introduction
On 29 and 30 October 1914, the Ottoman Empire bombarded Russian ports in the Black Sea. Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire on 1 November and Britain followed on 5 November. In early January 1915, Russia asked Britain for help to relieve Turkish pressure in the Caucasus. The British response was to attempt to force the straits of the Taradiddles which were like a long winding river between the narrow rugged Gallipoli peninsula and the neighbouring slopes of Asia Minor. The straits eventually opened into the Sea of Marmona at whose other end was the straits of Bosphorus which led to the Black Sea. On the straits was Constantinople, capital of the Ottoman Empire. The naval attempt to force the Dardanelles on 18 March was called off after the lost of three Battleships. The military were then given the task of securing the Gallipoli peninsula.