THE DARDANELLES

Southland Times, Issue 21913, 14 January 1933, Page 9

THE DARDANELLES

•“EVACUATION “SENSELESS.” SIR lAN HAMILTON SPEAKS. London, November 25. General Sir lan Hamilton, in a lecture to the British Legion at Birkenhead to-night, described our withdrawal from the Dardanelles as “senseless.” He said that the Dardanelles Committee was the worst War Directorate in history, and asserted that one cause of our failure was: “An inferiority complex on the part of senior naval officers, at home and at the front, who trembled for their beloved ships as soon as they saw a fort.” “Sir Roger Keyes, who had the spirit of Nelson, would,” he declared, “have taken the Fleet through the Narrows within one week of our landing.” General Hamilton was in command of the Gallipoli force during the occupation of the peninsula. “Not Driven Out.” Sir lan Hamilton said he had never been able to conjecture what suicidal impulse or what enemy in the mask of a friend could have prompted Mr Asquith to institute the “Dardanelles Committee-cum-Cabinet.” The Dardanelles Committee was the worst war directorate the world had ever seen with the sole exception of that of Antony and Cleopatra, who had at least the excuse of love. There were two or three happenings which gave him the impression that strings were being pulled behind Mr Asquith’s back. Sir lan took Mr Lloyd George to task for asserting in an interview that “we had been driven out of Gallipoli.” “It is my duty to point out,” he said, “that the troops I knew so well were never driven out by the enemy. All the Germans and Turks who could possibly have been concentrated and fed upon that peninsula could never have driven us out. “To me,” proceeded Sir lan, this senseless evacuation seemed as big a moment in world history as has ever taken place since the Greeks evacuated Troy and pretended to sail away homeward, leaving the Wooden Horse behind them. We, alas made no pretence; left no Wooden Horse behind us, only the dead bodies, still warm, of 500 mules shot at the very last moment to save them from being led in triumph through the streets of Constantinople.” Sir S. Maude’s Gesture. General Hamilton related the story of how General Sir Stanley Maude, who was commanding the 13 th Division at the time, remained on the Peninsula to the last, and would not leave until twenty minutes after the last man had gone. “It has been said that Sir Stanley was delayed by the loss of his valise, and that he and his staff officer had gone back to fetch it,” Sir lan said. “For me, I prefer to believe, and I have reason for doing so, that Maude did not wait twenty mintues after everyone else, with a rising storm threatening his life, for the sake of a valise, but that he wished to close the Dardanelles evacuation with a, superb gesture of protest and disdain.” Whitehall “War.” Discussing why the evacuation was carried out, Sir lan said: “First and foremost I blame myself for things having gone so wrong, but not for my tactical eplans or military orders. These have by now run the gauntlet of examinations by experts, home and foreign, and still stand upon their legs. “No, but because I so culpably neglected the ceaseless internecine war raging on the Home Front of Whitehall and Fleet Street. “Secondly, because we had no effective General Staff at the War Office to weigh impartially the values of the various war theatres and to distribute support accordingly. “Thirdly, because of the undue influence under these conditions of G.H.Q. in France plus the Government of France and its G.Q.G. “Fourthly, because of an inferiority complex on the part of senior naval officers at home and at the front who, personally fearless as they were, began to tremble for their beloved ships as soon as they saw a fort “When Nelson saw a fort he began to tremble, not for his ships, but for the fort. I wish to tell you right now ,that ,we did possess the Dardanelles

the very spit and spirit of Nelson, who felt exactly like Nelson felt, and who, if he had been given the task, would have taken the fleet slap through the Narrows in one week of our landing. “That man, I need hardly say, was Sir Roger Keyes, a leader somewhat hasty for the creepy, crawly ways of ,peace, but for war without a peer.”