The Lone Pine cemetery at Gallipoli. Image courtesy of Esther Lee on Flickr.
The Gallipoli campaign of 1915 was flawed from the start, destined for failure and should not be a story solely about the ANZACs, according to war historian Dr Rhys Crawley. In his book, Climax at Gallipoli , Dr Crawley from the ANU Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, attempts to correct the historical record surrounding Gallipoli and the ANZAC legend. Dr Crawley said Gallipoli was never going to be the decisive military operation that Australian national identity and history have made it out to be. And nor was it solely an ANZAC sacrifice. "Gallipoli has gone down in history as something that was on the brink of succeeding," said Dr Crawley. "Victory was assured, the story goes, 'if only' the Allies had pushed a little harder, or had been the recipients of some simple good luck. "But when we take a step back, and view it as a case study in the how and why of 1915 warfare, we see a very different picture.
TO READ THIS ARTICLE, CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT
And extend your reading, free of charge and with no commitment.
