<– Part 32 – March 7, 1915  | Part 33 – March 14, 1915 |  Part 34 – March 21, 1915 –>

Defenses at the Dardanelles

The Ottoman gendarmerie completed their withdrawal to Qotur March 10, as the Russian advance under Nazarbekov continues in Persia.

In Europe, at Neuve Chapelle, a British assault was launched the same day, having been meticulously planned with aerial reconnaissance, from which maps were created and distributed. Although achieving early successes, poor weather, disrupted communications, and misaligned attacks (one flank attacked a German trench untouched by the initial artillery barrage) caused the offensive to grind to a halt, despite strong efforts by Indian troops, many of whom captured the strongest point of the German line, which included fresh troops, and also had not seen artillery fire. 7,000 British and 4,200 Indian casualties compare to 10,000 German. The battle has been a tactical victory for the British.

On March 13, the British cruiser HMS Amethyst lead a force of six minesweepers into the Dardanelles, but was forced by after taking heavy fire, along with 4 of the minesweepers.