The subjoined narratives, official and semi-official, show
clearly the formidable nature of the Allies' land
undertaking in the attempt to force the passage of the
Dardanelles. It will be noted that Compton Mackenzie, the
novelist, has temporarily replaced E. Ashmead-Bartlett as
the British press "eyewitness" on the peninsula, and that
General Sir Ian Hamilton's reports have for the first time
begun to appear. A notable sketch of his career appears in
the Atlantic Monthly for July by the pen of Alfred G.
Gardiner. A poet and a man of romantic ancestry and taste,
experienced in commands in India, in Egypt, and in South
Africa, General Hamilton was called by the late Lord Roberts
the ablest commander in the field. For his qualities of
daring and inspiration, as well as for his coolness in
directing the complex movements of the battlefield, he was
chosen for this most dangerous and bloody of enterprises
against the German-officered Turks.[4]
Mr. Mackenzie estimates the losses of the Turks up to June
30 at not less than 70,000. Prime Minister Asquith in the
House of Commons, on July 1, announced that the British
naval and military losses up to May 31 aggregated 38,635
officers and men. Yet the great fortress of Achi Baba, by
that time one of the most powerful in the world, was untaken
up to July 20, and the French and British Allies held but a
small corner of the area to be conquered.
[Footnote 4: His first report, covering the actions from March 13,
when he left London, to May 20, is here omitted because other official
reports covering the same period were printed in the June and July
numbers of CURRENT HISTORY.]