Chapter 30 – Ellis

Many of the details included in this chapter are taken from Uncensored Dardanelles , by Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett. This book was published in 1928 and includes day-by-day diary style details from his own experiences, as well as some post analysis of events. The events of 25 March to 2 April 1915 and associated background are covered on pages 23-28. Too many details have been included to repeat them all here, but some of the key details included from this source include:

Lord Kitchener opposed war correspondents having free access to war fronts, but Winston Churchill, as a former war correspondent himself, gained permission for them to participate in the Dardanelles expedition.

Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett was selected along with Lester Lawrence, the two travelled to Malta, via Rome where Ellis met the Turkish Prince Djemil Tossoun and then the Military Attache and First Secretary of the Turkish Embassy. Through these Turkish connections, Ashmead-Bartlett gained access to the Turkish perspective and intelligence that does not appear to have been known by those in command of the Dardanelles expedition. The Turkish representatives were not in favour of the “Young Turks” leading the Committee of Union and Progress that controlled the Turkish Government. After reading the official Turkish account, Ashmead-Bartlett concluded that “…we had underestimated  our task, and that the attack of  March 18th never stood any chance of succeeding.”

While waiting in Rome for a connection to Malta, Ashmead-Bartlett visited the horse races and observed the human perspectives on the war. He reflected that this was his first visit to Italy since breaking the “Massacre in the Oasis” story in 1911, and that his name was still unpopular amongst the Italians.

At Malta, Ashmead-Bartlett met with Brisish Admiral Limpus, the Senior Naval Officer in the Mediterranean Sea and former head of the Naval Mission in Turkey for some years, sent to train the Turks at their request. The admiral advised that it was not considered etiquette to send him against his former pupils, that the naval attack of 18 March should not have been made as the forts and defences were far too strong, and that he was extremely sceptical about the prospects of the expedition.

Admiral Limpus arranged for Ashmead-Bartlett and Lester Lawrence to sail on the Sunik to join the expedition. The oil tank steamer carrying 6000 tons of water from Liverpool and the two war correspondents left Malta for Mudros on at 4:00pm on 2 April 1915.

Ashmead-Bartlett describes the feeling of at last being launched on a great adventure as they sailed out of Malta Harbour.

Fred and Elizabeth Brenchley have written a biography, Mythmaker, Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett – The Englishman Who Sparked Australia’s Gallipoli Legend , some details included:

A detailed account of Ashmead-Bartlett’s role in witnessing and reporting on the Tripoli massacre events of 1911 (p. 34-37). The Brenchleys state that at this time (1911) “Once again, aspiring colonial power conflicts came to his rescue” from his “acute” financial situation, and that he had become reliant on gambling winnings and borrowing.

In 1906, Ashmead-Bartlett told his beloved Lady Gwendoline Bertie that he loved her and almost proposed to her (p. 22). Lady Gwendoline later became engaged to Jack Churchill, younger brother of Winston (p. 25), leaving Ashmead Bartlett in a state of despair.

Kevin Fewster, in his article Ellis Ashmead Bartlett and the Making of the Anzac Legend , ( Journal of Australian Studies, volume 6, 1982 – Issue 10, pp. 17-30 ), Fewster states that “On 30 December 1914 Bartett had been declared bankrupt, with debts of £4,476. His financial embarrassment would appear to be the key to explaining his actions over the next eighteen months. Even though he disliked Gallipoli from the outset he remained there six months, possibly because the job carried a salary of £2,000.”

In 1913, Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett published a book With the Turks in Thrace , as a record of his time spent with the Turkish Army in Thrace during the Balkan revolt of 1912. In this account, Ashmead-Bartlett concludes: ‘The future of the Turk lies in Asia. Let him return to the land of his fathers and develop those matchless resources which constant wars and preoccupations in Europe have caused him to neglect.’ (p. 326)