Chapter 103 – Jayjay

The Sydney Morning Herald references from 5 August 1916 are as quoted and can be accessed via the National Library of Australia website:

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper

p. 4 – “HOUSE AND LAND FOR SALE…” (Advertisements)

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/1268207

p. 8 - “GALLIPOLI…” (Article on book “The Straits Impregnable”, by artillery gunner S. de Loghe)

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/1268211

p 10 – “CASUALTIES. – 37 MORE SOLDIERS KILLED. – 190th LIST.”

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/1268213

P. 12 – “CONSCRIPTION…”

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/1268215

p. 13 - “LONE PINE—ANNIVERSARY TOMORROW…”

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/1268216

Charles Bean concludes Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-18 , vol II with a clear description of Australian loyalty to the British Empire following the Gallipoli evacuation. Bean states that “Neither among the troops nor among the people was there a moment’s doubt as to their attitude towards the British Government and people. It was one of loyal partnership in an enterprise, and one of complete trust…Criticism of the British Government was sharply resented in Australia. The subsequent inquiry by a Royal Commission into the conduct of the campaign was not approved by general opinion…” (p. 910).

John Robertson describes in Anzac and Empire , how following pressure for a searching inquiry into the Dardanelles campaign, the British Government announced on 1 June 1916 that relevant documents would be laid before Parliament. After unsuccessfully attempting to back away from this commitment, British Prime Minister Asquith announced on 20 July formal inquiries into the Dardanelles and Mesopotamia campaigns (p. 227). The final report was signed by the commissioners on 4 December 1917 (p. 240), but not released to the public until mid-November 1919 (p. 242). Robertson states that the final report “was restrained and courteous in its criticisms of the ministers and commanders responsible for the disaster. Churchill could scarcely have hoped for kinder treatment.”

Les Carlyon states in Gallipoli , that “Australia, even though it now sensed Gallipoli had been mismanaged, didn’t want an inquiry; the Age and the Argus condemned it before it began. There was concern that the empire might be harmed if Kitchener and Churchill were seen to have blundered. Australia seemed to be saying that she didn’t mind making sacrifices for the empire, even though those directing the war in London weren’t too bright.” The findings are described as “polite and vague” (p. 531-532).

The British Prime Minister announced a Commission of Enquiry into the Dardanelles Campaign on 18 July 1916. Ref Robertson 227, Wikipedia.

The final report of the Commission of Enquiry was issued in 1919, and can be viewed at:

http://nla.gov.au/nla.aus-vn2035864

The Somme Offensive of 1916 is described in detail by Charles Bean in Official History of Australia in the War 1914-1914, Volume III – The Australian Imperial Force in France: 1916. The Australian War Memorial includes the following description of this volume:

“After the evacuation from the Gallipoli Peninsula at the end of 1915 the AIF returned to Egypt where it was reorganised into two corps, I and II Anzac. By mid-1916 both Corps had arrived on the Western Front where operations on the Somme were about to begin. In Volume III of the Official History, C.E.W. Bean describes the major Australian contribution to the Somme Campaign, destined to be its worst ordeal of the war.”

The above description and a full scan of the official history text can be viewed online at the following location:

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1416847