GALLIPOLI Vol 2. OFFICIAL HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR OTHER THEATRES

Originally conceived as a bold and imaginative surprise stroke to get around the stalemate of the trenches and attack Germany through the back door of her Turkish ally, the Gallipoli campaign became a byword for bungling incompetence as well as for the bravery and horrendous conditions endured by both sides. This second, concluding volume of the Official History tells the story from May 1915 down to the evacuation of the embattled peninsular. It tells of the subsidiary landings once it was clear that the element of surprise had been lost after the initial invasion, and of the stubborn refusal of the High Command to abandon an enterprise in which so much had been invested. Ironically, after the bungled conduct of the campaign, the evacuation itself was a flawless example of a textbook operation that took the Turks completely by surprise.