 |
The Graveyards of Gallipoli; A Digger History Associate Site |
 |
|
|
A Tribute to the Men of all the Nations that took part in the Gallipoli Campaign of 1915 |
| British "Territorial" Divisions: at Gallipoli | |
| 42nd (East Lancashire), 52nd (Lowland), 53rd (Welsh), and 54th (East Anglian) | |
|
These divisions were all raised when the Territorial Army was established in 1908 from units comprised of part-time volunteers. These troops were intended only as second-line units to be used for home defence, thus freeing Regular Army units for overseas service. After the outbreak of WW I, however, the Territorial Army troops were asked to serve as first-line troops overseas, and the great majority of men agreed. Although having the disadvantage of a “second-line” stigma the fresh recruits of the New Army do not share, as well as a tradition of amateurism, the Territorials at least have had the opportunity to acquire military skills over the space of a number of years of part-time training. None of these divisions has any combat experience, as to date they had been engaged in guarding coastlines and similarly unchallenging work. |
Sub category index
|
| The 53rd and 54th Divisions, in particular, were not well regarded in the campaign, being described by their corps commander, Lieutenant-General Stopford as "unreliable", "shaky" and "sucked oranges" after their landing at Suvla Bay in August 1915 (although Stopford himself was looking for scapegoats for his own poor performance at this time and so the criticism might not have been altogether justified). |
