Gallipoli Was All But Won

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12643, 31 December 1926, Page 12

Gallipoli Was All But Won

A worthy volume is “Gallipoli Today” (Angus and Robertson, Sydney, for -Ernest Bean, London), describing the ,country in which the great Gallipoli campaign was fought by the Bri- ; tisli -armies, and of the line monuments raised to their memory, and their cemeteries where the brave dead lie, not forgetting the monument for the 21,000 missing who lie unknown in places unrecorded and unidentified. Mr Pemberton’s work is devoted entirely to the memories of the campaign. A great addition of interest is given to tho volume by the foreword of Sir ian Hamilton, done at the request of the High Commissioner for New Zealand, Sir James Allen. The introduction tells how nearly the Gallipoli Peninsula was won by the troops under Sir lan’s command. And this adds indescribable fascination to the great story -of Gallipoli. Sir lan writes like a soldier and a man of genius. The sympathy and power of his lines makes his contribution one of the finest documents of the war, comparable to the greatest of them, which, without doubt, is Marshal Foch’s foreword to Marshal French’s book, “1914.” The British general’s tribute to the men of Gallipoli is as fine as the French marshal’s tribute to the men of First Ypres. The only difference between them' is that one records victory while the other records the valour that ought to have won victory. It is the difference of fate. Mr Pemberton’s work must be allowed here to speak for itself, with' the aid of its 46 beautiful illustrations. Of these the most interesting for New Zealanders is the New Zealand memorial on the summit of Chunuk Bair, which is the best of all the monument-* erected, and is visible from all points, much more so than any other of the monuments. It is a very important point in the story of Gallipoli. This brings us to the general s introduction.- Various commentators, he says, have declared that if we had obtained command of the Narrows our task would have been easier, and that in fact victory would have been certain. Sir lan had let this criticism go by, though from his knowledge of the operation he had ordered, he felt it to be beside the mark. In later years, passing through the Narrows of Gallipoli in a British- warship, he saw the New Zealand monument on Chunuk Bair.

But (Sir lan Hamilton says) Chunuk Bair did dominate tho Narrows. Wo were (in the H.M.S, Bryony) an ideal target for a sixinch gun on Chunuk Bair. The garrison gunner who could 'not have sunk us with hie third shot deserved to have been shot himself. Holding Chunuk Bair we had a grip on the sea and land communications of the southern theatre, including the great fortified ihascif of Khiiid Bair also, much more important, we could have held out a firmer hand to the wavering Cabinet at Home. There in Whitehall, in -Whitehall and Fleet street, the Dardanelles were loet; New Zealanders, Australians, and Britons never forget that.

Sir lan also declares that Sir Roger Keyes, who later became the hero of Zeebrugge, had a plan for forcing the straits by sea, with the help of the forces in command on the land side, a plan which Winston Churchill in his memoirs declares was quite feasible, but was ordered from -Home', to- go no further with it. And so he makes it more clear , than ever how ne.ar to victory the Gallipoli enterprise had come. To know this on sttcli .'good -authority is ,at least -someconsolatioU.; A> iti - the losses of - our troops at Gallipoli, Sir I'an, while - deploring them/ points out that, from the records'of- both sides, the-Turkish losses were-at’least double our- own. And he adds that, on the West front our losses were almost the same—two to one of the German losses^—a fact very firmly meeting the criticisms of the enormous and unprecedented’ losses of our troops on Gallipoli. There is a pathetic passage irf- which Sir lan describes the gallantry of a .Turkish sergeant, who, after holding his post for many days against oiir attack, died at his pbst-shouting ,“I die happily, for my country, and you my comrades (the Turkish official record says that- the Turkish' army heard him plainly ) will avenge. me.” t And he records that he -saw, a party of pilgrims -’.leaving . Constantinople to, pray :at the shrine erected ,to this Turkish hero. We have here-the good feeling of a fine soldier who respects a brave enemy, and one who extends sympathy to the bereaved, whatever the side on which their dear ones fell. And his sympathy for the bereaved on our side is, of course, deep, afid its expression graces the introduction with a noble touch of feeling.

The .New Zealand memorial, he declares to be the best on the Peninsula, dwelling on its magnificence, he takes the opportunity at the same time ,to remove an error somewhat detrimental hitherto to tho fame of the Anzac exploit of the first landing. It has come to be believed that by a fortunate accident the Anzacs landed at a place on' the coast away from the preparations made by the enemy for their reception. In conversation afterwards with Turkish officers he found that this was entirely wrong. Ho is sure that the Anzacs landed right in front of the preparation of the defence, and he knows that the Turkish official account will so declare at Its publication. Here we will quote a passage near the end of the introduction which all New Zealand will find deeply interesting. Although the author of this volume makes no attempt to stress the exploits of any particular branch of the British Army, he does make epccial mention of the first memorial to be unveiled on the Peninsula. I too have good reason to bo interested in the same memorial. Barlv in 1925 I was invited to unroll the New Zealand Memorial* which now stand* on f'hunuk Bjiir to mark for as lmig ns the mountains endure the highest point readied by the British in their endeavour to open the Narrows to their rthip*. Hardly had the honour been accepted when political objection* were raised, and at once, though sadly, I stood out. But events hove now reconciled me to what at the time was a disappointment. First, ng readers of this book will discover f»>r themselves, General Sir Alexander Gndlcy was allowed to step into tho broach, and speaking in his dual capacity ns commander of tho operations and eye-witness of tho event, related the plain figure*? of the battle upon tho sate of the Memorial. Demosthenes himself could not have enhanced by any descriptive eloquence the effect of this story, told an it was by a soldier who had played bho lending port, and so reading I was content. Secondly, there cam© to me in duo course n greatly prized loiter from that, statesman who had guided tho destinies of New Zealand through tho darkest hours of the war As it must have been one of bis Inst I give it Prime Minister's Office, March 13th, '25. My Dear General,— ' Sir James Allen has told mo of tho readv manner in which you met his request to unveil iho New Zealand- Memorial on Chnnik Bair, and f desire to assure you of the Government’s and any