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The landing at Suvla Bay in August 1915 was one of the great missed opportunities of the First World War. A British corps landed on an almost undefended part of the coastline north of the main Gallipoli battlefield, but then sat around its beachhead while the Turks rushed troops north. The chance to make an easy advance soon disappeared and the battle ended in yet another costly stalemate.
This book is rather different to books in the Battleground series that I've read. Most of them focus on the guidebook element, with most of the text consisting of a series of walks or tours. Here most of the book is devoted to a detailed history of the battle itself, supported by a large number of eyewitness accounts, contemporary photographs and useful maps.
The tours come in the final chapter, which makes up 40 of the 240 pages. This is perhaps an inevitable consequence of the British failure at Suvla, which limited the size of the battlefield and means that three single day walks pretty much cover the entire area. These look to be interesting, easy to follow trails, and nicely supplement the main text.
Chapters
1 - Prior Planning and Preparation
2 - The Landing - 6/7 August
3 - Day of Rest - Sunday 8 August
4 - Scimitar Hill - 9/10 August
5 - Battle of Kucuk Anafarta Ova - 12 August
6 - Day of Crisis: The Pimple and Kidney 15/16 August
7 - Stellenbosched - The Brass Hats Go
8 - The Last Great Show - 21/22 August
9 - Aftermath
10 - Battlefield Tours
Suvla Order of Battle - August 1915
Author: Stephen Chambers
Edition: Paperback
Pages: 192
Publisher: Pen & Sword Military
Year: 2011