Tag Archives: The Great War

3 May 1915

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 … Continue reading

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Another eminent Calderon

I picked up The Second I Saw You: The True Love Story of Rupert Brooke and Phyllis Gardner at Waterstones recently and, as I always do with newly published Edwardiana, went straight to the index to see if ‘Calderon’ featured in … Continue reading

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The Turkish counter-attack

If the events at Helles on 28 April amount to the First Battle of Krithia, those of 1-4 May deserve to be called the Second. Liman von Sanders’s forces were now overwhelming. He was peremptorily ordered by his War Minister, … Continue reading

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Kittie’s story

As I have said before, none of George and Kittie’s letters to each other written whilst he was at Fort Brockhurst has survived (there is an envelope addressed to her by George and postmarked Gosport 3 May, but no letter … Continue reading

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28 April 1915: The First Battle of Krithia

Yesterday a general advance began at Helles, occupying the ground vacated by Turkish forces the day before. The Allied line now extended from coast to coast about two miles up from the tip of the Cape. Simultaneously, Turkish reserves streamed … Continue reading

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George Calderon’s ‘magnum opus’

27 April 1915 was a Tuesday, so George was presumably back at Fort Brockhurst, having returned from weekend leave yesterday. The only other literary work that he may have tinkered with when he was home at weekends was a book … Continue reading

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26 April 1915

By one o’clock this morning all the remaining first-wave troops had been safely landed at V Beach, Helles. They began to dig themselves in and cut their way through the heavy barbed wire up the beach. The navy battered the … Continue reading

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25 April 1915: The bloodbath begins

At 4.30 this morning the first ANZAC troops began landing at Z Beach on the Gallipoli Peninsula. They were not strongly opposed, as von Sanders’s strategy was to keep a light screen around the coast until it was clear where … Continue reading

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24 April 1915

The 23rd and 24th April were days of matchless beauty, and the glistening splendour of the sea and sky was a picture such as can only be found in the Aegean, and there only in days of early spring. To … Continue reading

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St George’s Day 1915

This morning the weather in the Aegean was fine and clear. Admiral de Robeck therefore ordered the smaller craft in the harbour of Mudros to move to Tenedos — the first step towards assembling the fleet for landings at Gallipoli … Continue reading

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The note darkens

I did not notice it when I got to this point in writing the chapter in my biography, but the day-by-day ‘real time’ of the blog has brought it home to me: the note has definitely darkened by this date … Continue reading

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21 April 1915

Fortis est veritas 9th Batt. Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry Wednesday My dear Mother,           Haven’t I been writing regularly? Well, you know there’s plenty to do here, and once I’ve got off a sheet to … Continue reading

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20 April 1915

Brinsop Court. Hereford. (Statn Credenhill. Tels Burghill.) Tuesday Darling Dina, It’s absolutely unthinkable that you are not here, and I do know how you are feeling about it, but time and space are nothing, and your dear spirit just wraps me round … Continue reading

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‘The Lamp’ (Concluded)

Today, 18 April 1915, was a Sunday. Kittie doubtless went to church (we don’t yet know which one), with Nina, Jim Corbet and her god-daughter Lesbia very much on her mind. Perhaps George thought further about what he was going … Continue reading

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17 April 1915

This morning, at Brinsop Court in Herefordshire, Nina Astley (Lady Corbet by her first marriage) received a telegram from the War Office informing her that her son Sir Roland James Corbet (Jim) had been killed at Givenchy (see my post … Continue reading

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15 April 1915

April 15. 1915 [France] Dear Mrs Astley — it is with the greatest grief that I write to you to tell you of your son’s death which took place at 8 a.m. this morning. It was very foggy, and your … Continue reading

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