THE KAIPARA AND WAITEMATA ECHO WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED "THE KAIPARA ADVERTISER & WAITEMATA CHRONICLE." HELENSVILLE, THURSDAY, May 11, 1916 MONROE ON GALLIPOLI.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 11 May 1916, Page 2

THE KAIPARA AND WAITEMATA ECHO WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED "THE KAIPARA ADVERTISER & WAITEMATA CHRONICLE." HELENSVILLE, THURSDAY, May 11, 1916 MONROE ON GALLIPOLI.

Sir Charles Monroe has not the graceful facility with his pen (says theChristchurch Spectator) which so pre-eminently distinguishes Sir lan Hamilton. His despatch, therefore, on the Gallipoli campaign lacks the polish and style of that put in by the British leader he succeeded. But, on the other hand, Monroe's brief report is a very, very con" vincing document indeed, says a Melbourne: \wkter. With it in their hands it is amazing that British Ministers should have, considered it necessary to send Lord Kitchener out, at a day's notice, to survey the position himself. Of course Sir lan was always insisting that we were on the eve of getting through, and th,is certainty of his no doubt must have made considerable impression on ;the Home Cabinet. Monroe reported that he found the position of the troops "unique in history, possessing every possible military defect." That our boys managed to hang on as they did is shown by his report to be little short of marvellous. He found the forces " gravely unofficered," and stated that the " makeshift mingling of foot and mounted troops did not make for efficiency." In the reasons he gives for the imperative need for withdrawal he shatters one, at an rate, of our fondest illusions. We have always rejoiced that our comparatively small force was holding up an immense body of Turks. Quarter-of-a-million at least. Monroe gives, as his first reason for the withdrawal, that the Turks were only employing a small force to hold Gallipoli and were meanwhile prosecuting their designs on Egypt and Bagdad. He also states thata n advance on Constantinople was entirely out of the question, and concludes, by saying that our troops could be more usefully employed elsewhere. Another illusion which has been most carefully fostered by almost every report which has been allowed to come through about the evacuation was that the i Turkish statement that immense booty had been left behind when we departed was the usual Turkish lie. We were told, indeed, that at the most a few tons of provisions had to be abandoned, but even these were destroyed by fire. Monroe says that the quantities of stores destroyed and abandoned were " considerable," No one minds that, of oourse, for stores are nothing compared to lives, and the marvellous evacuation was carried'out without any casualty. But what one does object to is finding that our hearty slanging of the Turks for not speaking the truth should have been aimed elsewhere !