Suvla (ePub)
August Offensive
Imprint: Pen & Sword Military
Series: Battleground: WWI
File Size: 65.3 MB (.epub)
Pages: 250
Illustrations: 120 B & W photos
ISBN: 9781783830527
Published: 5th September 2011
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The landing at Suvla Bay, part of the August Offensive, commenced on the night of 6 August 1915. It was intended to support a breakout from Anzac Beach. Despite early hopes from a largely unopposed landing, Suvla was a mismanaged affair that quickly became a stalemate.
The newly formed IX Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Stopford, failed, not for lack of sacrifice of its New Army and Territorial's, but for failure of generalship. Opportunities were thoughtlessly wasted due to lethargy. Suvla not only signalled the end of Stopford and many of his Brigadiers, but also saw the end of the Commander in Chief, Sir Ian Hamilton. It was the beginning of the end of the Gallipoli gamble and in its own right created a catalyst of disaster that would come to represent the failed campaign.
This book adds to the Gallipoli story by recounting the Suvla Bay landing through a mix of official accounts intertwined with a rich collection of the participants' letters, diaries, personal accounts, photographs and maps.
Stephen Chambers has produced another great example of the Battleground series. Plenty of useful photographs, interesting anecdotal accounts and, critically, plenty of maps. Highly recommended.
Despatches - the Journal of the Guild of Battlefield Guides
This is the third contribution by Steve Chambers to the Pen & Sword Battleground Gallipoli series – and I think it is his best yet. As usual there is a description of the campaign followed by a series of well-designed battlefield tours that guide the visitor around the main sites and points of interest. For me the greatest enjoyment lies in his historical account of the Suvla Landings.
Stand To!
Throughout the book is chock-a-block with excellent personal experience quotes, some old favourites to be sure, but many of them will be new to most readers. They are skilfully woven into the account, bringing the fighting alive and illustrating the manifold confusions of this truly awful battle.
The text is also wonderfully illustrated with photos and crystal-clear maps. A splendid book that I sound invaluable during my recent visits to Gallipoli.
Another in the fantastic Battleground series of Great War histories combined with battlefield guides. This book concentrates on the action around Suvla in August 1915, with a good narrative an personal accounts.
The Great War Magazine
About Stephen Chambers
Stephen Chambers is one of the leading military historians of the Gallipoli campaign. Although this is his prime passion, he has also a great interest in British military history from the Crimea to the Second World War. His first book, Gallipoli - Gully Ravine won high acclaim, along with the follow-on volumes: Anzac The Landing and Suvla: August Offensive. His most recent work in the series is Walking Gallipoli, a single volume companion for the cambering, particularly useful to the battlefield visitor.
He is a committee member of the Gallipoli Association and has led numerous tours to the Gallipoli battlefields.
His interest in British military history over many years resulted in a major book, Uniforms & Equipment of the British Army in World War One, the first extensive serious work on the subject. When he is not writing and researching, Stephen is walking the battlefields in the footsteps of those who trod before, whether in the grasslands of Zululand, amidst the mud of Flanders or on the beaches and heights of Gallipoli.
https://twitter.com/stevejchambers