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.
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 Daylight. She. While.
2 Little. More. Two.
3 Fifteen. Hour. Turn.
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.)
Adjectives Find in Think and Speak
For each word below, compose sentences to show that it may be used as an adjective. Adjectives provide extra information about a noun, e.g. a black cat, a round table, the early bird etc..
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Ordinary. 2 Complete. 3 Simple. 4 Lacking. 5 Stubborn. 6 Early. 7 Winning. 8 Soldierly. 9 Mean.
Variations: 1.show whether your adjective can also be used as e.g. a noun, verb or adverb. 2.show whether your adjective can be used in comparisons (e.g. good/better/best). 3.show whether your adjective can be used in attributive position (e.g. a dangerous corner) and also in predicate position (this corner is dangerous).
Confusables Find in Think and Speak
In each group below, you will find words that are similar to one another, but not exactly the same. Compose your own sentences to bring out the similarities and differences between them, whether in meaning, grammar or use.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
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?
Your Words ()
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