Little Gully

29/06/2025

Reader review ⭐ from Simon Smith:

Both my sons know their Dad is something of a Gallipoli anorak, but wouldn't have gifted me this for Father's Day without heavy prompting (thanks, lads).

Watkins was a Gallipoli veteran who served on the Peninsula as a Territorial with the Lancashire Fusiliers. Composing his memoir over fifty years later, 'Lost Endeavour' was privately published in 1970 and, though it was reissued in 1982, was very much an obscure treasure until meriting this splendid resurrection in 2023 by the wonderful people at Little Gully Publishing, who have added considerably to the rich value of the original text with a series of illuminating appendices. As personal experience accounts go, it's right up there for me as one of the very finest I've read in the vast Gallipoli literature in which size is not always matched by quality.

Mentioning on more than one occasion that he believed Gallipoli to be 'haunted' by the ghosts of warriors of old who have fought over this area of land for centuries (Troy is in close proximity), many who have visited this beautiful but tragic battlefield would be inclined to agree. Watkins pulls no punches as he recounts 'the glory, the pathos and the s**t of war' so much so that at times his account may not be for the faint of heart. All war is awful, but Gallipoli was perhaps uniquely awful. 'Lost Endeavour' is not a campaign history. It does not dwell on strategy, tactics or some bigger contextual picture. It is one man's record of the life of a private soldier at the sharp end of the dangers and privations confronting him on a daily basis. As such, it is warmly recommended.

https://littlegully.com/books/lost-endeavour/

25/06/2025

Free online talk by the editors of Orlo Williams - Gallipoli Cipher’s diary 👉 register at trybooking.com/uk/EKCI

Rhys Crawley, Stephen Chambers & Ashleigh Brown will be presenting ‘Inside GHQ: The Diary of a Staff Officer’ alongside distinguished scholars Christopher Pugsley and Lewis Frederickson.

Part of an online conference hosted by the Gallipoli Association on Saturday 12 July, 9am UK time (6pm Sydney time).

The conference is open to all and timed to accommodate those in the Southern Hemisphere.

11/06/2025

Pleased to share a review of "Above and Beyond Palestine" by the prestigious Cross & Cockade International journal (vol. 56/2). Thank you Great War Aviation Society - WW1 in the Air

Paul Hare describes the book as a "fascinating first-hand account" of the East Indies & Egypt Seaplane Squadron and air operations in the Middle East—a "neglected area of the Great War." Covering both military operations and off-duty life, Paul "heartily recommended" the book for its authentic, anecdotal perspective.

Get your copy:

Through personal anecdotes and original line sketches, C.E. Hughes captures both the military operations and daily life of naval airmen based at Port Said.

09/06/2025

First review of Inside GHQ: The Gallipoli Diary of Captain Orlo Williams (edited by Rhys Crawley, Stephen Chambers and Ashleigh Brown), with thanks to Simon Smith:

Well, Orlo....your diary exceeded my expectations!

Little Gully, the editors and all involved in ensuring this text saw the light of day are to be congratulated. What a wonderful observer and commentator of and on events Williams was. He is many things; wise, erudite, pithy and amusing, but as Peter Hart's assessment on the back cover records, 'he is never dull'. Words with which I couldn't agree more. His diary requires little embellishment, but I think the introductory chapter insertions by the editors add real value to the whole. They link and complement rather than intrude and impose, setting Orlo's insights into just the right level of context whilst still allowing him space to tell his story. Probably a template for others to follow on how to edit work of similar type. The photographs included here have also been selected judiciously, and in many respects have virtually equal value to the text. A superb production, a joy to hold and read.

For this reader, it's the author's opinions on Ian Hamilton and Kitchener that hold the most interest. Having had the privilege to study the former's papers in the wonderfully curated Liddell Hart archive at KCL a couple of years back, I have a fascination, and to an extent some sympathy, for both these complex, flawed men. They were not the only nineteenth century men fighting a twentieth century war,in coalition, without a blueprint to help them navigate the pitfalls and exigencies of industrial conflict on a hitherto unimaginable scale. My own opinion on Hamilton seems to chime with that of Orlo's: he was too much the gentleman when plain words and hard truths needed to be articulated, he deferred too much to Kitchener effectively treating him as a C-in-C and was too much the passive spectator to the failures of his subordinates. That being said, all those on the Peninsula were on an absolute hiding to nothing, asked to achieve the impossible with not only insufficient resources to achieve success, but with no real articulation of what 'success' looked like. Commanders of far higher calibre would have achieved no more, because the campaign was hard wired to fail from the outset. All that wasted heroism. Even if by some miracle Ottoman Turkey had been knocked out the war, it wouldn't have mattered a jot. Germany was the enemy and they could only be defeated on the Western Front, not the Dardanelles.

This book does immense service to the historiography of the Gallipoli campaign, and it feels really important. Overarching everything is the sneaking affection for Orlo that grew on me as I turned each page. What a pub companion or dinner guest he would have been! What a life lived!

https://littlegully.com/books/inside-ghq-the-gallipoli-diary-of-captain-orlo-williams/

Thanks again for delivering his words to us. It is a book that deserves enormous praise and every success.

23/05/2025

Step inside the nerve centre of the Gallipoli Campaign with the previously unpublished diary of Captain Orlo Williams.

https://littlegully.com/books/inside-ghq-the-gallipoli-diary-of-captain-orlo-williams/

06/05/2025

To readers of ‘Hell & Confusion: Gallipoli Day by Day’ by Jim Grundy:

Have you found the book informative? Useful? We’d be grateful if you could leave a review on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alive-death-August-Confusion-Gallipoli/dp/1763626814/

Honest reviews are incredibly valuable in helping other history buffs and researchers discover the work.

A quick note on printing: For Amazon orders, we use Amazon to print and ship our paperbacks, including ‘Hell & Confusion.’ While uncommon, should you ever receive a book with a printing defect (such as blurred text, missing pages, or binding errors), please know that Amazon will immediately replace it or issue a refund.

We take great care with editing and design, and invest our heart and soul in giving you the best possible reading experience.

Unlimited Premium Delivery is available to Amazon Prime members. To join, select "Yes, I want a free trial with FREE Premium Delivery on this order." above the Add to Basket button and confirm your Amazon Prime free trial sign-up.

04/05/2025

Are you interested in the First World War in the Near East?

Subscribe to our occasional email newsletter: https://littlegully.com/newsletter/

It's free. (And coming soon.)

30/04/2025

Command at Gallipoli: A unique window into the nerve centre of a failed campaign.

Subscribe and we’ll let you know as soon as the book is available.

https://littlegully.com/books/inside-ghq-the-gallipoli-diary-of-captain-orlo-williams/

26/04/2025

Best Gallipoli books from a Turkish perspective?

Here are five essential works in English.

https://littlegully.com/blog/best-gallipoli-books-from-turkish-perspective/

25/04/2025

Every year, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and the Town of Bury commemorate the bravery of our antecedent Regiment, 1st Battalion the Lancashire Fusiliers, during the Gallipoli Campaign. The first landings took place at 0600 on 25 April 1915 and the Battalion won everlasting fame by winning six Victoria Crosses that day, the so-called “6 VCs before breakfast”.

This weekend will include a programme of commemoration events including a church service and parade through the town. We hope you will join us in remembering those who took part in the campaign.

14/02/2025

Six months ago, we published ‘Hell & Confusion: Alive with Death’ by Jim Grundy, the first volume in his Gallipoli Day by Day series. Covering August 1914 to April 1915, it has been widely praised, and Jim is now hard at work on Volume 2, which will continue the narrative beyond April 1915.

Gallipoli has been studied and debated for over a century—so much so that, as John Spencer asked in his review for the December journal of The Douglas Haig Fellowship:

“What is there new to say?”

“Not much, one might think, until picking up this book.”

Spencer described Hell & Confusion as “that rare thing in military history writing—a page-turner,” where Jim “lets the actors (and actions) speak for themselves, with only well-chosen, laconic, and often amusingly sardonic introductory sentences to provide context. It is a remarkable achievement.”

“Telling the story of that cataclysm, day by day, brings the catastrophe into clear relief.”

“The author has done the hard yards in the archives and amongst the library stacks, and produced a work that will save future historians many arduous days (nay weeks) of research.”

“This is just the first instalment. I'm already looking forward to Volume 2.”