The Daily News. THURSDAY, MAY 20, 1920. THE GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGN.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 May 1920, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, MAY 20, 1920. THE GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGN.

The publication of the diary of Sir lan Hamilton, who was com-mander-in-chief of the Dardanelles expedition, while containing certain revelations manifestly intended to account for the failure of the campaign, in reality furnishes no new light on the operations which proved so disastrous to the Imperial forces engaged in that theatre of the war. Sir lan Hamilton has certainly succeeded in emphasising the force of the French proverb that "he who excuses himself, accuses himself." Without doubt it required a certain kind of courage on the part of Sir lan Hamilton to publish his diary during his lifetime, but it was just that kind of courage—ov rashness —which impelled him to undertake a most important, and difficult campaign with forces that he knew were so insufficient that failure must result unless a miracle happened. The miracle did not happen, with the result that the expedition proved one of the most unfortunate in the whole war. Had Lord Kitchener lived it is possible this diary would not have been published. It is matter for regret that he should be made to appear as exercising an irresistible influence over Sir lan Hamilton in the direction of undertaking the campaign under conditions that no prudent general would entertain, yet Kitchener distinctly warned Hamilton that it was useless to expect that the Allied forces on the west front would be | depleted in order to furnish an , | adequate army for the conquest ' of Gallipoli. The question is: Why did not Sir lan Hamilton ! resign rather than undertake such a forlorn hope? He chose, however, to enter on the campaign with tot-ally inadequate forces, and he must accept the fruits o? his rashness. It will be remem- ' bered that the expedition was undertaken to relieve Russia of the , menace of the powerful Turkish ; army, officered by Germans; and ' though it succeeded in occupying . the attention of the main part oi ! , tlie Turkish army, and thus re- i lieved Russia, the long series of i repulses and defeats inflicted 0.1 the Allied troops encouraged Bui- ! garia to enter the war, thus j causing a grave injury to the , Allied cause. The dominant idea i of the expedition may be regarded ' as a stroke of genius, but the , means employed were culpably in- 1 adequate. Sir lan Hamilton is i .entitled to credit for having made j a bold attempt at success, but , against that is the terrible sacrifice of life that should have been avoided by abandoning the cam'saian as soon as it was found to.

tie impossible of anything hut failure owing to the inadequacy of the forces at his command. It may be some satisfaction to Sir lan Hamilton to rail at "red tape," but the fact remains, by his own admission, that he decided to ignore his manifest duty to the Empire in not bringing this evil before Mr. Churchill, preferring to consult no one but Lord Kitchener. The outstanding fact is that by accepting the command of this extremely difficult and important operation, after being warned by Lord Kitchener that troops for the East would be regarded in England and France as stolen from the West, Sir lan Hamilton courted the disaster which he met subsequently. The whole matter was threshed out by the Dardanelles Commission, and one of the conclusions arrived at practically condemned the expedition being undertaken with such a limited provision of money and men. A perusal of the salient points of the cabled summary of the diary cannot fail to arouse painful feelings. Sir lan Hamilton's object is naturally to .put his case forward and to explain how and why he failed. An ex-parta statement of this kind has to be carefully dissected, and allowances made, not only for the personal element, but also for omissions. Already Mr. Keith Murdoch, the Australian war correspondent, has entered into the controversy, but his chief aim seems to be to magnify his own importance as having the confidence of not only the Australian Cabinet, but also the British. The incident shows into ,what a deplorable state of muddle the conduct of the war must have drifted under the Asquith Government when a, war correspondent had the power to sway its decisions. Whether Lord French will take up the parable or not remains to be seen, but no good purpose will be served io continuing the foolish jealousies and rivalries which form part of the revelations contained in the diary. To be of acceptable value the statements made by Hamilton must be fully corroborated by independent and reliable testimony. Admittedly the difficulties connected with the ill-starred adventure were far greater than was supposed. When Hamilton accepted the command he took his fate in both hands, and it is for the public to judge of his generalship by the facts of the case. There is little doubt as to the nature of the verdict of history. Had there been that unity of control of the Allied forces —which was so strongly opposed by the old red tape school, but which eventually won the war—it is quite possible the G-allipoli campaign would have been a brilliant success and the war ended a year or two earlier. As the case stands now it seriously reflects on all concerned, and the only satisfaction is that Gallipoli is now sacred British territory, and Turkey is at the mercy of the Allies.