Gully Ravine

See also:

• Images of Gallipoli - Helles.
• A Visual Tour of Gully Ravine.

File:Map of Helles war zone Gallipoli 1915.jpg

Location of Gully Ravine on the west side of the peninsula running from beyond the Front Line down to Gully Beach.

Gully Ravine is a 4 km long ancient water course on the north side the Gallipoli Peninsula in western Turkey.

The ravine runs down in a south westward direction to the sea from the foothills of Achi Baba, an area of high ground which was, very optimistically, the objective of the allied forces for 26th April 1915, the day after the landings at the beaches on the western end of the peninsula. Achi Baba was never taken by the allies. There are a number of ravines that run westward towards the sea in this way, but most are just a few metres deep. Thousands of years of erosion have made Gully Ravine up to 30 metres deep in places.

Allied attacks on the spurs to the west and east of the ravine and the resulting trench systems made the gully an essential access route for the front lines, and also itself the scene of direct and bitter fighting. The final allied front line prior to evacuation was approximately 2/3 of the way up the ravine.

Another feature that made Gully Ravine such a focus of activity is that it is far more than simply a sunken stream bed. Smaller gullies and openings run off it on either side, and these were quickly pressed into use as dressing stations, supply dumps, dormitories, practice firing ranges and stables etc.

From the first occasion that I heard of Gully Ravine, I have been drawn to its history and place in the Gallipoli campaign. The gully is a microcosm of all that trench warfare was - both in terms of the fighting and death, the stalemate of attack and retreat, and also the building - in truly awful circumstances, of a 'home from home'.

It is also a relatively unknown part of the Gallipoli campaign. Thousands visit the Anzac areas and many hundreds the British landing beaches such as V, W and X, but the deeper parts of Gully Ravine lie unfrequented, except for a few with specialist, or personal, interest.

References / notes

• Information on this page courtesy of Andy Crooks, 2008. Email andy@gullyravine.org.uk or visit the gullyravine.org.uk website.
• A Visual Tour is a 12 minute video of the Ravine, filmed and narrated by Andy Crooks, which covers the area from Gully Beach up to Border Barricade and the branch with the Nullah. It was made as a live record of Andy's walk in September 2007, and as such is not edited. The video contains some unscripted commentary, which at times is a little breathless and indistinct due to exertion. The file is supplied in .wmv format and is about 42MB in size.