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Authors: Ian Rutledge
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causing widespread panic among its Russian defenders. In early January 1915, in a raging blizzard and with temperatures dropping to minus 30°f, they had thrown themselves against the Russian army defending the town of Sarikamish. But the plan had not taken account of the atrocious weather conditions and in an attempt to outflank the Russians, Enver Pasha’s troops had floundered in the snowdrifts and over 30,000 men froze to death. Most of the survivors were forced to surrender and only 12,000 of the initial attacking force escaped the catastrophe.
Also in January 1915, Djemal Pasha; commanding the Ottoman Fourth Army based at Damascus, had sent 20,000 men of the VIII Corps, including the Arab 25th Division, to attack British forces defending Egypt’s eastern frontier. After a ten-night march across the Sinai peninsula, they had mounted attacks against British posts at Qantara in the north and Kubri, seven miles north of Suez, in the south. According to Djemal Pasha, ‘The Arab fighters who constituted the bulk of the 25th … performed splendidly.’ 1
Djemal Pasha had hoped that the success of an Ottoman force would trigger an Egyptian Muslim uprising. On 3 February his troops mounted a major attack at Tussum at the southern end of Lake Timsah, six miles south-east of Ismailia. But it was another disaster; they simply did not have sufficient strength to make a breakthrough. The few Ottoman troops who succeeded in crossing the Suez Canal were all killed or captured and Djemal Pasha was forced to order a retreat to Beersheba, having lost about 1,400 men.
Meanwhile, the government of India had successfully established a bridgehead in Southern Iraq, captured Basra and Qurna and were currently taking steps to defend the Anglo-Persian Oil Company’s facilities in south-west Persia. Reinforcements were arriving daily from India and it could only be a matter of time before an advance further up the Tigris commenced.
True, the recent naval assault on the Dardanelles had been disappointing. Between 19 February and 13 March Vice-Admiral Sackville Carden had attacked the forts at the mouth of the Dardanelles and attempted to sweep the mines which the Turks had laid further up the straits. But heavy gunfire from the Turkish forts, gun emplacements and 6-inch mobile howitzers on the northern, peninsular side of the channel had made it impossible for his minesweepers to carry out their task. Overwhelmed by the difficulties of trying to force a way through, Admiral Carden had a nervous breakdown and was replaced by his second in command, de Roebeck. On 18 March Admiral de Roebeck, under strong pressure from Winston Churchill to demonstrate progress, began a major naval advance into the straits. Unfortunately, a number of capital ships,
Irresistible
,
Inflexible
and
Ocean
, and the French battleships
Bouvet
and
Gaulois
were sunk by mines or seriously damaged by coastal shellfire and de Roebeck was obliged to call off a plan to force his way through to Istanbul. However, a formidable land army under General Sir Ian Hamilton was now being assembled at Mudros on the Aegean island of Lemnos and there was a strong expectation that within a few days a major amphibious assault on the Gallipoli peninsula would be mounted. Then the combined naval and land forces would sweep through to the Ottoman capital.
The committee to which Sykes had been summoned was to be chaired by Sir Maurice De Bunsen, formerly British ambassador in Vienna, who had brought together representatives of all the government departments whose views would have to be taken into account in putting together the committee’s final report: the War Office, the Admiralty, the India Office, the Board of Trade and of course, the Foreign Office itself. As Sykes glanced around the table he would have seen a group of elderly men – in their sixties or older – with only two exceptions. There was George Clerk of the Foreign Office, whom Sykes had met once or twice and who was in
Also in January 1915, Djemal Pasha; commanding the Ottoman Fourth Army based at Damascus, had sent 20,000 men of the VIII Corps, including the Arab 25th Division, to attack British forces defending Egypt’s eastern frontier. After a ten-night march across the Sinai peninsula, they had mounted attacks against British posts at Qantara in the north and Kubri, seven miles north of Suez, in the south. According to Djemal Pasha, ‘The Arab fighters who constituted the bulk of the 25th … performed splendidly.’ 1
Djemal Pasha had hoped that the success of an Ottoman force would trigger an Egyptian Muslim uprising. On 3 February his troops mounted a major attack at Tussum at the southern end of Lake Timsah, six miles south-east of Ismailia. But it was another disaster; they simply did not have sufficient strength to make a breakthrough. The few Ottoman troops who succeeded in crossing the Suez Canal were all killed or captured and Djemal Pasha was forced to order a retreat to Beersheba, having lost about 1,400 men.
Meanwhile, the government of India had successfully established a bridgehead in Southern Iraq, captured Basra and Qurna and were currently taking steps to defend the Anglo-Persian Oil Company’s facilities in south-west Persia. Reinforcements were arriving daily from India and it could only be a matter of time before an advance further up the Tigris commenced.
True, the recent naval assault on the Dardanelles had been disappointing. Between 19 February and 13 March Vice-Admiral Sackville Carden had attacked the forts at the mouth of the Dardanelles and attempted to sweep the mines which the Turks had laid further up the straits. But heavy gunfire from the Turkish forts, gun emplacements and 6-inch mobile howitzers on the northern, peninsular side of the channel had made it impossible for his minesweepers to carry out their task. Overwhelmed by the difficulties of trying to force a way through, Admiral Carden had a nervous breakdown and was replaced by his second in command, de Roebeck. On 18 March Admiral de Roebeck, under strong pressure from Winston Churchill to demonstrate progress, began a major naval advance into the straits. Unfortunately, a number of capital ships,
Irresistible
,
Inflexible
and
Ocean
, and the French battleships
Bouvet
and
Gaulois
were sunk by mines or seriously damaged by coastal shellfire and de Roebeck was obliged to call off a plan to force his way through to Istanbul. However, a formidable land army under General Sir Ian Hamilton was now being assembled at Mudros on the Aegean island of Lemnos and there was a strong expectation that within a few days a major amphibious assault on the Gallipoli peninsula would be mounted. Then the combined naval and land forces would sweep through to the Ottoman capital.
The committee to which Sykes had been summoned was to be chaired by Sir Maurice De Bunsen, formerly British ambassador in Vienna, who had brought together representatives of all the government departments whose views would have to be taken into account in putting together the committee’s final report: the War Office, the Admiralty, the India Office, the Board of Trade and of course, the Foreign Office itself. As Sykes glanced around the table he would have seen a group of elderly men – in their sixties or older – with only two exceptions. There was George Clerk of the Foreign Office, whom Sykes had met once or twice and who was in
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