Chapter 94 – John

John Monash’s letters to his wife Victoria are preserved in War Letters of General Monash . A note is included that the description of the evacuation from 12 December onwards was written in a diary form and sent subsequently as one letter. Some details include:

6 December – Monash describes a method used by his men of driving a tunnel out in a projecting spur until it nearly breaks through, but then breaks through in a tiny hole, enough to see through and push the muzzle of a machine gun through. From here the machine gunner would  wait and fire on a procession of Turks at 300 shots per minute and not miss many. Monash also describes the sequence of sending a listening patrol at night, then a fighting patrol the following night when the Turk’s routine was known. He states that losses  are low with a week passing without anyone being killed.

12 December – “Like a thunderbolt from a clear blue sky has come the stupendous and paralysing news that, after all, the Allied War Council has decided that the best and wisest course to take is to evacuate the Peninsula, and secret orders to carry out that operation have just reached here.” Delivery of stores, mails, reinforcements and munitions stopped. Loss of up to half the men was expected, but secrecy was to be maintained to reduce the losses, and the men told that they would be leaving for winter rest camps owing to the severe weather conditions. Monash was concerned what Australia would think, and anticipated a “howl of rage and disappointment from his men.”

13 December – the whole of the 15th Battalion was taken off this night.

In Damn the Dardanelles – The Story of Gallipoli , John Laffin states that Kitchen recommended evacuation in a report to the British Prime Minister around one week after his visit to Gallipoli (p. 159).

Details taken from Charles Bean’s Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-18 , vol II, include:

p. 839 – On return from Lemnos, the 4th Brigade began a system of twenty-two galleries through the hill for access and shelter.  A footnote refers to plate 140 in vol. XII with a photograph of the Cheshire Ridge hillside and tunnel entrances. [AWM photo ref G1242 does not appear to be accessible via AWM web page at time of writing.]

p. 796 – the political decision to abandon the Gallopoli Peninsula was made by the British and French.

p. 863 – On 8 December, Birdwood received a telegram from Kitchener advising that Cabinet had decided to evacuate Suvla and Anzac. At Anzac, Godley and White were the sole recipients of this telegram.

p. 880 – Secret instructions were given to divisional generals and brigadiers.