Sedd el Bahr ( tr, Seddülbahir, ota, سد البحر, meaning "Walls of the Sea") is a village in the district of
Eceabat
Eceabat, formerly Maydos ( Madytos, el, Μάδυτος), is a small town and district of Çanakkale province in the Marmara region of Turkey, located on the eastern shore of the Gelibolu Peninsula, on the Dardanelles Strait. According to the 201 ...
,
Çanakkale Province
Çanakkale Province ( tr, ) is a province of Turkey, located in the northwestern part of the country. It takes its name from the city of Çanakkale.
Like Istanbul, Çanakkale province has a European (Thrace) and an Asian (Anatolia) part. The E ...
,
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
. It is located at
Cape Helles
Cape Helles is the rocky headland at the southwesternmost tip of the Gallipoli peninsula, Turkey. It was the scene of heavy fighting between Ottoman Turkish and British troops during the landing at Cape Helles at the beginning of the Gallipoli ...
on the
Gallipoli peninsula in
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
. The village lies east of the cape, on the shore of the
Dardanelles
The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (; ...
. It was the site of
V Beach
The landing at Cape Helles ( tr, Seddülbahir Çıkarması) was part of the Gallipoli Campaign the amphibious landings on the Gallipoli peninsula by British and French forces on 25 April 1915 during the First World War. Helles, at the foot o ...
, the landing zone for two
Irish battalion
A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...
s, including one from the
SS ''River Clyde'', on 25 April 1915 during the
Gallipoli Campaign in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
.
At the tip of the Sedd el Bahr promontory is the castle (''Sedd el Bahr Kale''), also known as Old Castle (''Eski Kale''), which was built in 1659. The British designated the castle "Fort No. 3" (at the other end of V Beach was "Fort No. 1", also known as Fort Ertuğrul) and it was equipped with ten
artillery
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieg ...
pieces, including two 28 cm
Krupp
The Krupp family (see pronunciation), a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, is notable for its production of steel, artillery, ammunition and other armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG (Friedrich Krupp ...
L/22 guns. The castle was bombarded by the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...
on 3 November 1914, causing serious damage and killing 86 Ottoman soldiers.
The British attacked the Ottoman forts on 19 February 1915 at the start of the
naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign. Sedd el Bahr was subjected to repeated bombardment and raids by naval demolition teams and the position was deemed too exposed. By the peak of naval operations on 18 March, Sedd el Bahr and Kum Kale, across the straits, had been eliminated as threats.
Sedd el Bahr is mentioned in the traditional Irish song "
The Foggy Dew" in the line "It was better to die 'neath an Irish sky than at
Suvla
View of Suvla from Battleship Hill
Suvla () is a bay on the Aegean coast of the Gallipoli peninsula in European Turkey, south of the Gulf of Saros.
On 6 August 1915, it was the site for the Landing at Suvla Bay by the British IX Corps as pa ...
or Sud el Bar". This line references the 1916
Easter Rising, which took place in Ireland almost exactly a year after the
landing at Suvla Bay
The landing at Suvla Bay was an amphibious landing made at Suvla on the Aegean coast of the Gallipoli peninsula in the Ottoman Empire as part of the August Offensive, the final British attempt to break the deadlock of the Battle of Galli ...
as part of the
Gallipoli Campaign.
As of 2011, the population of the village stood at 286.
Statistical Institute
See also
* Landing at Cape Helles
The landing at Cape Helles ( tr, Seddülbahir Çıkarması) was part of the Gallipoli Campaign the amphibious landings on the Gallipoli peninsula by British and French forces on 25 April 1915 during the First World War. Helles, at the foot ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Fishing communities in Turkey
Gallipoli campaign
Villages in Eceabat District