Gallipoli 1915: Frontal assault on Turkey

Osprey Campaign #8

by Philip J. Haythornthwaite

The Gallipoli expedition of 1915, the brainchild of Winston Churchill, was designed to knock the Turkish Empire out of the First World War and open a supply route to Russia. The campaign is characterised by the military incompetence of the higher commands, particularly the Allies. However, in spite of this, Gallipoli deserves to be, and is, also remembered for the heroism and resourcefulness of both the British army and the men of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. This book details the battles, hardships and eventual evacuation that these men had to go through, in this comprehensive guide to the Gallipoli landings of World War I (1914-1918).

Genres: History, Military History, World War I, Nonfiction, War

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 24, 1991

About the author

Philip J. Haythornthwaite (born 1951) is an internationally respected and prolific author and historical consultant specializing in military history, uniforms and equipment. Whilst his main area of research is the Napoleonic Wars, his impressive list of publications covers a much wider range of periods from the English Civil War until WWI.

Reviews

[Dimitri · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Gallipoli for dummies" and it will make you smart.

The Osprey maps combine well with a text that contains a minimum of analysis - alltough there's several books' worth of arguments behind every poor command or badplan. The bare facts will serve any student as a useful framework or back-up in case you get lost in the detail of FitzSimons* and his brethern, or can't tell the (3) Krithia battles apart anymore. It's all just a matter of going up the hill but never over the hilltop.

by Peter FitzSimons

[Matt Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is not much depth here but one of the best features are the illustrations. They help simplify understanding of the main stages of the campaign. Very readable.

[Christopher Dove · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book gives a good overall impression of the key events in the Gallipoli campaign without going into too much detail. As such, this book is most useful as an introduction to the subject. The Gallipoli campaign, after all, began in March 1915 and the final evacuation of allied forces didn't occur until January 1916, so there is a lot to consider. As a result, this book left me wanting to find out more about the campaign. What is missing from the book is the experiences of the men on the ground. We are consistently given the overall strategic view. The book does emphasise the bravery and the toughness of the soldiers on both sides but gives very few specific examples. As ever in this Osprey series, the illustrations and the maps are very good. Although in this case I would have preferred a few more maps and for them to be more closely linked in with the text. The author believes that the strategic aim of the campaign was a good one and could have been successful, but it failed due to the incompetence of some of the key staff officers. So a disaster for the allied forces and it is only a small compensation that the final evacuation was a complete success with very little loss of life.

[Declan Waters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gallipoli is seen by many as the birth place of the Australian and New Zealand nations due to the sacrifice of the 'ANZAC' devisions in Gallipoli during the First World War.

This book from Osprey describes the actions in Gallipoli, taking in all the Commonwealth & French soldiers and those of the Turkish defenders; it explains the original plan and explores the reasons for the eventually ignomious (but incredibly successful) retreat off the peninsula.

Led by men who did not have the experience, or the will to push through to victory the soldiers of the Gallipoli campaign did the best they could with gallantry bravery and comradeship. They also developed a respect for their enemies - the Turks - who also suffered greatly and fought bravely... albeit with commanders with a better understanding or war, and a willingness to take decisive action.

A very good review of the campaign from Osprey.

[Todd Haines · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was trying for more of a big picture book on this event but this first hand account works to show a more personal account. The Sappers are unique and something not normally written about.

[Larry Kearl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is exactly what I was looking for…enough to give an understanding of this campaign while suggesting other books for more detail if desired.

[Michael Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

What used to be called the Great War (before we knew enough to start numbering them) hasn’t gotten a lot of play since perhaps the mid-1930s. Not nearly as much as the American Civil War, the Napoleonic Wars, or World War II. And when the subject does arise, it’s usually with regard to the Somme, or Ypres, or Verdun, all on the Western Front. But the year the Allies spent gnawing away at the Turks on the Gallipoli Peninsula had the potential to change the entire war. The concept for the campaign was, in fact, well thought out. It was the execution that was disastrous.

Europe had been expecting the tottering Ottoman Empire to collapse for more than a generation. The last couple of sultans had been appalling people and the “Young Turks” had taken control, but they were no improvement. Enver Pasha, the half-Albanian war minister, especially, was an egotistical loose cannon, cordially hated by most of the country’s population. The problem was, Turkey’s geopolitical position was crucial, sitting astride the only passage in and out of the Black Sea, which meant the majority of Russia’s imports and exports couldn’t move without Turkish permission. And Russia being one of the Allies, Britain and France were hoping the Czar could ease the trench-warfare deadlock on the Western Front by opening a second front in the east -- not unlike the later situation in World War II, actually. But to deliver the military supplies Russia needed to carry out that hope, the Allies would have to open up the Dardanelles to shipping.

It looked to be an easy thing to accomplish: Launch a naval attack on the haphazard Turkish defenses, follow that up with a series of landings by infantry divisions against the pathetic Turkish army, and it’s all over in a matter of weeks, right? Had the planning been accelerated (cutting short Germany’s efforts to train and equip the Turks), and had the Allies appointed talented and forceful military leaders to run the campaign, and had the Royal Navy been willing to supply anything better than a handful of antiquated warships, the whole thing might indeed have been completed successfully in a relatively short time. And it would have been a different sort of war. Instead, the initial naval operations early in 1915 ran into unexpected Turkish minefields and several under-armored battleships sank with all their crews in a matter of minutes. The amphibious landings that followed ran into strong opposition from Turkish troops who, though poorly equipped, were tenacious fighters. And the whole Allied advance ground down to another deadlock, not that different from the trench-warfare situation in France. The British leadership, both naval and military, was astonishingly incompetent. The ANZAC troops from Australia and New Zealand -- lacking experience but arguably the best natural fighting men on the Allied side -- were wasted time and again in ill-conceived offensive actions. And finally, the Allied forces had to be withdrawn entirely; the mostly secret retreat was carried out with far more success than any of the preceding assaults.

The author is a first-rate military historian who specializes in the 19th and early 20th centuries and his narrative of the campaign is masterful. He nails the personalities of the political and military leaders on both sides, explains the intended strategy, and describes clearly what worked and what didn’t and why. As one would expect from Osprey, there are many useful photographs and paintings of battlefields, trenches, weapons, equipment, and ships, and also some excellent maps. I strongly recommend this volume as a cure for the prevailing ignorance in our time regarding the first “modern” war.

[Erdem Karaadam]

It is a la mode nowadays to disregard Mustafa Kemal's contribution to this campaign, to which this book does justice. AND we are not taught properly in Turkey why Liman Von Sanders is a valuable personality. HE promoted Mustafa Kemal to the commander post by-passing his seniors in rank, and you don't come by such bold decisions in military affairs!

[Jimmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the other Osprey campaign books that I've read, this book provides a good overview of the campaign but doesn't go into a lot of detail. It also tends to focus a little more on the Allied side than the Ottomans (although it isn't as bad as Peter Hart's book); it also barely mentions the French units.