In an attempt to secure success in theaters other than the Western front, the Dardanelles Expedition was conceived, backed principally by Winston Churchill, First Lord of the British Admiralty. The idea was given impetus by a request from Russia that some action be taken against Turkey, who was moving against Russia in the Caucasus. With the development of the scheme, and its execution, this study will not deal in detail. Its development was marked by lack of cooperation and purpose. Its execution involved both naval action against land defenses, and military landing operations supported by naval forces.
Joe
http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/cgi-bin/showfile.e...ilename=500.pdf

Suggest one reads Robin Prior's Gallipoli;The End of the Myth.

Churchill was one "culprit" among many.Hankey pressed for the venture,Lloyd George wanted a Balkan campaign(use other people's armies,resources),Fisher wanted a diversion from committing the RN to a Baltic venture.The ultimate blame lies with Asquith,too business writing letters to his mistress at council,cabinet meetings etc,not involved 100% in war making.

Prior claims the campaign,if even successful,would never have shortened the war.

Some further myths demolished:

Sari Bair
"Had we taken Sari Bair we should still have been faced with an advance of some six miles across this type of country before we could have secured positions dominating the Straits.The Sari Bair mountain was in no way a 'key' to the Peninsula.."


Stopford at Suvla
"...the terrain at Suvla forced eccentric advances which could not have supported,in any direct sense,the main attack on Sari Bair..a glance of the map shows that any force advancing from Anafarta was also increasing its distance from the real objectives of the campaign--Maidos,the Kilid Bahr Plateau and the Narrows..the Suvla Bay operation was undertaken [only] to establish a supply base for all forces on the Peninsula north of Helles and in this it was successful..."

Stopford was made a "scapegoat" for the failure of the August Offensive.." Aspinall and Hamilton wanted to cover the resulting fiasco resulting from their plan.Birdwood wanted "to divert attention away from the considerable defects from his own plan.." Winston Churchill was "still eager to show that the whole campaign turned on the inaction of commanders like Stopford.."

Thanks Joe.
"All sources were obtained from the Library, C. & G. S School, Port Leaven*orth, Kansas".
Leavenworth (Fort) is or was the main US Military (Internal) detention base. With access to a library like that a couple of years in the slammer could be quite acceptable.

A recent book maintains that Beersheba never received due recognition because it occurred in the shadow of the defeat at Gallipoli. I cannot accept that Gallipoli was a defeat, much less an unmitigated disaster. As soon as 'we' went home Bulgaria joined the opposition and Serbia was crushed. The Turks and others had been tied up during a crucial stage of proceedings

Thanks Peter and Armidale for the comments,glad you liked the subject. Much appreciated.
Regards to both.
Joe