Transcriber’s Note
The cover image was created by SusanEhrlich from elements of the original publication and is placed in thepublic domain.
See endof this document for details of corrections and other changes.
GALLIPOLI DIARY
GALLIPOLI DIARY
BY
MAJOR JOHN GRAHAM GILLAM
D.S.O.
LONDON: GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN LTD.
RUSKIN HOUSE 40 MUSEUM STREET, W.C. 1
First published in 1918
(All rights reserved)
[5]
PREFACE
In the kind and courteous letter which you will read onp. 15 General Sir Aylmer Hunter-Weston says that it isnot possible for him to write a Preface to this book. Thatis my own and the reader’s great loss, for General Hunter-Weston,as is well known, commanded the 29th Divisionat the landing on the Gallipoli Peninsula on April 25, 1915,and during those early months of desperate fighting, untilto the universal regret of all who served under him hebecame one of the victims of the sickness that began toravage our ranks; and as one of the chief players of thegreat game that was there enacted, his comments wouldhave been of supreme interest and would have addedimmeasurably to such small value as there may be in thisDiary of one of the pawns in that same game. But sincethe player cannot, the pawn may perhaps be allowed tosay a few words by way of comment on and explanationof the following pages.
Towards the completion of the mobilization of the 29thDivision in the Leamington area in early 1915, I heardsecretly that the Division was bound for the Dardanellesat an early date, instead of for France as we had at firstexpected. By this I knew that in all probability theDivision was destined to play a most romantic part inthe Great War. I had visions of trekking up the GallipoliPeninsula with the Navy bombarding a way for us upthe Straits and along the coast-line of the Sea of Marmora,[6]until after a brief campaign we entered triumphantlyConstantinople, there to meet the Russian Army, whichwould link up with ourselves to form part of a great chainencircling and throttling the Central Empires. I sailedfrom England on March 20, 1915, firmly convinced th