* Gallipoli: The August Offensive A Turkish View of the August Offensive by Kenan Çelik : download full document file 2000 Australian War Memorial Visiting Scholar Immediately after the battles for Kereviz Dere and Gully Ravine on Gallipoli in July 1915, the question facing Turkish commanders was: would the allies continue their bloody attacks or would they give up the Gallipoli campaign? One thing was certain: nothing was happening on the peninsula. It was like the silence before a thunderstorm. In Turkish headquarters, commanders considered several options until Winston Churchill's speech in Dundee settled the matter: the British would continue the campaign, whatever the sacrifices. Commanders on Gallipoli and Enver Pasha, Minister for War in Istanbul, made plans to counter new offensives. In the middle of July, the Fifth Turkish Army on Gallipoli was reorganised. The Asian Group, consisting of three divisions supported by the Canakkale Gendarme Battalion, was positioned on the eastern side of the Dardanelles. Six divisions were positioned on the south of the Gallipoli peninsula. Four divisions - the 5th, 9th, 16th and 19th - were stationed at ANZAC.... * Australia made campaign possible How important was Australia to Gallipoli By Kenan Çelik : (WAR TIME ISSUE:30) download full document file As we approach the 90th anniversary of the Gallipoli Campaign, we remember that past conflict sometimes with sorrow, sometimes with anger, regret and with a sense of futility. We also cannot help think of what role Australia played in that campaign. Was it necessary to Australia? Was it a matter of life and death as it was to the Ottoman Empire? These are questions that we consider today that offer no immediate answers.When the British political and military leaders first considered the land campaign, the main drawback was the shortage of British troops available for service at Gallipoli. When reading the official British history on the campaign, one can quickly see that these leaders would probably never have considered anything more that a naval demonstration to satisfy Russian demands to relieve Ottoman pressure on its army fighting in the Caucasus. So one reason that the Gallipoli Campaign was fought was the presence of Australian troops, then training in nearby Egypt, willing to fight in any campaign on behalf of the British Empire. The presence of these troops in Egypt made possible the ultimately costly land campaign. I strongly believe that if the British had not had the Australian troops close to Gallipoli, they would never have considered a campaign entailing large-scale land operations. ...