The Dardanelles

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXX, Issue 7, 11 April 1916, Page 5

The Dardanelles

' EVACUATION OF GALLIPOLI. I I 3 1 GENERAL MONRO’S REPORT. I i j 1 United Pans* .musoauiio- ; London, April 10. j General Monro’s despatch, dealing with the evacuation of Gallipoli, details:— General Monro was instructed, on 1 20th of October to report on the military situation and advise whether, there should he evacuation, or whether to persevere; also on the number of troops required to carry the peninsula and take Constantinople. General Monro reported that he found the position of the troops unique in history, possessing every possible military defect, and being completely subjected to Turkish artillery fire. The position was without depth, and communication was insecure, depending entirely on the weather. There were no means of concealing or deploying fresh troops for an offensive, and, further, the Turks possessed full powers of observation and had supplemented the natural advantages of their position by all the devices of the field engineer. I General Monro found the troops suffering from various causes and j strain from continuous exposure to | shell fire, from which it was imposj sible to withdraw them, because every I corner of the peninsula was exposed ito hostile fire. They were also much j enervated by the epidemic of summer 1 disease,' and were gravely under-of-ficered owing to losses in the earlier , battles. There was also a makeshift ! mingling of foot and mounted men necessary for holding the front, and this did not tend to efficiency.

Other irrefutable arguments convinced him that a complete evacuation was the only course. The Turks were able to hold Gallipoli with a small force and prosecute their designs on Egypt and Bagdad; also, a British advance from their present position was improbable, while an advance on Constantinople was quite out of the question, and the troops could be more usefully employed elsewhere.

PRAISE 'FOR GENERAL BIRD* t WOOD. v . ■■''! '■ i/‘' 1 r.' General Monro assumed supreme command of the Mediterranean army, appointing General Birdwood to the command at the Dardanelles, and ordered the evacuation on December b. : v; General Birdwood proceeded with this with the skill and promptitude that is characteristic of all he undertakes. It had been previously decided that to make a feint attack, which text-books regarded as essential to an evacuation, would be worse l than useless, and would certainly arouse Turkish suspicions, and so General Monro decided that normal life on land and sea should proceed as long as possible. The despatch deals briefly with Anzac and Suvla, and gives several fresh facts about Cape Helles. If mentions that the evacuation was retarded by the loss *)f a large horse-ship that was accidentally sunk by a French battleship. Everything depended, rather, upon when all was ready. On the night of January 8 a storm unexpectedly worked up, washing away the piers. A " submarine was reported that evening to be quitting the straits, and the battleship Bn nee George, with two thousand men on board, sailing towards Mudros, was torpedoed at midnight, but the torpedo did not explode. The expedition left five hundred animals at Cape Hellos, and most of these were dstroyed at the last moment.

THE ABANDONED STORES.

(Received 8.40 a.m.) London, April 10. General Monro recognises that the ) quantities of stove; destroyed and .abandoned were considerable, but the great aim was to save men, guns, and ammunition. They could not fake the risks in these if the evacuation wore to be completed. It demanded good luck and skilled organisation, and these were forthcoming in a marked degree in the hour of need from General Bird wood and the corps commander, who made arrangements which I could not he surpassed for skill, com- : petence, and courage. DEATHS FROM EXPOSURE. General Monro mentions that as the result of the rain and blizzard on November 21 there were two hundred , deaths from exposure and ton thousand sick were evacuated, cldofiy tiom i Suvla. DISTINGUISHED CONDUCT LIST. ! j General Monro will shortly fu nish a distinguished conduct list. His despatch covers the Serbian expedition to the withdrawal to Salonika, ami I shows that the 10th Division from Suvla was sent to support the French. When the French effort to link up with the Serbians failed, their withdrawal was ordered in accordance with previous arrangements by the Allied Governments.