Description
First edition of Gallipoli Diary by General Sir Ian Hamilton, inscribed to his trusted commander during the ill-fated Gallipoli Campaign, General Sir William Marshall.
Octavo, [two volumes], xv, [1], 387pp, [1]; vii, [1], 337pp. Purple-gray cloth, title stamped in gilt on spine. No additional printings noted. Uncut edges. Sunning to both spines, text blocks solid. Complete with frontispiece in each volume, 18 full-page illustrations and two fold-out battle maps.
Inscribed on the front free endpaper of Volume I: “For General Sir William Marshall as a small token of regard + gratitude for all his fine work at the Dardanelles. From Ian Hamilton / 3.6.’20.”
General Sir William Marshall (1865-1939) served under Ian Hamilton as commander of the 87th brigade during the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign of World War I. After the withdrawal, he was promoted to Major-General and soon took command of British Forces in Mesopotamia, replacing General Stanley Maude. In retirement, Marshall would write his memoirs titled Memories of Four Fronts, with an introduction written by Sir Ian Hamilton. The author of this book, Sir Ian Hamilton (1853-1947) was a British Army general who served as Commander in Chief of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force in the Gallipoli Campaign. A career military officer, Hamilton was wounded in action at the Battle of Majuba during the First Boer War, leaving his left hand permanently injured. He also served in the Second Boer War, the Russo-Japanese War and finally the First World War. His command of the Allied Mediterranean Expeditionary Force at Gallipoli in 1915, at the age of 62, was his final military command. His orders were to gain control of the Dardanelles from the Ottoman Empire and to capture Constantinople, but his invasion stalled and resulted in heavy casualties. Hamilton was recalled to London and lived until 1947.
