Men of Gallipoli By Liddle. 1st Edition VG

MEN OF GALLIPOLI

BY LIDDLE

PUBLISHED ; LANE

FIRST EDITION 1976

ln April 1915 a military landing was carried  out by the Allies on the Gallipoli Peninsula  which forms the northern shore of the  Dardanelles. The resultant attempts to hold  and extend the area won in this landing were  a failure—one of the classic failures of  military history, and at the turn of the year the  peninsula was evacuated.  Yet the Gallipoli campaign was of lasting  significance. A combined operation involving  a British and a French squadron and including  the most powerful modern battleship afloat  carried out seven separate landings with five  divisions of troops from Britain, France,  Africa, lndia and Australasia. The scale of  such an operation was unmatched in the  Great War. ‘ 

One of the most fascinating aspects-of the  campaign is the richly varied background of  the troops involved. There were British, Irish,  Australians, New Zealanders including  Maoris, Newfoundlanders, Gurkhas, Sikhs,  Palestinians, French, men of the varied races  of the French Foreign Legion, Algerians,  Moroccans and Senegalese. Their different  languages and cultures, their prejudices and  their ideals, their varied military training and  experience, had to be fused to serve a A  common military purpose.  ,’ It is Peter Liddle‘s contention that the  political and military gains to be achieved by  success had been set at an unrealistically  high level.

His book concentrates on the  experience of the men who faced extended  limits of physical and emotional endurance in  striving for those gains. A whole archive of  hitherto undiscovered personal documentation  was built to serve as the main source for the  book, and drawing upon this rich store of  diaries and letters together with supporting  recollections the author has endeavoured to  bring alive the reality of service in the Eastern  Mediterranean during the campaign.