The operation, which was decided upon as the result of Lord Kitchener's visit to the Dardanelles, General Monro having previously recommended it, was one of the most difficult and dangerous character.
Most providentially, however, it was favoured by perfect weather and by the amazing inability of the Turks to divine the nature of the movement. It might still have been attended by serious disaster if it had not been for the splendidly efficient co-operation of the navy with the army.
The scheme of evacuation had been carefully planned, and it is apparent that the execution of it was as successful as the conception was masterly.
It is described by one of the correspondents as a triumph of organisation, and when it is realised that the whole programme was carried out, without the loss of a single man, under the very eyes of the Turks, it is easy to appreciate the justice of this description.
For the troops who had made for themselves and their countries an imperishable reputation by their deeds of heroism on the Gallipoli Peninsula the hour of their departure was one that stirred up mingled emotions.
The satisfaction which they derived from the knowledge that their services would thereafter be utilised in a more hospitable country and in one that did not present such formidable obstacles to success was tempered by their sadness in having to leave behind them so many thousands of comrades sleeping their last sleep in primitive cemeteries on foreign soil.
But the evacuation was not due to defeat, and the accomplishment of it was a signal victory. It was an operation that was reasonably dreaded, but it was one upon the achievement of which everyone who was concerned in it may look back with feelings of intense pride.
Especially may this be said of the withdrawal from Anzac - ‘‘the biggest bluff in history'', as it is called in one of the messages.
For if ever there were military lines that were completely exposed to attack by the enemy they were those held by the Australians and New Zealanders.
Not only was the evacuation effected without more than a few triffling casualties, but it is clear that the troops left nothing of military value behind them.
■ A little over a mile and a-half of the five-mile tunnel through the Southern Alps at Arthur's Pass remains to be completed (says the Wellington correspondent of the Lyttelton Times), and the engineers believe that the long undertaking can be finished in about two years.
According to the original contract with Messrs M'Lean and Co., the tunnel was to have been handed over to the Government, ready for use, in February, 1912, but the contractors were obliged to throw over the work, and it has since been carried on successfully by the Public Works Department, under the direction of the chief engineer, Mr R. W. Holmes.
Up to date, two miles and a-half of the Otira end have been fully completed, and the advanced headings have been driven a further 24 chains.
At the Bealey end a little under a mile has been finished, and the headings have been driven a further seven chains.
- ODT, 14.1.1916.
