"Gallipoli" 1915

By Bob Scott

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​Operation Suicide! What a title I must confess! 

But what of the numbers of human casualties” 

Were they not grotesque? 

As battle commenced to open the Straits of Dardanelles
 
The pathway to Istanbul, thereby to divide East from West 

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A British blunder of the grandest scale 

The Ottoman Turks; more prepared than at first thought? 

As the British top brass failed to agree, 

Because from the point of view? Of those who were all at sea 

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Wrong place! Wrong time the Royal Navy went in 

To start with some success! But to end up in an awful mess 

Three battleships sunk… others laid a limping 

Not the Royal Navy’s finest day 

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Cannons and Shells rained down from above 

British Expeditionary Forces were needed to answer the call 

British – French – Australian and New Zealand Forces 

Not forgetting men of the Indian Sub-Continent too 

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Thousands upon thousands set sail from Egypt’s shore 

Headed for Anzac Cove and other places along the coast 

Most ships landed at the Cove, then by row boat 

To be ferried ashore! As sitting ducks 

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Many never made it that far whilst others became 

Walking boards floating in the sea and toward the beaches lay 

A toll of human misery, just had to be crossed 

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The Ottoman Turks also paid the price 

In their lives lost too, no winners came out of this war 

Only that of broken Families’ left behind 

So when you go home tell them of the pain and suffering 

That was Gallipoli 
 

​Poem © Bob Scott 22nd March 2015 

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