A CORNER of Hereford fell silent on Tuesday morning as people remembered the county soldiers who bravely embarked on a Turkish mission 90 years ago to the day.

Prayers were said and flowers were laid at the war memorial in St Peter's Square as the First Battalion of the Herefordshire Regiment's landing at Suvla Bay in Gallipoli was recalled.

More than 750 soldiers made up the county brigade and bravely sailed through the Aegean Sea in an attempt to break the Turkish defences and end the stalemate of the Great War in 1915.

But the first action was the last for many soldiers who died on the beachfront in a mission described as a calamitous failure by many of those involved.

Andrew Taylor, a researcher of the Herefordshire Regiment, explained why the county soldiers failed to break down the foreign defences in an 18-week offensive.

He said: "Once ashore on the beach under the shadow of the hill named Lala Baba, the inertia which typified the campaign soon became apparent; there was no clear plan, the situation was confused, no clear orders were issued and some of those which were issued were countermanded."

Letters were soon coming back to Herefordshire explaining the loss of life in the awful conditions.

One of them came from Sergeant C Faulkener, who wrote to his mother about the death of his father, Bill Faulkener.

He wrote: "I hardly know where to start this letter. I am so very upset. We landed at 6am and came under shelling. Then towards the evening we were ordered to go to the firing line.

"I should think we had gone two miles when the enemy started to shell us. Well, mum, I can hardly steady myself to tell you that one of the bullets hit dad.

"I could not find dad anywhere. I could not sleep thinking about poor dad.

"However, when I got up next morning I was told that he had been picked up and was taken to hospital, but was quite dead, so I never saw him again."

By December, in freezing conditions and with less than 100 of the original 750 soldiers fit for duty, the decision was taken to evacuate the Gallipoli area.

However, despite the failure of the mission, the Herefordshire Regiment was commended for its bravery.

General Sir Ian Hamilton, the commander-in-chief, even submitted a dispatch to the Hereford Times in 1916 in which he praised the county soldiers for their "impetuosity and courage" which won them "imperishable glory at Suvla Bay."

The drastic scenes of death and violence were a world away when Mr Taylor visited Suvla Bay to pay his respects to the fallen soldiers.

Mr Taylor said the beach bathed in sunshine with the deep blue Aegean Sea at its shore could not have looked any more different to the time when the regiment landed and fought the bloody battles.

"The cemeteries of each Herefordshire soldier were all beautifully tended with the scent of rosemary, a symbol of remembrance in the air," he said.

"It was difficult to visualise from these still and peaceful scenes, the misery and destruction of that fruitless campaign 90 years ago."