GALLIPOLI.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 June 1920, Page 5

GALLIPOLI.

HAMILTON CRITICISED. JOURNALIST'S STRONG COMMENTS Mf X«l«2rapli.—l'resa Assn.—Cowrlghi London, June 14. Mr. Ashmead Bartlett, the war. correspondent, interviewed, said Sir lan Hamilton's diary threw no new light on the Uallipoli campaign, hut a flood of illumination on the character of the commander. The diary was an effort to throw the blame on Lord Kitchener, the other leaders, and the quality of the reinfoalcing forces. He declared that the main responsibility for the French troop,",' failure was Sir lan Hamilton's faulty dispositions in every light and his utter inability to appreciate the true strategical position. Sir lan Hamilton's operations, consisted of placing division after division on contracted beaches and initiating ad* vances over unknown ground to storm postions the like of which had never been faced in modern warfare. He frittered awav the army in a series of badly conceived abortive attacks from the first landing, whicE never had the smallest chance of success. Lack of confidence in the higher commands produced the deplorable demoralisation gf August, 1915. Only the old traditions of discipline held the remnant together.

He denied Sir lan Hamilton's veiled accusation that he supplied Mr. Keith Murdoch (the well-known journalist) with information. Mr. Murdoch collected information first hand. Only on the day of the departure Mr. Murdoch begged him to write something to allow the truth to become known to the responsible authorities in England, despite Sir lan Hamilton's efforts to conceal it. After consideration Ke wrote to the Prime Minister. After consideration he wrote to the Prime Minister a letter which was taken from Mr. Murdoch at Marseilles. Mr. Ashmead Bartlett added that Mr. Murdoch may have been technically guilty of showing an uncensored report, but was any patriotic man to allow a technicality to stand in the way of sav. ing thousands of His countrymen from a miserable end and the Empire from a grave disaster? He himself was accused of a similar offence, and were ho placed in the same poistion he would not hesitate to act in the same manner again.