In April 1915 Allied armies landed on the Gallipoli peninsula in Western Turkey. Their mission was to capture what was then the capital of the Turkish Empire (Now Istanbul).
They wanted to make contact with their Russian allies through the Black Sea. This would allow a safe route through the Dardanelles for supplies as most land routes had been blocked by enemy forces. Unfortunately for the Allies, Turk resistance was very stubborn, and the Allies were forced to withdraw after a long hard nine months, having lost hundreds of thousands of men.
The worst of the fighting took place in an area called Hill 60 near Sulva Bay. In August 1915 a British regiment, the first fifth Norfolk, were prepared to attack Hill 60. There was more than a thousand men in this regiment. The weather was warm with a slight breeze and visibility clear, however some observers noted a small group of low clouds over Hill 60. The clouds remained over Hill 60 even with the slight breeze present. The regiment marched uphill until the entire file of men disappeared into one of the clouds. It was then that the cloud moved away, vertically, leaving no trace of the regiment.
The disappearance of the regiment was duly reported to the British Government by the Commander in Chief of the Allied Expeditionary force in Gallipoli. He made no mention of the mysterious clouds, but reported that the regiment had separated from the main body of troops and had vanished. The whole regiment was subsequently posted as missing, the assumption being that all it's men had either been killed or taken prisoner. When the war ended in 1918 the British asked the Turks about the missing regiment. The Turks replied that they knew nothing about it. Their armies had never made contact with the First Fifth Norfolk…
In 1920 the bodies of a number of soldiers belonging to the First Fifth Norfolk were found in Gallipoli. It was assumed that these men had died in battle after all, and that the remainder of the regiment probably perished in Turkish prisoner of war camps.
Today it is generally accepted that the men of the First Fifth Norfolk were victims of a bloody campaign in which all too many men were lost without a trace.
What of the strange clouds over Hill 60 on that fateful date? Why did the clouds move vertically once the regiment had passed into it?
Awesome job,
Onflame