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Defeat at Gallipoli
The battle for Gallipoli was officially described as "one of the world's classic tragedies", and in this book the participants tell the full story of this failed offensive. The bitter campaign against the Turks from April 1915 to January 1916 was ill-conceived, inadequately equipped and never likely to succeed. The bravery and resilience of the troops in the face of disease and violent death is shown in their letters, diaries and recorded memories, recalling the sordid reality of the campaign. Linking together these experience, Nigel Steel and Peter Hart provide a insight into the lives of the soldiers involved and an account of a doomed campaign.
480 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 3, 2018
a lot of Steel with its Hart in the right place
No two Gallipoli books are the same. One with a focus on the British troops, most notably the Royal Naval Division at Anzac Cove & the 29th (Regular) Division at Helles, and more interested in the military operations per se than the human story from down under, is something else again.
Stuck on the Anzac Cove cliffs, bludgeoning its way up ridge after ridge of Achi Baba and Baby 700 until attempting a cut-off landing up north at Suvla in desperation (as would happen in Korea), "emminence grise" Steel fleshes out your mental map of the Gallipoli triangle. The French always seem to have it a bit easier with plentiful artillery, even though the punch packed by 15" naval guns was to be feared even in an indirect fire role.
Hart in his introduction rightly specifies that it's not an elderly version of his Gallipoli (2011) and indeed, his trademark oral treasury doesn't overwhelm here unless it has to: describing the living conditions under the gun from the nearest body-lined trench to the furthest skinny-dipping beach, or hugging the ground as Turkish bullets kill everything at knee height.
Back in the 1990's, these books were still light on Turks not named "Mustafa Kemal Honorary Surname Under Construction". The mutual respect thing comes and goes in the recollections. Between riflemen, a Western front level of "live and let live" could be attained between the frenzy of charges, but snipers and gunners kept up the pressure at all times.
The evacuation does not proceed with customary smoothness at Helles, where sniff by schrapnel showed that the Turks knew something was up. Horsemen were obliged to the harsh measure of killing their own animals.
No two Gallipoli books are the same. One with a focus on the British troops, most notably the Royal Naval Division at Anzac Cove & the 29th (Regular) Division at Helles, and more interested in the military operations per se than the human story from down under, is something else again.
Stuck on the Anzac Cove cliffs, bludgeoning its way up ridge after ridge of Achi Baba and Baby 700 until attempting a cut-off landing up north at Suvla in desperation (as would happen in Korea), "emminence grise" Steel fleshes out your mental map of the Gallipoli triangle. The French always seem to have it a bit easier with plentiful artillery, even though the punch packed by 15" naval guns was to be feared even in an indirect fire role.
Hart in his introduction rightly specifies that it's not an elderly version of his Gallipoli (2011) and indeed, his trademark oral treasury doesn't overwhelm here unless it has to: describing the living conditions under the gun from the nearest body-lined trench to the furthest skinny-dipping beach, or hugging the ground as Turkish bullets kill everything at knee height.
Back in the 1990's, these books were still light on Turks not named "Mustafa Kemal Honorary Surname Under Construction". The mutual respect thing comes and goes in the recollections. Between riflemen, a Western front level of "live and let live" could be attained between the frenzy of charges, but snipers and gunners kept up the pressure at all times.
The evacuation does not proceed with customary smoothness at Helles, where sniff by schrapnel showed that the Turks knew something was up. Horsemen were obliged to the harsh measure of killing their own animals.
October 10, 2022
A good treatise on a subject that is fading from view except in the annals of the Antipodean countries. One forgets that this was a World war and as such encompassed many countries. The traditional view was of the gallant Australian and New Zealand soldiers mismanaged by straight laced British generals but the reality is of the vacillation by Whitehall and the petty likes and dislikes of those in power whatever the level. Suffering equally were the soldiers of Great Britain, and, those of Turkey. The book delves deeply into the reasons for the campaign, the tardiness in assembling the necessary manpower, and the piecemeal way these brave souls were fed into the maw of death. The harrowing accounts of the soldiers on the ground lend degree of reality of the facts of war far removed from the idealistic depictions of the recruitment posters. All in all an eye opener of a book telling more of the needless deaths and slaughter and less of the "Jolly good show" aspect of the campaign.
December 10, 2024
Türk tarihindeki önemli yeri bir yana, I. Dünya Savaşı için de dönüm noktalarından biri olan Çanakkale Savaşı'nı karşı taraftan dinlemek için güzel bir eser. Bu kitabın Sabah Gazetesi baskısını okurken masanın bir kenarına, kitap ile gelen poster haritayı açarak cephenin hareketini gün gün takip ettiğimi hatırlıyorum. Savaşın politik ve stratejik nedenlerinden bahsetmesinin yanı sıra askerlerin, komutanların, generallerin anıları kitabın temel yapı taşlarını oluşturuyor. Kahramanlık hikayelerinin yanı sıra savaşın lojistiği, siper savaşlarının acımasızlığı ve anlamsızlığı, tüm bunlar birleşince kitabı okurken sanki Gelibolu yarımadasının üzerinde, zamanda yolculuk yapan bir kuş misali süzüldüğünü hissediyor insan
March 8, 2025
A very good account of this doomed campaign. Peter Hart is a Gallipoli expert and this book does not let him down. It is good to get the views of the ordinary soldier and sailor rather than their commanders. Also the fact that Gallipoli was not just the ANZACs is clear and the fact that a lot of accounts say nothing of the French involvement is redressed here. I do not know how they suffered such terrible conditions!
November 1, 2025
A view of the battle from the complete Allied Soldiers view, not just Anzacs. Balanced and dispels a few myths
November 26, 2015
Those who know Peter Hart's books will find the usual offerings of 1st hand accounts from politicians, generals and private soldiers that are woven into a tight fabric of operational detail. This usually works well for the general reader, but despite knowing the campaign relatively well, I found some of the chapters of this book as difficult to navigate as their subjects must have found the terrain.
By far the best chapters are those towards the end of the book, which dealt with the multitude of miseries faced by the men in the trenches and with the successful evacuations at Suvla, ANZAC and Helles.
The book devotes the bulk of its pages to the British at Helles and Suvla, though not to the total exclusion of ANZAC. This perhaps goes some way to balance the works of Moorehead and Carlyon which are understandable ANZAC-centric, but sadly it almost wholly excludes the French and Turkish viewpoints.
By far the best chapters are those towards the end of the book, which dealt with the multitude of miseries faced by the men in the trenches and with the successful evacuations at Suvla, ANZAC and Helles.
The book devotes the bulk of its pages to the British at Helles and Suvla, though not to the total exclusion of ANZAC. This perhaps goes some way to balance the works of Moorehead and Carlyon which are understandable ANZAC-centric, but sadly it almost wholly excludes the French and Turkish viewpoints.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews