"GHASTLY BLUNDER"

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 164, 24 April 1935, Page 5

"GHASTLY BLUNDER"

EVACUATION OF GALLIPOLI.

PROLONGATION OF THE WAR.

SIR lAN HAMILTON'S JUDGMENT,

(United Press Association— Cspyright) LONDON, April 23.

General Sir lan Hamilton, who commanded the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force in 1915, in a special interview with the "Daily Telegraph," looking back after 20 years to the Gallipoii campaign, said: "It is my calm, considered judgment, delivered without rancour, that, while the evacuation was the most brilliant tactical operation ever carried out by the British Army, strategically it was the most ghastly blunder ever perpetrated in the history of the world. "I say that because it prolonged the wan- needlessly and thereby caused the deaths of millions of men. "While the campaign was in progress men were actually taken from the Dardanelles to Salonika by Mr Asquith. (the late Earl of Oxiord) instead ot being sent to us from Salonika. Just a few divisions of reinforcements and we should have gone right through and finished it; yet the blindness of men whose minds were fixed on the Western Front to the exclusion of all else prevented it. "The men on Gallipoii knew that, with a little more backing, they could have won the war. Hundreds of them told me so. . "Some day all the official archives oi the secret history of the time will be published. Then there will be a great outcry, but while the families of certain statesmen are alive this is impossible. Two Bad Periods. "The most agonising time," Sir lan continued, "was the first week. On Mays I, when all was quiet and it was pitch dark, suddenly hell was let loose for half an hour. Then, with a concerted yell of 'Allah Din,' a solid 'Turkish column fell on our positions. "I heard the shouts aboard the Arcadian. It was torture to have to listen to the savage cries of men in combat coming out of the night and be unable to do anything. "The naval people, unable to help, were sweating blood. The, position seemed serious. The French were asking for help, and we had to send a battalion from our scanty -reserves. Confused messages said that the British line was broken, but dawn saw the Turks in full retreat. • >•-• • "Another bad moment was during the night of April 26, when I '.was awakened aboard the Queen Elizabeth and handed a message from General Birdwood stating that some landing force bad been demoralised by incessant enemy bombardment, and containing the suggestion, 'lf we are to re-embark, it must be at once.' "That is a terrible memory. The message I sent back was, 'Dig in and make a supreme effort to hold the ground.' The anticipated Turkish attack at dawn did not materialise, and the immediate crisis passed."