THE DARDANELLES

Taranaki Daily News, 30 October 1915, Page 5

THE DARDANELLES

MORE CRITICISM. A PESSIMISTIC STATEMENT. London, Oct. 28. Lord Brassey, interviewed by the Australian Press Association, on his return from the Mediterranean and Dardanelles region, said: "I never met any officer, naval or military, who was not of opinion that the operation eon-, templated in the Dardanelles from every viewpoint, was a huge mistake. We "were forced to undertake the Dardanelles expedition on account of pressure by Russia, who said 'We are fighting very hard; you must try to open the Dardanelles.' The Foreign Office felt the justice of the Russians' representations and no dou'bt urged the Admiralty to act, Mr Churchill was a dashing; administrator, but did not know how difficult the operation would be. Orders were accordingly given to the fleet to undertake the task. '■Having failed in the first attempt by naval means alone it was decided late in the day that there should be combined naval and military operations. It took considerable time to prepare botli forces. The Germans who officered the Turks had full time to prepare and when the second attempt was ready Gallipoli was a fortress of first-elassmagnitude. It was absolutely impregnable. We tried men at the three least prepared places with fearful sacrifices.

••.Sir Lan Hamilton, who has a high reputation, was exceedingly anxious 10 carry out the utterly impossible task placed upon him by the Government. He appealed for reinforcements, and Egypt was depleted of Australians and New Zealanders, who tried to penetrate the Peninsula of Gallipoli, which presented insurmountable difficulties to the moving of artillery. "I saw that it was perfectly impossible to get guns into positions for bombardment. Attack after attack was made, hoping against hope. One doctor told me that he saw men climb a difficult slope, invisible gunners were waiting at the top till they came in view, and then they were mowed down. All this happened again and again. I consider that the Government should much earlier have realised the futility of the attack and stopped the useless slaughter. "When I was at Lemnos," Lord Brassey concluded, "a ship was sent there by the Red Cross full of sup l plies, but there was no person in authority to distribute them.' In that extremity, the captain asked me to help with the clothes for the Australians, many of whom needed them sorely. We got together pyjamas and such other things as we could provide, and they were temporally relieved."

MORE BARTLETT

WISE TALK AFTER THE EVENT. Received Oct. 23, 5.13 p.m. Times and Sydney Sun Services. ' London, Oct. 2S. Mr. Ashmead Bartlett, in a special interview with the Sun's London correspondent, said it was impossible for the fleet alone to pierce the Dardanelles, and the attempt was a silly one. The original Expeditionary Force was also too small. The troops were insufficient, and anything further than a landing in the hills would have been wiser. They should never have landed at Auzae, and after the failure of the Aehi Baba final attack on May Bth, the whole expedition should have been seriously reconsidered, having learnt the fighting strength of the Turks, but the staff seemed to desire to avoid facing the facts. Subsequent attacks on Aehi Baba, involving tremendous loss, should never have been made. Even if we had taken Aehi Baba we. were faced with an even stronger position at the Kilid Bahr salient.

Of all the troops engaged ho specially praised the Australasians.

Bulgaria, he considered, had entirely changed the situation. It. is futile to try and save Serbia by a few scratch divisions at Salonika. The great danger of these Balkan adventures is the huge distances from the bases, whereas the enemy has the advantage of the interior lines.

GENERAL HAMILTON'S FAREWELL ORDER.

CONFIDENCE IN A VICTORY. Received Oct. 29, 11.5 p.m. London, Oct. 29. General Sir lan Hamilton, in his farewell order, thanked all ranks ;it the Dardanelles for the wonderful way they had seconded his efforts to lead tlieiii towards a decisive victory, which he had implicit confidence they would achieve under General Monro.