Was an amphibious landing in the style of Gallipoli ever considered by the allies on the WWI Western front?

by pimphandofthrawn

If not why?

Spoonfeedme

There were certainly musings about it. I do remember reading somewhere that Fisher was a proponent of an invasion of the North coast of Germany in Frisia, however, there were several problems with this.

First, and the largest elephant in the room, was the German battle fleet. An invasion of Germany, or even one in Belgium, is going to draw them out of port almost certainly. While the Battle of Jutland was called British victory by the British, even they understood that risking another battle with the German High Seas Fleet was a very risky gamble, and the better solution was to have both fleets remain 'fleet in being'. The only purpose the German fleet in being in this case served was preventing said invasion of Germany or Belgium. And that wasn't that big a concern...

...because amphibious invasions are very hard. The coasts around Frisia for example were shallow enough that sailing large ships to support a landing was really really risky. The risks to ships from coastal defenses and mines was also well learned from Gallipoli, adding to the risk. And, assuming you could land a force and establish a beach head, what then? The British and other allies weren't exactly swimming in troops, and this was one of the prime reasons for the British Army to be strongly opposed to any diversion of men to any sort of amphibious operation. It wouldn't be terribly difficult for Germany to both cut off said troops, and then destroy them, even if things in the North Sea went well.

Ultimately, these fears were born out as pretty accurate by the Zeeburgge Raid. 500 men killed, a failed objective, and all against only shore defenses.