The Press. Saturday, January 11, 1919. The Gallipoli Advendure.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16418, 11 January 1919, Page 8

The Press. Saturday, January 11, 1919. The Gallipoli Advendure.

"Tho Dardanelles campaign -was the " strangest, most difficult, and most "heroic effort ever made by the men "of our race. It was unlike moSt "of the campaigns in our history in "that it was conceived by genius. It '■"was Tinlike all others in that its fail"ure (redeemed, like all other British "failures, by courage and endurance) " was relieved by a quality or glamour "which lays over all memories of it : "a glow of beauty. Even now, less " than three years after the, fevacua"tion, those who were there in the " months of exultation, misery, and "despair, from April to December, " 1915, think of the place and the time " as things apart, consecrated for ever "by passion, agony, and bloody sweat, "but also by another thing, difficult to define yet felt by all as the very "heart of romance." These glowing words are the opening of an article in the Guardian" in which Mr John Masefield reviews Mr H. \V. _Ne Vinson's new book, "The Dardanelles Campaign." • Mr Masefield is A poet, and some people may imagine that this fact invalidates his estimate. of the glorious failure' on the Gallipoli Peninsula. "We do not share that view; the poet's vision has been so frequently ahd so conspicuously an anticipation of the common sight of $he world that we may safely believe t in the generations to come this

great adventure will bo one of the most shining memories of the great var. Mr Masefield, who has himself written a small volume "Gallipoli," accords to Mr Novinson's work the highest praise, not merely for its style —Mr Xevinsnn is one of the best of modern prose-writers—but for its fulness and, so far as the facts of the expedition are concerned, its accuracy and sound judgment. Mr Xevinson had unrivalled opportunities for studying the campaign, and he comes to the conclusion that "the ultimate burden '"of failure lies on the authorities at Iloine. It is an old story now hew the Home authorities made bad gue.s.srs at the military position of the Peninsula, how they gave the enemy ti'ne tr> make his preparations, and how they finally launched an inadequate force against him. Overwhelmed by the weight of these blunders, rot a few people have maintained that the expedition ought not to have been s'-nt at all. Mr Mascfield, with Mr Xe\ inson, will not agree with this view. The campaign was conceived by genius, and it could have succeeded; and even though it failed of its" purpose it had a tremendous effect upon 'iurkey. "The campaign," Mr Masefield says, "was an heroic feat of arms. •|Xo thinking man will withhold hon- •' our in his heart from Sir lan Ham- " llton and his merry men who broke '' the power of tho Turk for ever. J here, in the dust and scrub and stink of Gallipoli, Mesopotamia was " freed, the Caucasus relieved, Egypt '•made safe, and Palestine ours. The " Turk was not only broken by us on Gallipoli but he was there sickened of his allies, so that very much of "the present happy state of the war is due to this expedition—'equal,' "as Mr Xevinson writes, 'in splen- " 'dour of conception, heroism., and '"tragedy."' In the failure 011 the Peninsula there was still tho seed of rictory, and Mr Masefield expects this to be generally recognised somo day.