Remembering the lost division

Historian Philip Orr pays tribute to the Irish victims of the Gallipoli disaster in a superb new book writes Edward O'Hare

Field of Bones: An Irish Division at Gallipoli. By Philip Orr. Published by Lilliput Press, €20

Nobody knows exactly how many men died at Gallipoli. In the parched soil of that remote Aegean Peninsula the skeletons of countless Turkish, English, Australian and New Zealand soldiers lie scattered together. The battlefields on which the Allied troops struggled to survive became for many their final resting place. What is known is that somewhere in this vast graveyard are the remains of almost 3,000 Irish soldiers.

Many of these were members of the 10th Division of His Majesty's Army and it is the story of these gallant men that respected historian Philip Orr reconstructs in his new book, Field of Bones: An Irish Division at Gallipoli. Ireland's involvement in the first world war began in August 1914 when orders were given for the mobilisation of the British Army units stationed in Ireland. Those on reserve lists were called upon to do their duty. As these regiments regrouped, Irish men were encouraged to join the new army. Home Rule had been left on the statute books and John Redmond and Edward Carson encouraged their followers to volunteer.

By this time, the 10th Division had been established and was made up of Irish men from all classes and backgrounds. The 10th Division was given military training at the Curragh and on Trinity College's rugby grounds. It quickly developed into a formidable fighting machine. The decision to send the 10th Division to Gallipoli was made by Winston Churchill. Churchill believed that an attack on the Dardanelles would lead to the capture of Constantinople and put Turkey, Germany's key ally, out of the conflict.

By April 1915, the soldiers of the 10th Division were deemed fit for battle. Many of them welcomed the chance to engage in real combat. The war presented an adventure and a chance to escape the back-breaking labour that had claimed their fathers and grandfathers. Others, like the young Co Meath writer Francis Ledwidge, were not so enthusiastic. He had formed a relationship with a local girl and was reluctant to go. Before leaving, he told her that his thoughts would always remain "in that little kitchen where I first took you in my arms".

The departure of the 10th Division from Dublin was a stunning occasion. The people of the city lined the streets as the soldiers of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers marched down the banks of the Liffey. Union Jacks and Irish flags waved side by side as the crowds cheered in honour. The young men then climbed aboard their troopships and set sail for Holyhead. Meanwhile, Churchill's Expeditionary Force became the first of the many victims of Gallipoli.

Mid-July saw the troopships reach the Greek island of Lemnos, the Allied HQ for the Gallipoli invasion. By early August, the 10th Division was preparing to invade Suvla Bay. Suddenly, word reached headquarters that the 11th Division had already been overcome by Turkish opposition. The Turkish forces, under the inspired direction of Mustafa Kemal, resisted all Allied attempts to move inland. The 10th Division then to tried reach Allied positions further up the coast but this was also prevented. There was nowhere to hide.

A few minor positions were taken but Turkish lines could not be permanently broken. Without grenades and lacking the support of artillery, the 10th Division found itself in a giant deathtrap. The Allied troops could barely raise their heads before Turkish bullets cut them down.

But the greatest threat the 10th Division faced did not come from the enemy. The remorseless heat of the Aegean summer quickly exhausted water supplies and by the time reserves arrived many had succumbed to dehydration.

By late August, it was clear that Churchill's masterplan was never going to be realised. Shells rained down from the impenetrable Turkish positions. The whole peninsula soon began to resemble a scene of Biblical apocalypse. Corpses littered the battlefield, few surfaces were not coated in congealed human blood and there were flies everywhere.

It was now obvious to all that the situation was hopeless and that the only thing left to do was withdraw. By September the troops made their escape and information sent back to the Allied HQ showed just how terrible a misjudgement the Gallipoli campaign had been. In a matter of weeks the Irish Division at Suvla Bay had been halved. If the survivors believed their worst experiences were over they were mistaken.

In the heart-rendering last section of his book, Philip Orr explains how the veterans of Gallipoli returned to an Ireland in which they were no longer welcome. The Free State regarded them as unwanted reminders of the years of British domination. Most survivors never spoke about what they witnessed and carried terrible psychological pain with them until the end of their lives.

Philip Orr has done a commendable job in recreating the terrible events of 90 years ago. His book is an outstanding example of how scholarship can bring back to life forgotten episodes in our history. He tells the story of what happened to Irish troops in Gallipoli with an empathy that perhaps in some way tries to correct the injustice that was done by the Free State to the returned Irish troops.