Monthly Archives: May 2015

31 May 1915

Today the fate of George Calderon and several thousand other British soldiers at Gallipoli was sealed. Sir Ian Hamilton, Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, decided to fight a general action on the Helles front without waiting for the extra … Continue reading

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30 May 1915

1st bn KOSB 87th Brigade 29th Division M.E.F. May 30th Dearest Mrs P, I’m hard up for paper. Please send some. We’re still on the same spot, in broiling sun, dry and beautiful; sea to either side. […] Daily programme … Continue reading

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‘Nothing happened’

It is a very curious thing, but in none of the sources that I have used for understanding the full military context of George’s life on Gallipoli does the date 29 May feature. Nor did he write a letter to … Continue reading

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28 May 1915

It may have seemed surprising, or even shocking, that Calderon did not end his letter to Kittie yesterday with any endearments to her, only a ‘warm embrace’ for their dog! But its beginning — ‘Oh dearest Mrs P.’ — is … Continue reading

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‘New Western Polovtsians’

                                                                                … Continue reading

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26 May 1915

This afternoon the ferry steamer from Mudros with George Calderon on board arrived at Helles and its draft of soldiers from Britain landed ‘under the crumbled ruins of a white castle’ as he put it, i.e. the old fort at … Continue reading

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25 May 1915

In a blue harbour surrounded by green rock-broken hills in a place I may not name. 9 a.m.                                             … Continue reading

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‘Hunter-Bunter’s’ plan

As an essentially literary chap, I do not propose to embroil myself in controversy about the Commander of the 29th Division at Helles, Sir Aylmer Gould Hunter-Weston (1864-1940), popularly known as ‘Hunter-Bunter’. He has been described as ‘one of the … Continue reading

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23 May 1915

Today George wrote hastily on the back of his letter to Kittie dated yesterday (Saturday) and written on board the R.M.S. Orsova at Alexandria: Sunday morning. Prognostications are right. It’s in the morning. Doctors, nurses and chaplains are for the shore (a … Continue reading

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22 May 1915

Today Kittie moved from Foxwold, the Pyms’ home in the Weald of Kent, to Emmetts, about a mile away. We know this from the fact that the Visitors Book at Foxwold was maintained meticulously. Emmetts was the home of Violet … Continue reading

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The ‘strange aftermath’ at Anzac

After the Turks’ failed general attack on 19 May, over three thousand corpses lay directly in front of the Anzac trenches. In the hot sun the dead presented a real sanitary risk and the calling of the wounded was unbearable. … Continue reading

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‘An obscure mixture of feelings’

I try reading the London Review of Books about twice a year, but each time end by flinging it in the bin: it’s not a literary publication, it’s a political one written by amateur politicians. And what I can’t take about … Continue reading

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19 May 1915

As at Helles on 1 May, Enver Pasha’s orders to the Turkish Army at Anzac were literally to drive the invaders into the sea and kill every one of them. The first mass attack was launched at 3.30 this morning. … Continue reading

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18 May 1915

May 18th.                                                                   R.M.S. “ORSOVA” We’re nearing Malta. … Continue reading

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Gallipoli: The situation

To Hamilton’s request for ‘two fresh divisions organized as a corps’ (see my post of 6 May), Kitchener replied on 10 May that he could send him only one. This was the 52nd (Lowland) Division, which would take almost a … Continue reading

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16 May 1915

May 16th.                                                                  R.M.S. “ORSOVA” […] when I woke … Continue reading

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