By now Sir Ian Hamilton had lost over a quarter of his fighting force at Helles and desperately needed reinforcements. Churchill, Fisher and Kitchener, acting on the British and French admirals’ telegrams, anticipated Hamilton in his request and troops were already on their way from Alexandria and Marseilles.
Part of this package, perhaps, was that some officers from the 9th Battalion Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, stationed at Fort Brockhurst, were called up for active service. I have no further facts than are recorded by Percy Lubbock in 1921:
Early in May, 1915, […] George Calderon received his orders. He was to be sent to the East, as an unattached officer, it might be to the Dardanelles, it might be to Palestine or the Persian Gulf.
As I have discussed already (see post of 22 April), given George’s age and family circumstances he probably did not have to ‘volunteer’ for this and in any case afterwards his superior officers wished they had prevented him from going. But he assented.
Next entry: 4 May 1915
