THE WITHDRAWAL FROM GALLIPOLI

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16588, 11 January 1916, Page 4

THE WITHDRAWAL FROM GALLIPOLI

It mav be assumed that the evacuation of Cape Helles, now announced, spells the final abandonment of the attempt of the Allies to force the passage of the Dardanelles by a combined naval and military operation. It means the complete evacuation by the Allies of the Gallipoli Peninsula. It represents tlie closing incident in and the fall, as it were, of the curtain upon, one of the most striking dramas of the war. When, rather more than a fortnight ago, the news of the withdrawal of the troops from Anzac and Suvla Bay was received, it appeared' not improbable that the attack upon the Dardanelles vm to

be continued from Capo Helles. Certainly the Allies would not be reluctant to creato that impression in tlio mind of tho enemy, even if their intentions went quite in the contrary direction. It is reasonable to conclude that tho evacuation of Cape Helles was actually decided upon when the determination to withdraw from Anzac | and Suvla Bay was reached, and a factor influencing the decision "will have been the change in the strategic position brought about by the alliance of Bulgaria with the Central Powers and by the over-running of Serbia. It was on April 24tli of last year that the Allies made their landing on Gallipoli, and in so doing achieved a feat of arms that will never be forgotten. During a period 1 of eight months they have fought for the possession of a rougli and more than inhospitable strip of territory, and the grip which they took upon Turkish soil at the outset they neiver relaxed. They maintained an ascendancy, and no effort of the enemy could shake or dislodge them. Still, although their p earn ess to a victory commensurate with their endurance and valour is not disputed, it* is unfortunately not disputed either that the hour of their great opportunity came and passed, and still the way to Constantinople remained closed. Great opportunities of that kind seldom repeat themselves. The evacuation of Gallipoli means the end of an unsuccessful enterprise, the truth regarding which, so far as blame may or may not be attachable to individual commanders, we may learn later on. It was an enterprise of a costly kind, moreover, and a vast list of casualties represents the price paid for some months' practical experience in testing the actual strength of the position of the Turks at the Dardanelles—a position generally regarded in the past as impregnable. The former judgment concerning the strength of the defences of the Dardanelles might have been proved to be unsound if circumstances bad fallen out somewhat .differently, but in war there is little time for discussing what might have happened.' War is essentially a matter of the present and the future. Looking ahead is all essential to success, and there has assuredly been no precipitation in the evacuation of Gallipoli. There may have been a good deal of hesitation or reluctance to come to the decision that such a step was necessary. But in translating the decision into practice there has been nothing left for the military critic to rail about. The landing of the allied troops upon Gallipoli was rightly regarded as an operation of extreme difficulty that represented a splendid achievement in organisation. The withdrawal from the peninsula from the closest contact with the enemy represents, it is agreed, an achievement no less striking. For this great operation—which was only to be contemplated in prospect with dread—has been carried out with perfect suocess—without sacrifice either of life or of material. Of the withdrawal from Anzac and Suvla Bay The- Times said: "It was a wonderful organising feat which will be found as extraordinary as the heroic landing.'' Now we have the news that the evacuation of Cape Helles has been carried out just as capably and successfully. "Not one Britisher remained" is the quaint conclusion to a Turkish official report which, as might have been expected, claims that the invaders were dislodged with heavy losses. The actual casualties seem to have been confined to the wounding of one man! In these transferences of forces from the Gallipoli Peninsula there must have been an admirable co-operation" of naval and military commanders. Just what the evacuation of Gallipoli will presage we can only surmise, but it is not perhaps any small thing that the withdrawal is expected to relieve + he iiavy and the mercantile service of a heavy strain.