Gallipoli
As he continued to advance, he was killed. His last words before his death were, reputedly " Dont bother ducking, the men don't like it and it doesn't do any good . . " Longford's body was never recovered. His grave is marked as a special memorial in Green Hill Cemetary in Suvla.
Lord Longford, killed leading his men in and charge.Right, Green Hill Cemetary, Suvla.
The failure of the attacks on Scimitar Hill and Hill 60 signalled the end of the Allies' Gallipoli offensive. The day of crisis in this ill-fated campaign had been the 15th August at Suvla. General Liman von Sanders, the German commander of the Turkish Fifth Army, saw it as such, writing later in his memoir: ' If, on August the 15th and 16th, the British had taken the Kiretch Tepe they would have outflanked the entire Fifth Army and final success might have fallen to them. ' That is, had Genral Mahon's 10th ( Irish ) Division remained together at Suvla on the 7th, this might have happened. Moreover, General Hamilton chose 15th August to change his senior command, a sorry tale that concerns Mahon. Hamilton relieved General Stopford of IX Corps, along with General Hammersley of 11th Division and Brigadier General W.H Sitwell, sending them home. We have seen how Mahon was asked to waive his seniority and serve under de Lisle who was junior to him in rank Mahon refused, resigned and was sent to Lemnos to think things over, accused of putting his own dignity above his duty to his fighting soldiers. Mahon seething with rage and suffering from the strain of a terrible week on the Kiretch Tepe Sirt, left Suvla while his brave Irishmen were locked in desperate battle on the craggy and exposed ridge. Mahon hated de Lisle and made it clear that he would have willingly served under anyone else; after a few days' reflection, he colled off and returned to command his severely mauled division. Lord Granard, commander of the 10th's 5th Royal Irish Regiment, told a different story.
Lord Granard in the trenches at Gallipoli
He claimed Mahon was also sacked at the same time as Stopford and that, for political reasons, Kitchener intervened to restore Mahon to his command. Bearing in mind that Kitchener was also an Irishman. Mahon, not wishing to to serve under de Lisle, then resigned, but changed his mind. Mahon undoubtedly retained his command because his dismissal would have caused adverse reaction in Ireland, connected as he was with the very first Irish Division and a popular figure there. Many in the 10th thought that Mahon had been unfairly treated and Lord Granard himself considered resigning in his support.
Another theory concerning Mahon's treatment was that during the Boer War he had become a hero in the relief of Mafeking, while Hamilton had been highly criticised by Kitchener for a failure at Oliphant's Nek, and was only saved by another Irishman, General Roberts. Mahon was not made welcome in Gallipoli, and it could have been a reason why the 10th ( Irish ) Division had been so broken up and its battalions scattered. The treatment of the Division and the heavy casualties it suffered at the hands of terrible leadership certainly had far reaching political repercussions as recruiting in Ireland dropped.
One thing is for certain. Little recognition by the military authorities of the 10th ( Irish ) Division's bravery and sacrifice was evident considering the suffering and slaughter they had experienced and in particular the Irish Regulars in the 29th Division.
A final trial for these Irish soldiers was the tremendous Great Flood and Blizzard, an ice-storm that swept over the Gallipoli peninsula at the end of November 1915 in a succession of gales, dropping temperatures and floods, where men drowned in trenches tha suddenly became raging torrents. Suffering greatly were those regulars in the 29th Division, 1st Munsters, 1st Dublins and 1st Inniskillings; the 10th ( Irish ) Division had left for Salonika in September. The storm inflicted 5,000 casualties in the Suvla area alone.
Men lay dead from exposure including Private Bulger DCM, a veteran of the South African War, who was a magnificent shot. Tragic indeed were the circumstances where men had survived the bitter fighting, fought aginst thirst and the heat, then to die from the cold.
Another theory concerning Mahon's treatment was that during the Boer War he had become a hero in the relief of Mafeking, while Hamilton had been highly criticised by Kitchener for a failure at Oliphant's Nek, and was only saved by another Irishman, General Roberts. Mahon was not made welcome in Gallipoli, and it could have been a reason why the 10th ( Irish ) Division had been so broken up and its battalions scattered. The treatment of the Division and the heavy casualties it suffered at the hands of terrible leadership certainly had far reaching political repercussions as recruiting in Ireland dropped.
One thing is for certain. Little recognition by the military authorities of the 10th ( Irish ) Division's bravery and sacrifice was evident considering the suffering and slaughter they had experienced and in particular the Irish Regulars in the 29th Division.
A final trial for these Irish soldiers was the tremendous Great Flood and Blizzard, an ice-storm that swept over the Gallipoli peninsula at the end of November 1915 in a succession of gales, dropping temperatures and floods, where men drowned in trenches tha suddenly became raging torrents. Suffering greatly were those regulars in the 29th Division, 1st Munsters, 1st Dublins and 1st Inniskillings; the 10th ( Irish ) Division had left for Salonika in September. The storm inflicted 5,000 casualties in the Suvla area alone.
Men lay dead from exposure including Private Bulger DCM, a veteran of the South African War, who was a magnificent shot. Tragic indeed were the circumstances where men had survived the bitter fighting, fought aginst thirst and the heat, then to die from the cold.
Evacuation of the Peninsula
Even before this disaster occurred Kitchener arrived in the peninsula to assess the Gallipoli situation for himself and appalled at the conditions, gave assent for the army to evacuate. Following the failure of the August Offensive, the Gallipoli campaign entered a hiatus while the future direction was debated. The persistent lack of progress was finally making an impression in the United Kingdom as contrasting news of the true nature of the campaign was smuggled out by journalists like Keith Murdoch and Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett discrediting Hamilton's performance. Disaffected senior officers such as General Stopford also contributed to the general air of gloom. The prospect of evacuation was raised on 11th October 1915 but Hamilton resisted the suggestion, fearing the damage to British prestige. He was dismissed as commander shortly afterwards and replaced by Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Monro.
The situation was complicated by the entry of Bulgaria into the war on the side of the Central Powers. On the 5th October 1915 the British opened a second Mediterranean front at Salonika, another campaign the Irish would play a part in. This front would compete for reinforcements with Galliploi. Also Germany would have a direct land route to Turkey, enabling it to supply heavy siege artillery which would devastate the Allied trench network, especially on the confined front at Anzac.
The situation was complicated by the entry of Bulgaria into the war on the side of the Central Powers. On the 5th October 1915 the British opened a second Mediterranean front at Salonika, another campaign the Irish would play a part in. This front would compete for reinforcements with Galliploi. Also Germany would have a direct land route to Turkey, enabling it to supply heavy siege artillery which would devastate the Allied trench network, especially on the confined front at Anzac.
