Of course Gallipoli was the fault of the British -

sending men into a perfect shooting zone where only a few Turks could see & fire upon them mercilessly.

It was an ambush & the soldiers were sitting ducks.

NorthOfNorth wrote on Apr 26^th, 2014 at 8:13am:



Yes - the only way to land in Gallipoli was to send in commandos
in the night to take out all the well entrenched Turkish firing positions overlooking the beaches first.

If that was not successful then the landings should have been called off.

Stupid POMs - sending our men into a shooting gallery.

Bobby. wrote on Apr 26^th, 2014 at 8:17am:


Correct!

But let's introduce a little perspective here regarding the 'Poms'.

Australians and New Zealanders will this week remember the sacrifice and courage of their forebears at Gallipoli 90 years ago, but few will realise that far more British soldiers died in the ill-fated campaign.

While British generals get the blame for sending innocent Australians to their deaths at Gallipoli, more than 21,000 of their own soldiers died and another 198,000 were wounded.

A total of 8,709 Australians died and 2,707 New Zealanders gave up their lives in the campaign which successive generations of Australians and New Zealanders grew up believing they were the only ones there.

While the Anzacs were landing at Ari Burnu on April 25, 1915, British forces were wading ashore under intense fire on six beaches at the southern tip of the Gallipoli peninsula at Helles.

The Helles landings were every bit as fatal and futile as what the Australians experienced 20 kilometres to the north.

Turkish documentary maker Tolga Ornek's film Gallipoli premiered this month portraying a view of the campaign from Australian, New Zealand, British and Turkish eyes.

"The British high command is worthy of almost every blame. The government, the politicians, the generals," Ornek said.

"But the (British) soldiers I think deserve as much respect as the Anzacs and the Turks.

"The irony is that among all the allied troops, the highest casualties were the British and everywhere in the world, people think the Anzac casualties were the worst, including the Turks."

link

Bobby ~ always seek to find the truth behind what the propagandists would have you believe. 

A lot of the anti-Pommy sentiment so beloved of Australians since those times grew out of the propagandised myth that the English were safely tucked up in their beds while the Aussies were getting slaughtered on the cliffs of Gallipoli.

Lord Herbert wrote on Apr 26^th, 2014 at 8:58am:

And its greatest legacy, the continuing commemoration of the ANZAC legend at Gallipoli, by both the victorious and the vanquished, is a testament to the good will between former enemies that is unequaled anywhere in the world. Its endurance prophetically given voice by the great Ataturk himself :


Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side now here in this country of ours... you, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.

Quote:



They were poor soldiers who were sacrificed on a ridiculous mission.

Bobby. wrote on Apr 26^th, 2014 at 9:26am:


t wasn't the first and wasn't the last.  Nor will it be the last.  War is neither glorious nor noble. Alas, it sometimes becomes necessary just the same.

Bobby. wrote on Apr 26^th, 2014 at 9:37am:



FIRST GRAVE: It will make our heap of stones for ever England, apparently.
SECOND GRAVE: It can scarcely do that to my portion of it. I was a Turk.
FIRST GRAVE: What! A Turk! You a Turk? And I have lain beside you for seven years and never known!
SECOND GRAVE: How should you have known? What is there to know except that I am your brother?
FIRST GRAVE: I am yours...
SECOND GRAVE: All is dead except that . All graves are one. It is their unity that sanctifies them, and some day even the living will learn this.
FIRST GRAVE: Ah, but why can they not learn it while they are still alive?

http://www.daclarke.org/oped/Forster.html

NorthOfNorth wrote on Apr 26^th, 2014 at 9:32am:


You got that out of a Fortune Cookie or a Christmas cracker, didn't you?

Cheap and superficial.

WW1 and WW2 were fought to put would-be tyrants back in their box, and to restore the independence of sovereign nations, and to preserve the democratic freedoms enjoyed by millions of people.

War is the only way to defeat imperialist dictatorships.

(I'm putting you in the Naughty Corner, helian, until you make a sincere apology, and convince me that you are tearfully remorseful for having blurted out that ill-conceived utterance).