The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1916-01-13
BRITISH ABANDON
COSTLY STRUGGLE
TO WIN GALL|POu
London Reports Loss Of 0nh
One Man, But Turks Claim
to Have Sunk Fleeing
Transport.
ENDS DISASTROUS EFFORT
Turks Definitely Conceded Vic,
tory on Peninsula - Allies
Lost More Than 114,O00
Men, Reports Show.
ENDS DISASTROUS EFFORT

London. Jan. 1.-THE last of III,
British troops have been withdraw
from Gallipoli, the army occupyinI
Seddul Bahr, on the tip of the PENN
sula. having been taken aboard trans
ports last week. according to an Of,
fetal announcement.
Although General Monro reports tn,
troops were withdrawn with loss OF but
one man and II cannon, which wer,
destroyed. the Turks report that on,
| or the allies transports, filled with
troops, was sunk. This information i
conveyed from several sources. n,
French suffered no loss.
The move was not unexpected
since the British were recently with
drawn from the Suvla bay and Anzae
| regions. and left no strategic advan
tage in holding the tip OF the PENN
| sula.
Thus ends the greatest disaster an,
nation has suffered in the war
Praise Bravery Of Troops.
The London morning papers CON-
nnent with satisfaction and relief on
the successful withdrawal OF troops
from Gallipoh They consider. despit,
General Monro's generous tribute n
Generals Birdwood and Davies, that
credit for the remarkable double re-
tirement should be attributed to Gen.
eral Monro himself. The Times SAYS
| editorially:
Twice within a few weeks, General
Monro has managed to remove his
| men and guns under the eyes of the
Turks and their German officers. We
doubt IL a precedent for such an
achievement can be found in the an.
nails Of war.
| The extraordinary freedom from
casualties at Helles is explainabIe 10
some extent by the fact that. unlike
Anzac ana Suvla, 1t gave us one
| beach sheltered from the enerry's fire
But neither operation would have been
possible with any but the boIdest and
| steadiest troops. The government may
De congratulated on the prompt de-
clsion or the complete evacuation Of
| the peninsula"
With the withdrawal OF the British
ana French forces from the southern
tip Of the Gallipoli peninsula after the
evacuation of the AnZac cove and Suv-
/ la bay positions upon the western
coast in the middle of December, there
has come to an end a movement that
was begun with expectations that il
would nave great bearing In outcome
, OF the war.
Costly to the Allies.
thousands upon thousands OF men
| lost their lives in effecting landings on
the Turkish coast and in the fighting
since. In addition a number of battle
tente allies have been sunk or dam
| aged.
The chief military purpose OF the
Dardauelles campaign, which was be-
gun in February, 1915, with the BON
bardment Of Turkish forts at the en-
trance to the straits. was the capture
or Constantinople and the opening Of
the Bosphorus which connects the
| Mediterrane&S with the Black sea- so
that Russians might have an avenue
| for the receipt Of arms and ammunition
and also for the expectation Of Russian
grain. For England success meant the
prevention of another Turkish invasion
OF Egypt and the permanent safety OF
the Suez canal and England's commun-
ications with India.
In October after the successful in
vasion Of Serbia by the Teutons and
the Bulgars. and the reports that Ger
man ammunition was on its way to
Turkey a storm Of bitter criticism OF
the governments Dardanelles cam
paign broke loose in England. Sir Ed
ward Carson, attorney general, re-
signed from the cabinet because of a
disagreement over the campaign, It
was said, and Winston Churchill first
lord OF the admiralty, the principal
target Of attack also resigned. There
also was a complete reorganization OF
the French cabinet which was general
~ attributed to the Balkan situation
BIunder After BIunder.
The sending of the fleet to force the
Dardanelles, without the cooperation
of the land forces was generally con
| coded the big initial blunder of the
campaign. The inadequacy of the land
forces when they were sent. was crit
ciZed as another.
The campaign was marked by three
major operations, one by the fleet
alone, and two by the land forces, as
sisted by the fleet. The net result was
| the conquest of the tip of the GaiiipoIt
peninsula for distance of three miles
and a narrow segment of its middle
western coast, about IL miles in length
and hardly a mile deep. .......
The first disaster came March I9,
when mines blew up the French battle
| ship Bouvet and the British battleshipS'
Irresistible and Ocean. while they were
attempting a dash for the Narrows,
| the Notifications of which they had
been bombarding for several weeks.
Several other vessels were damaged
at the same time and the fleet with
drew to the Aegean sea. On the same
day, 1t was announced that Admiral
Garden. the British commander, had
been replaced by Admiral De Robeck
| The admiral continued the lombard
/ ment with an occasional dash into the
| straits by the ships until April.
Land Attacks Futile.
Naval forces were landed, March "a,
| at Seddul BahT. the tip of the PENN
sula, but they were not strong enough
10 hold their positions, though they de-
fled the fortifications.
A troop landing came April 26, but
meantime, the British battleship Tr-
umph had been sunk and the subma-
rine E-15 went aground and fell victim
| to Turkish fire.
The first contingent of British troops,
under the command of Gen. Sir Ian
Hamilton, relatively small In number.
landed at Seddul Bahr, April 25. but
not without heavy losses. French TROOPS
landed on the Asiatic side, but they
stayed there only three days. The
French subsequently formed the left
wing of the British on Seddul Bahr.