A British soldier takes a moment to remember beside the grave of a comrade on Cape Helles, the western tip of the Gallipoli Peninsula. Some 44,000 Allied soldiers died in the eight-month-long campaign. The Turkish side lost almost twice the number, but when Bulgaria pledged herself to the Central Powers, the Allies had to withdraw and do what they could to help Serbia and Greece.
AS Spring turned to Summer, however, little progress was made. Reinforcements arrived, but the Turkish barrier across the neck of the peninsula proved stubborn. By December, more than 44,000 Allied soldiers had died and the plan was evidently failing.* Moreover, Bulgaria had declared for Germany, meaning that Allied troops were needed to bolster Serbia and Greece’s Macedonian Front. From December 8th, a phased evacuation began, always by night; during daylight hours, the illusion of ordinary military operation was maintained so thoroughly that the watching Turks noticed nothing unusual, and in a matter of days tens of thousands of soldiers simply melted away.
The Dardanelles Campaign had been a miracle of courage, logistics and illusion, yet the plan had misfired;* amid the recriminations, Herbert Asquith was ousted by David Lloyd George as Prime Minister, and Winston Churchill was dismissed as First Lord of the Admiralty. No changes in command, however, would reopen the ‘back door’ that Turkey had shut, and after the Bolsheviks took Russia out of the War in 1917, European liberty depended on victory at the Western Front.
Summarised from ‘Days to Remember: The British Empire in the Great War’ (1922) by John Buchan (1875-1940) and Henry Newbolt (1862-1938). With acknowledgements to ‘Gallipoli’ (1916) by John Masefield (1878-1967).
Statistics available from ‘Gallipoli casualties by country’, provided by the New Zealand History website.
Two of those close to the events, John Buchan and John Masefield, regarded the campaign as something of a triumph. For Buchan, it was an astonishing feat of military organisation and sleight-of-hand. Masefield believed that it had delayed Bulgaria’s entry into the War, weakened Turkish troops and tied them down well away from the Russian border, and helped to bring Italy in on the Allied side. The British and Commonwealth soldiers who died at Gallipoli saved lives and liberties and changed the course of the War — just not in the way the Admiralty planned.
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Word Games
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Commander. Conceal. During.
2 Breakfast. Gun. Soldier.
3 Need. Peninsula. Up.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Verb and Noun Find in Think and Speak
Many words can serve as noun or verb depending on context: see if you can prove this with the examples below. Nouns go well with words such as the/a, or his/her; verbs go well after I/you/he etc..
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 War. 2 Phase. 3 Breakfast. 4 Back. 5 Make. 6 Prompt. 7 Matter. 8 Notice. 9 Fail.
Variations: 1.if possible, use your noun in the plural, e.g. cat → cats. 2.use your verb in a past form, e.g. go → went. 3.use your noun in a sentence with one of these words: any, enough, fewer, less, no, some.
Homonyms Find in Think and Speak
Each of the words below has more than one possible meaning. Compose your own sentences to show what those different meanings are.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1. Entrance. 2. Just. 3. Mean. 4. Watch. 5. See. 6. Change. 7. Fleet. 8. Clear. 9. Plan.
High Tiles Find in Think and Speak
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
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