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Remembered Today:

Composition of troops at Gallipoli


rvsakhadeo

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Why the Gallipoli troops consisted only of Australians and New Zealanders (plus may be

a few from Britain) ? Why no Indian troops were considered as a part of the Expeditionary

Force? Was it by chance or design ?

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Both of your questions are based on a totally incorrect understanding of the composition of the MEF. I do not wish to appear curt but may I suggest you read a little about the campaign to see the fallacy of your remarks because to post the full details here would be a rather long task.

The short answers are 1. They did not 2. They were and did. 3. Not applicable.

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To be fair, if you listen to some of our friends from the other side of the globe you might get that impression

:D

Dave

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Both of your questions are based on a totally incorrect understanding of the composition of the MEF. I do not wish to appear curt but may I suggest you read a little about the campaign to see the fallacy of your remarks because to post the full details here would be a rather long task.

The short answers are 1. They did not 2. They were and did. 3. Not applicable.

Thanks for setting my understanding right and for not sounding curt!

Since none of what I read contained any information about Indian troops,I had raised this point.Can you recommend book/s which contain the info?

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Gallipoli 1915 by Tim Travers is useful. Google Gallipoli and you will find lots online.

The ANZACs were outnumbered by British and French troops. Indian and Gurka troops were there as well.

Indian units were part of the British Army and so part of the MEF, BEF etc.

My own British battalion had 29% of its total war casualties on Gallipoli in a two day period.

stevem

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Don't forget the late addition of the Newfoundlanders in the fall of 1915!

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As far as I know, more Indians died at Gallipoli than Australians or New Zealanders. But by far the British and French had more deaths than the Anzacs.

Mythology is a powerful thing.

Edit I was incorrect about the Indian figures - I looked it up and one chart has:

How many soldiers died at Gallipoli?

The latest figures from our colleague Patrick Gariepy, who has been working on the British Commonwealth casualties for more than ten years and who, I believe, has a more accurate count than anybody, are as follows:

British (including Irish) 29, 134

Australian 8, 520

New Zealand 2, 806

Indian 1, 891

Newfoundland 45

Ceylon 4

Others* 29

* Others comprise 14 men of the Zion Mule Corps, 11 of the Greek Labour Corps, 3 Guides & Interpreters and 1 man of the Maltese Labour Corps.

These figures include deaths at Gallipoli, or those who died of disease / wounds at sea, or on the Greek island of Lemnos, in Egypt, Malta, Gibraltar or Britain (including Ireland).

Please note that the French casualty figure is not included in the above table, but is generally agreed to be approximately 10, 000.

This is from Bryn Dolan's webpage about Anzac Officers who died at Gallipoli (he posts on this forum).

Allie

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Gallipoli 1915 by Tim Travers is useful. Google Gallipoli and you will find lots online.

The ANZACs were outnumbered by British and French troops. Indian and Gurka troops were there as well.

Indian units were part of the British Army and so part of the MEF, BEF etc.

My own British battalion had 29% of its total war casualties on Gallipoli in a two day period.

stevem

I confess having read only Alan Moorehead's"Gallipoli",that too very long ago. Thanks for the suggestion!

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  • 5 months later...

A battalion of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment served with the 29th Division.

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The 1st Newfoundland Regiment as has been stated, served in the 29th division as part of the 88th Brigade, during their time in Gallipoli. The 2nd Newfoundland Regiment in existance at that time was located at Ayr, Scotland acting as a reserve battalion.

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As stated myths are the legend of war, how many people know that French troops took part in the the war in Arabia re. T,E. Lawrence .

Colin

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And don't forget the French with about 47,000 casualties of whom approximately 5,000 died.

Peter

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