Lieutenant General (Retired) Ben Hodges: “From Gallipoli to Ukraine: Timeless lessons in warfighting”

Following the largest amphibious operation in living history at that time, Gallipoli had quickly stalled into static warfare. The campaign provides lessons that still have relevance today. Inter alia, the talk will look at strategic and tactical aspects in the use of coalition forces, the vital importance of logistics, training for joint operations, the danger of underestimating one’s enemy, and the significance of tactical initiative. In his staff paper dated 1936, George Patton said that if Mustafa Kemal had been in command of Allied forces, they would have won!

A native of Quincy, Florida, General Ben Hodges graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1980. During his career he saw service at all levels of command, both stateside and overseas in Germany, Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea and Turkey (NATO); his last assignment before retiring in 2018 was Commanding General of US Army Europe.

Professor John Horne: “A Colonial Expedition? French Soldiers’ Experience at Gallipoli”

As many French soldiers as ANZACs fought at Gallipoli. Their preconceptions had more to do with colonial campaigning than with the dominant French experience of the Great War – mass mobilisation to defend the nation at home. Moreover, a significant proportion of the troops at the Dardanelles were colonial. Yet French soldiers at Gallipoli discovered a ‘front’ that was part of the mutual siege which ringed Europe and resembled the front in France. The talk will explore the experiences and memories of French soldiers facing this paradox.

John Horne is Emeritus Fellow and former Professor of Modern European History at Trinity College Dublin. A Member of the Royal Irish Academy and Vice-President of the Research Centre, Historial de la Grande Guerre. He is the author and editor of a number of books and over a hundred articles.

Arthur Meek: “Voices of Gallipoli: Spreading the Words”

Voices of Gallipoli is an international project to remember the lives of Kiwis at war by speaking their words out loud at Anzac and Gallipoli commemorations and events. In a sequel to his moving performance at last year’s GA conference, Arthur will give voice to another kiwi veteran’s experience of Gallipoli. words out loud.

Arthur Meek is a NZ-bred, Norfolk based playwright and screenwriter. His work for stage and screen is regularly presented around the world and taught in schools and universities. It spans a wide variety of forms and subjects and what ties it all together is Arthur’s curiosity about who, how, and what we choose to remember.

Dr Viv Newman: “Two Funeral Wreaths of Broken Song: Mothers’ Poetry of Gallipoli”

Over a 72-hour period, long-dreaded news from Gallipoli reached mothers Alexandra Grantham and Sarah Toye. Their social backgrounds were worlds apart but their mourning was identical. Overwhelmed by grief, they, like thousands of others, had to accept they would never even glimpse where their sons had fought and died. “Two Funeral Wreaths of Broken Song” provides an alternative view of the campaign through the writings of two amongst the multitude of parents who, in Alexandra’s words, “with old and trembling hands, / Groped in the darkness waiting / For sons who will never return.”

A member of the Royal Historical Society, Viv is a BBC ‘Expert Woman’ and speaks widely about women in the Great War on radio, television, at academic conferences and also for specialist and general interest audiences. She has written seven books on the social history of 1914-1918 – and also known for disturbing myths and challenging received wisdom about women and children in the War.

Dr Jochen Schrader & Thomas Iredale: “Supplying the Dardanelles U-boat scourge - the secret base in the Gulf of Saros”

The U-boat scourge was spearheaded SM U-21 and began after HMS Triumph and HMS Majestic were torpedoed in May 1915. Thomas will cover the successful history of SM U-21 since 1914 through to its daring feats in the Aegean. Then, Dr Schrader will outline the logistic support for the German U-boats provided at the secret base on the Gulf of Saros. His grandfather, Wolfgang, was part of the 7-man German Navy crew, who set up and manned this base and observation post. Diary insights include meeting Hersing, humorous challenges when food shopping, near detection by Allied ships, witnessing the Suvla landing, all intertwined in vivid detail with routine naval duties and everyday life.

Dr Jochen Schrader, a geophysicist and IT specialist, was already fascinated by his grandfather Wolfgang Schrader’s stories of a “Levantine” childhood in pre-1918 multicultural Istanbul (then Constantinople). Jochen inherited his grandfather’s collection of photos, documents and diaries, inspiring him to further research the secret submarine base. 

Thomas Iredale is the GA’s Overseas Liaison Officer and a Trustee and currently finalising the English translation and publication of the War Diary of the French Expeditionary Corps at Gallipoli. Following research into his grandfather’s service in the RND, developed particular interest in the German and French perspectives of the Gallipoli campaign.