The Gallipoli Letter Read Online Free
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Well, said the amateur strategists in London, let the forts be attacked from behind, over the land, and with that what had first been conceived as a naval action now became a matter for soldiers. The troops would now be required to overrun the forts so the warships could sail through the Narrows. But landing troops on enemy-held positions from the sea has rarely been attempted in military history and is about the hardest thing an army could be asked to do. Either London was ignorant of this, or they greatly underestimated the capacity and tenacity of the Turkish soldiers and their commanders.
The landing on the Gallipoli peninsula was a dangerous undertaking, even a foolhardy one. And still government ministers in Australia were almost completely in the dark with regard to this campaign. There had been no consultation whatsoever about the crucial decisions made in London in March and April 1915. No cables were sent explaining what would be attempted. No authorisation was sought from Australia or New Zealand for the use of troops. No justification was provided for the need for troops in support of a naval action.
So anxious was Andrew Fisher about this lack of consultation that in April 1915 he despatched the man who had been the first Australian Labor prime minister, John Christian (âChrisâ) Watson, to London to report back on the operations at the Dardanelles. Watson briefed Fisher in person in August 1915. Soon after the landing, though, the Australian newspapers had been filled not only with stories of the landing and the fighting at Gallipoli but also with the casualty lists that now continued, thick and fast. At first newspapers attempted to publish a photograph and a pen portrait of each Australian killed on the peninsula, but it soon became apparent that the numbers of the dead would allow newspapers to list no more than the name and unit of each man killed. Australian relatives at home were in for an anxious time. And so was Andrew Fisher who felt personally responsible for the fate of the troops that Australia had so promptly and so generously sent to the war.
PLATE 3 Australian troops marching across Pluggeâs Plateau after landing on 25 April. Men in front are seen kneeling in the scrub. The troops were under fire from the other side of Shrapnel Valley. This scene is from a Turkish trench overlooking the Anzac Cove beach. AWM Neg. No. G00907
Soon impassioned patriots cried for more men to be recruited and trained to take the places of those killed and wounded at the front. Australia now learned to accept recruiting rallies as a part of life in wartime, learned to endure these emotional appeals for men and more men. Two of Keith Murdochâs younger brothers would enlist, Ivon in 1915 and Alan in 1916. They would serve with distinction: Ivon was awarded the Military Cross and Bar, Alan the Military Cross. Both survived the war.
Stories of Gallipoli were everywhere. Any unmarried Australian male in the right age group in 1915 would have given close thought to whether or not he should go to the war. Keith Murdochâs own home values and his love of country would likely have urged him to enlist. He had left the Age in 1912 to become the Melbourne political correspondent for the Sydney evening paper, the Sun . Now the Sun âs proprietor, Hugh Denison, offered Murdoch a transfer to London to be managing editor of the United Cable Service, which was supplying Australian newspapers with cable news. This was an appointment of real significance as so much of the news now affecting Australia was either London-based or London-sourced. Yet Murdoch agonised over the appointment. Should he go to London or should he join the tens of thousands of Australians who were now streaming into the army? In Victoria alone in July 1915 21,698 men enlisted. It would not have been easy to stand apart from this rush to the recruiting sergeant.
In June 1915 Murdoch wrote to Andrew Fisher seeking advice: âI
Well, said the amateur strategists in London, let the forts be attacked from behind, over the land, and with that what had first been conceived as a naval action now became a matter for soldiers. The troops would now be required to overrun the forts so the warships could sail through the Narrows. But landing troops on enemy-held positions from the sea has rarely been attempted in military history and is about the hardest thing an army could be asked to do. Either London was ignorant of this, or they greatly underestimated the capacity and tenacity of the Turkish soldiers and their commanders.
The landing on the Gallipoli peninsula was a dangerous undertaking, even a foolhardy one. And still government ministers in Australia were almost completely in the dark with regard to this campaign. There had been no consultation whatsoever about the crucial decisions made in London in March and April 1915. No cables were sent explaining what would be attempted. No authorisation was sought from Australia or New Zealand for the use of troops. No justification was provided for the need for troops in support of a naval action.
So anxious was Andrew Fisher about this lack of consultation that in April 1915 he despatched the man who had been the first Australian Labor prime minister, John Christian (âChrisâ) Watson, to London to report back on the operations at the Dardanelles. Watson briefed Fisher in person in August 1915. Soon after the landing, though, the Australian newspapers had been filled not only with stories of the landing and the fighting at Gallipoli but also with the casualty lists that now continued, thick and fast. At first newspapers attempted to publish a photograph and a pen portrait of each Australian killed on the peninsula, but it soon became apparent that the numbers of the dead would allow newspapers to list no more than the name and unit of each man killed. Australian relatives at home were in for an anxious time. And so was Andrew Fisher who felt personally responsible for the fate of the troops that Australia had so promptly and so generously sent to the war.
PLATE 3 Australian troops marching across Pluggeâs Plateau after landing on 25 April. Men in front are seen kneeling in the scrub. The troops were under fire from the other side of Shrapnel Valley. This scene is from a Turkish trench overlooking the Anzac Cove beach. AWM Neg. No. G00907
Soon impassioned patriots cried for more men to be recruited and trained to take the places of those killed and wounded at the front. Australia now learned to accept recruiting rallies as a part of life in wartime, learned to endure these emotional appeals for men and more men. Two of Keith Murdochâs younger brothers would enlist, Ivon in 1915 and Alan in 1916. They would serve with distinction: Ivon was awarded the Military Cross and Bar, Alan the Military Cross. Both survived the war.
Stories of Gallipoli were everywhere. Any unmarried Australian male in the right age group in 1915 would have given close thought to whether or not he should go to the war. Keith Murdochâs own home values and his love of country would likely have urged him to enlist. He had left the Age in 1912 to become the Melbourne political correspondent for the Sydney evening paper, the Sun . Now the Sun âs proprietor, Hugh Denison, offered Murdoch a transfer to London to be managing editor of the United Cable Service, which was supplying Australian newspapers with cable news. This was an appointment of real significance as so much of the news now affecting Australia was either London-based or London-sourced. Yet Murdoch agonised over the appointment. Should he go to London or should he join the tens of thousands of Australians who were now streaming into the army? In Victoria alone in July 1915 21,698 men enlisted. It would not have been easy to stand apart from this rush to the recruiting sergeant.
In June 1915 Murdoch wrote to Andrew Fisher seeking advice: âI
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