The Dardanelles

This volume is one of a series entitled Campaigns and their Lessons. The author, C.E.Calwell (1859-1928) had retired as a colonel five years before the outbreak of war. He was recalled, promoted to Temp Major-General and appointed Director of Military Operations (DMO) in place of Henry Wilson; he held the post till the end of 1915 and was then sent on liaison missions to Russia. He was a well-known military historian, author of several books including the biographies of Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson and Lieutenant-General Sir Stanley Maude. The author points out that he is not setting out to furnish a history of the campaign but his principle concern is to study the broad strategical aspects of it and certain of the tactics employed that throw light on the art of conducting amphibious warfare. Thus, the naval attempt to force the straits without military cooperation is treated in some detail. Likewise, the famous landing on the Peninsula on 25th April 1915 is dealt with fairly exhaustively, as is the successful evacuation. Some of the principal battles, battles that involved furious fighting causing heavy losses on both sides, are only touched on briefly because there are no special lessons to be learned. In fact this work is designed to be a study of certain phases of the campaign, not a formal history, and comments and deductions are scattered about in the text.