Gallipoli Diary, Volume I

by Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genres: History, World War I, Biography

147 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1920

About the author

Sir Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton, GCB, GCMG, DSO, TD (16 January 1853 – 12 October 1947) was a British Army officer

Reviews

[Shaun Major · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this the first half of Hamilton's period of command of the Dardanelles campaign was so infuriating. You can see the man's vision for the campaign and you can read his frustrations with lack of supply and reinforcements, however you can see the failures of assertiveness and initiative throughout the early period of the campaign. He writes well, however he just carry much of the blame for the failure of the campaign overall.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting perspective on the Gallipoli campaign written by the first commander of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It is worth noting that this is not in fact a publication of Hamilton's Diaries, but an account written after the event in the style of the diary. This is primarily written as a response to the publication of the Report of the Dardanelles Committee which set out responsibility for the failure of the campaign.

Unlike Sir John French's '1914' Hamilton does not out and out blame others for the failure, but he does carefully lead the reader to the necessary conclusions - Kitchener and the War Office, and the War Cabinet. This benefits significantly from hindsight, with Hamilton presenting himself as someone who knew what was needed for success but was denied by others. The problem with this, is that it shows Hamilton as knowingly attacking without the minimum of resource he had stipulated required for success.

A good overview of the challenges the campaign faced, but not to be taken at face value. Not a popular history.

[Mick Maye · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book to be very revealing as to the state of mind of Ian Hamilton during the campaign. He appears to be in awe at times of Kitchener. The lack of fighting for what he knows he will need reflects the outcome of the campaign. Now whether the campaign ever really had a chance is debatable, however the way and method it was run is damning on the state of the British army establishment. His acceptance of things at times makes you wonder how he got into the level of authority that he had.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting to read the thoughts of the senior commander at Gallipoli. Pity the troops that were poorly provisioned for the task they were sent to do...