Remembering Gallipoli in India: historical and military-strategic context

ABSTRACT

The commentary examines the reasons for revisiting the Gallipoli Campaign from an Indian perspective. The two main issues examined are the historical and military-strategic contexts, and their relevance in contemporary environment.

KEYWORDS:

• India
• Gallipoli
• historical recall
• amphibious operations

Acknowledgements

The views expressed are his own and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Government of India, the Indian Navy and the Foundation.

Notes

1 The eminent British strategist states ‘… throughout the ages decisive results in war have only been reached when the approach has been indirect. In strategy the longest way round is apt to be the shortest way home’.

2 The noted historian quotes the Ottoman capture of Constantinople in 1354 as the last recorded instance of non-Europeans active participation in European land warfare, prior to the First World War. He also contests the largely prevalent interpretations of operational stasis in the First World War by arguing that it was not the superiority of defensive over the offensive that lead to the proverbial ‘trench-lock’, and states ‘for the most part high commands were committed to the idea of the Vernichtungsschlacht, the integral and decisive battle of annihilation, which was incapable of realization'. The moot point being that a more suitable design, comprising a series of battles by either side, could have resulted in a different outcome.

3 The Official Secrets Act of 1923 is the fundamental document for security classification of government records. The 2005 Right to Information (RTI) Act has infused greater transparency, however, certain issues are kept out of its ambit, and correctly so like national security. Subhas Chandra Bose, fondly referred to as Netaji (leader) sought military assistance from Germany and Japan during the Second World War in India's quest for independence (see Bose 2011). The recent controversy revived speculations about his mysterious death in an August 1945 plane crash in Taiwan (see Dhar 2012).

4 The author makes an insightful comment when he writes, ‘This is a story within a story – so slippery at the edges that one wonders when and where it started and whether it will ever end'. The basic proposition being that different narratives about an event are possible depending on the theme or a particular aspect/episode under examination, theoretical framework used, and professional/personal persuasion.

5 Amphibious raids are quite similar to an amphibious assault except carried out on a relatively smaller scale for a discrete purpose and the forces are put ashore for limited amount of time, for example, the 14 May 1982 British Special Air Service (SAS) attack on Pebble Island off West Falkland. Amphibious withdrawal as the name suggests is a ‘planned evacuation’ of military forces using the maritime medium. The withdrawal of US × Corps from Hungnam from 10 to 24 December 1950 during the Korean War is an optimal example. Amphibious demonstrations could be for two broad purposes, during peacetime for a show of strength and strategic intent, and during war for tying down the adversary or for a diversionary purpose. The amphibious manoeuvre by the coalition forces off the coast of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait during the first Gulf War is assessed to have kept a sizeable number of Iraqi troops from redeploying.