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Latest news and articles from LGP.
The medal France struck for the Dardanelles
The story of the médaille commémorative d’Orient, the only Gallipoli campaign medal.
Can the Dardanelles be forced? What the General Staff said in 1906
Nine years before Gallipoli, a secret War Office paper ruled out forcing the Dardanelles – by the fleet alone, or with an army landed on the peninsula.
Founded upon hope: what the Dardanelles Commission didn’t ask
Guest post by Jim Grundy, author of ‘Hell & Confusion’, on the fatal optimism the Dardanelles Commission failed to probe.
The Dardanelles Commission – reading the report that judged Gallipoli
What the Dardanelles Commission was, why its reports were deliberately mild, and a free searchable PDF of all three parts.
‘If the Turks aren’t careful, they’ll crack these eggs’
On 5 July 1915, under shellfire near Krithia Nullah, Signaller Arthur Poole boiled eggs for his mates and joked about the Turkish gunners. Minutes later he was dead. Alec Riley recorded it all in ‘Gallipoli Diary 1915’.
Gallipoli under tranquil skies
Revisiting beaches and battlefields with the eye of an old campaigner.
Gallipoli explained: video guides to the campaign’s defining moments
The Gallipoli Association’s films on the landings of 25 April 1915 — at Anzac and Cape Helles — and the operations that followed.
Escape from Germany: a prisoner’s tale
Jeanne Antelme’s vivid 1917 account of her brother Fernand’s capture, imprisonment and daring escape from Germany – followed by a biographical sketch of his subsequent career in the Royal Flying Corps.
Rhys Crawley on Orlo Williams
Dr Rhys Crawley introduces the diary of Captain Orlo Williams – the cipher officer at Gallipoli who read top-secret telegrams before the generals, and wrote it all down.
‘To the Dead of the Dardanelles’
A French general returns to Gallipoli fifteen years after the fighting to honour the fallen. He recalls the battlefields, the units, the classical landscape – and a dying Turkish captain’s hope for peace.
‘You will be buggered’
September 1914. A bluff old colonel warns his battalion about Egypt’s perils. But what did the rank-and-file really face?
The invisible man at GHQ: a review of the Orlo Williams diary
A “golden nugget” of WWI history: Dr Mesut Uyar reviews the diary of Captain Orlo Williams, an invisible man’s view of the Gallipoli high command.
Through a commander’s eyes: the reality of life at Helles
Reviewer Jim Grundy finds Darlington’s letters provide a detailed firsthand account of the daily realities and pressures faced by a commander during the Gallipoli Campaign.
When a ‘small aspect’ of a global war gets a big book
Dr Mesut Uyar, leading historian on the Ottoman Army and the First World War, reviews Ian Burns’ new book.
We called this place ‘Little Gully’
LGP’s Michael Crane visited our namesake, Little Gully, on the Gallipoli Peninsula, strengthening the link between the historic landscape and a soldier’s 1915 diary.
The Great Amphibious Adventure
Captain Charles Bolton’s first-hand account of the Gallipoli landings, originally published in 1940. As GSO3 at GHQ, Bolton witnessed the hasty planning, naval bombardment, and bloody reality of W Beach on 25 April 1915.
New RAN plaque on Lemnos rekindles debate over historic cairn
The plan to honour Australia’s navy for its key WWI role at Gallipoli and the Armistice of Mudros raises questions about a potential monument site.
Three battle-worn seaplanes capture Jeddah: an exclusive extract from ‘Floatplanes Over The Desert’
During the Great War, seaplane carrier HMS ‘Ben-my-Chree’ battled Turkish forces from the Red Sea. Read one of many remarkable accounts of pioneering naval aviation in the furnace-like heat of the Arabian coast.
Why this Gallipoli diary beats Hamilton’s famous account
The cipher officer at Hamilton’s HQ witnessed it all. ‘Williams’ diary is gold,’ revealing insider insights from the campaign.
The silent menace: How submarines nearly strangled the Mediterranean in the Great War
Over 1,700 vessels sunk in a campaign that brought Britain to the brink of starvation by 1917. Explore the data at subs.littlegully.com
Best Gallipoli books from a Turkish perspective
The Ottoman view revealed: Five essential books in English offering rare insight into the Turkish experience at Gallipoli.
‘At Gallipoli’—a Sydneysider’s story
Personal account by Private Harley Matthews, 4th Battalion AIF.
Gallipoli through journalists’ eyes
Jim Grundy explores media influence on the campaign. Learn about WW1 reporting, public opinion and more.
Return of a naval aviation classic
We’re pleased to bring back into circulation a gem of a book about naval air operations in the Middle East during the First World War.
A must-read on Gallipoli – and more to come
Jim Grundy’s Hell & Confusion: ‘Alive with Death’ has been praised as a gripping, page-turning history of Gallipoli. Volume 2 is on the way—more details soon.
Hell & confusion at Gallipoli
We’re proud to announce the inaugural volume of a ground-breaking history of the Gallipoli Campaign, narrated day by day through the voices of those who experienced it first hand.
Nurses’ narratives: illustrated play script
Little Gully is pleased to present a new, illustrated edition of Cheryl Ward’s script for ‘Through These Lines’, an original play based on the letters and diaries of Australian army nurses.
LGP ‘24
Mike and Bern wish you a happy, healthy and productive ‘24. What’s planned this year?
One crowded hour of glorious life
A rare first-person account by a private soldier at Gallipoli is now available in a modern, annotated edition.
A short history of Mole Hill
‘The Lancashire Fusiliers of our division were advancing, and we went to the top of the tumulus to watch them.’
Walk the silent nullahs with Alec Riley in August
Peter Hart’s battlefield tour in Aug/Sept features an Alec Riley day, led by Michael Crane.
Sorry, you two Australian Mums
An extract from Charles Watkins’ book ‘Lost Endeavour’ that we believe tells of the fate of Gunner Pearson and Bombardier William Herbert Felstead.
Twenty Years After: Gallipoli index
Articles in the 1930s magazine that have a Gallipoli significance.
Embarkation imminent
Cover art and index done. Proof copies received. Almost ready to go!
Hello world
Over the past 18 months, we’ve spent hundreds of rewarding – occasionally frustrating! – hours transcribing Alec Riley’s diaries and researching the people and places he talks about.