GALLIPOLI - THE FLIGHT OF THE GIANTS

Gallipoli, the Dardanelles — these names, almost forgotten from our history books, nevertheless mark one of the bloodiest battles in which the French Army took part during the First World War.

This military campaign, contested from its very conception by the political world and decried by the general staffs, had been conceived by a single man: Winston Churchill. Only his blind obstinacy ensured it was ultimately decided upon. While in Flanders, Artois and Champagne the successive battles demanded ever more men and resources, nearly 550,000 were sent to the gates of Turkey, which had aligned itself with the Germans.

When, after a year of superhuman effort and enormous losses, it became clear that the planned operation was impossible to carry out, the French, British and Australians were forced to withdraw. Of the expeditionary corps that had been committed to the Dardanelles, nearly half the men had been killed, wounded, or returned home exhausted by disease.

In 1917, at the end of its investigations, the British inquiry commission charged with apportioning the responsibilities that had led to this catastrophe concluded laconically that from the very outset, the probability of failure outweighed the chances of success.

It is the story of this human tragedy that the author recounts through this book.