From ‘News of the Week’, The Spectator, 1 May 1915:
The accounts from the Dardanelles are distinctly encouraging. On Tuesday the British portion of the Expeditionary Force landed on the point of the Gallipoli Peninsula—i.e., on the European side—while the French landed an the Asian side, and have fought a battle on the plain of Troy or its neighbourhood, in which they have taken nearly two thousand prisoners. Our landing on and around the tip of the Gallipoli Peninsula has been supplemented by a landing near Bulair, the narrowest part of the tongue of land which forms the European wall of the Dardanelles. If this landing at Bulair can he made good, we ought to be able to destroy the whole of the Turkish force which lies between it and the tip of the Peninsula. How many Turks there are in this region it would be difficult to say, but it has been reported that they number sixty thousand.
The ground is very difficult, being a tumble of steep hills, but if our troops can work up towards Bulair, their right protected by our warships in the Straits and their left by our ships in the Gulf of Saros, our military position should be a good one, and there should be little difficulty in taking the Turkish forts in reverse. But if we once get complete possession of the Gallipoli Peninsula as far as Bulair, and the French make good on the Asiatic side, we shall have gone a long way towards forcing the Dardanelles. We most remind our readers, however, that this is not yet accomplished, and that here, as in all wars, we must be prepared for surprises and disappointments.
On the whole, things have a good look, and we believe that our next issue will show how greatly the power of the Navy is increased in operations like those at the Dardanelles by the cooperation of a competent land force. The open sea is the Navy’s domain. When our ships come to touch land operations they most have the support of the soldiers. It should be added that we have already taken on the European side some twelve hundred prisoners.
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