THE STORY OF GALLIPOLI

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 44, 15 November 1917, Page 9

THE STORY OF GALLIPOLI

LIEUTENANT DOULL'S LECTURE,

"The Tragic Story of Gallipoli" was the title of a lecture- or talk by an Australian 6oldier,. Lieutenant David Douli, in tho Concert Chamber of the Town Hall last night. The title was only partly descriptive of the lecture, which had to do rather -with the lives of the An7.ac6 from thei time that they left the shores of their own lands until the end of the ill-fated campaign. Tho lecturer was introduced to the audience by the Mayor of Wellington (Mr. J. P. Luke), who extended to him a very cordial welcome to this city and to this country. He mentioned the fact also that Mr. Doull is really a New Zealander, although he has bccii for some thirty years in Australia, and has been in this war a soldier in the Australian.lmperial FoTce. Mr. Doull devoted the first part of his lectuTO to a description of tho sights and rounds' and smells amongst which the Anzacs'lived at tho time when they wore being trained on the sands of Egypt for the great effort which was to mako their name glorious. It was quito clear that ho had been a very intelligent and enlightened observer of the East, and of the peoples who still livo they lived before this country had been invaded even by paleolithic man. His views, of which ho has a numerous and well-chosen selection, told of the cities of Egypt, and of their fading grandeur, and more than all of their squalor and wretchedness. Aβ the views passed rapidly before the view of the audience, Mr. Doutl was able to tell an anecdote hero and thero to connect the ancient land of tho Pharaohs with tho ultra-modern Anzacs. He told of tho landing in Gallipoli, and of tho battles of the first terriblo days, but after that he had little to say about the strategy of tho campaign or of any of the big , events from the point of view of their significance as factors _in rho success or failure of the enterprise. Ho spoke of tho daily life of the plain soldier, as the plain soldier saw and suffered it. Ho passed quite lightly over tho miseries of the life in that ehallBwept and disease-stricken inferno, but for all that ho told. his ntidience in a ehanco phraso or two something of what tho men of Anzac suffered from flies and dirt nnd stench-nnd the Turk. In this respect Mr. Doull's lecture differs from the stories told by others wlio have come from tho front to tell of the campaign from the point of view of tho critic or the professional soldier who discusses things in broader view, dealing with causes and effects and tho plan of the major operations as they weio conducted. Mr; Donll leaves theso ' things pretty much alone. Ho has compiled a different sort of lecture, and his story is. one of ench great diversity that it_ must have an appeal for almost any listener. Lieutenant Doull will lecture again in the Concert Chamber, to-night.