The Nek: a Gallipoli tragedy

[Chris_Baker]

The Nek: a Gallipoli tragedy

by Peter Burness

republished by Pen & Sword Military, 2013 (original Exisle Publishing, New Zealand 1996)

ISBN 978 1 78159 307 3

cover price £12.99

Paperback, 148pp plus appendices and index, illustrated

reviewed by Chris Baker

I defy anyone to read this and not feel emotions of awe, anger, frustration and pity. I defy anyone to feel anything but deep admiration for men who went "over the top" at The Nek on 7 August 1915, knowing they were advancing into a murderous crossfire from the enemy and in most cases having to do so while stepping on the bodies of comrades slaughtered moments before. Peter Burness not only tells the tale but writes in such a way that it would be a cold fish who did not feel such emotions. Although it describes one very small action on a day where much more was going on in Gallipoli, which after all was a fairly small campaign in Great War terms, "The Nek: a Gallipoli tragedy" is a classic work and one I would encourage anyone with an interest in the war to read.

The action of the Nek, in which two regiments of the Australian Light Horse - men of Victoria and Western Australia in the main - made a dismounted attack against Turkish trenches only a matter of yards away but in so doing suffered disastrous casualties (the 8th Light Horse lost 234 men out of 300), is a central legend of the Gallipoli story. The actual battle was but minutes long, for men were simply mown down within moments of their advance. But its consequences were substantial, not so much for the Gallipoli campaign as for its effects on morale, the questioning of men's belief in those responsible for deciding on such things, and for so many the loss of loved and respected men. One consequence was the sequence of Peter Weir's film "Gallipoli", so critical of command and while not explicitly saying so, hinting darkly that it was all a British bungle.

Burness takes a forensic and detailed approach to the battle, examining the strategic and tactical reasons why it was ordered; the backgrounds and experience of the men in the chain of command and the relationships between them; the nature of the forces involved (perhaps less on the Turkish side that would be the case if the book was written today). He also relates in a powerful way the minute by minute unfolding of the attack. At the heart of the legend is the fact that the second, third and fourth waves of the attack were ordered to go into action, in the clear knowledge that the waves before them had been slaughtered and got nowhere. To find reasons why, we find a Brigadier that should have been removed from command well before the battle; a consequent split in responsibilities; officers that slavishly followed orders from the top without enough rational questioning of why they were doing them; a bull-headed officer who would not listen to a junior (there was already bad blood between the two) despite the latter having all evidence that the attack was going badly; and flawed battlefield intelligence that stopped an Australian machine gun playing on Turkish trenches in the belief that the Aussies had reached it, and that reported the appearance of a flag used to mark Australian occupation of an enemy trench. The fog of war indeed, but laced with the frailties of human nature and in a context where the overall battle plan was decidedly risky and hardly guaranteed of success. It makes you weep. And when you know that only a short while before, Australian guns had taken an equally heavy toll on a Turkish attack on the same small patch of ground, it leaves you numb.

Concise, well written and based on strong academic research (which blows away all notion that The Nek was a British blunder other than at the very highest strategic levels), the book is illustrated with a good selection of photographs and one map. An appendix lists the dead and their places of burial or commemoration.

A good buy at the cover price, this will be a snip at the normal levels of discount and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

[Jeff Pickerd]

Chris, thank you for this excellent review of Peter Burness's book on the charge at The Nek, and it is extremely pleasing to see that his book is now available for sale in the UK.

Peter’s revised edition was released back in September 2012, and the following is a review of the book I published on the Australian Light Horse Association forum, 16^th October 2012: -

THE NEK

A Gallipoli Tragedy

By

Peter Burness

It has been close on ten years now since the last copies “THE NEK, The Tragic Charge of the Light Horse at Gallipoli” were available for purchase at a reasonable price, and some sixteen years since it was first published. There had been no other such work to detail the events of the charge at The Nek since that of Dr C. E. W. Bean’s official history, first published in 1924, and this has remained so, with just two exceptions, until now. The demand for copies of the book, and calls for a re-release, have been multitudinous, spanning now over a number of years, and that demand would be clearly indicated by the extraordinarily high prices being asked for the scarce resource of second hand copies, some being priced in excess of $400, quite remarkable!

As the heading of this re-view indicates, Peter Burness has at last completed and published a re-write of the original 1996 book. For anyone wishing to understand what took place at The Nek, Russell’s Top, Gallipoli, on the morning of the 7^th August 1915, with the fateful charge of the 3^rd Light Horse Brigade, and for all those very many who have expressed the desire to have a copy of the book, that situation can now become a reality, either from good book stores, or on-line sales.

This revised edition runs to 164 pages, two less than the 1996 edition of 166 pages, but still maintains the format of the original, with, Preface, 14 Chapters (as per those of the original work), Appendix: Roll of Honour, Chapter Notes and Index. A number of new maps and photographs have been included, but sadly a small number of photographs from the original edition have been excluded. The text has been updated to include much of the new information that has come to light in the intervening years, and in a few places corrected to reflect such information that has now proved previous aspects of the story to have been incorrect. A good example of such corrections lies with the removal of the Sefik Bey account of the occupying of Turkish trench by two officers and some men of the 8^th Light Horse. From the research of some eminent Turkish scholars, this story has been shown to have taken place at the Chessboard above Pope’s Hill on the morning of the 7^th August by men of the 1^st Light Horse. There will definitely not be found, as was also the case with the 1996 edition, an account of the ‘stand down telephone incident’! The title of the book may have changed slightly, but that change is within keeping to that of the slight change in content from the original, the work is still as powerful and vibrant as before, each chapter still building a sound picture of where it all took place, the 3^rd Light Horse Brigade, its regiments, the commanders, and its structure. The descriptive accounts of the charge itself have been added to, which enhances the understanding and appreciation of the tragic episode, as does Burness’s thoughtful and considered analogies of the decision, the aftermath of the battle, reflection and remembrance. From the extensive chapter notes it may be seen that not only has a wide range of archival material been drawn upon, but a number of the later published works that have covered the charge have been consulted.

On a personal note, I would have preferred the re-write to have been far more extensive, drawing more upon the vast amount of material available from various archival sources, such more maps, original documents and further personal accounts. This I have already communicated to Peter Burness, and it is important that the reasons for the content and nature of the re-write he has given are presented. Primarily the publisher’s commission for the re-write was just that, a slightly updated and revised version of the original book, no more. There is also the consideration of available time that Peter Burness, as Senior Historian of the AWM, has to devote to undertaking writing from within his busy work schedule, and this best described by Peter himself: “There was no opportunity for me to write a considerably larger account of the battle, for the simple reason that as part of my regular work I have so much more to do. “ Regardless of any misgivings that I may have of the work, those are neither here nor there. Sixteen years ago it was what Peter Burness had presented with ‘The Nek’, that was a major catalyst to set me on my quest to find what I could of the charge, and this new edition, “THE NEK, A Gallipoli Tragedy” is still by far the most comprehensive and enlightening narrative to be written of the battle, the text giving an easily readable and understandable account of the whole tragic event.

An excellent book.

More than highly recommended, this book is a must for the military history enthusiast and student alike.

Jeff Pickerd

[Dawson]

Good review. I'll have to buy it now!

I was promising to be good this month.

Ian

[AlanCurragh]

Thanks Chris and Jeff - just wondering how you think Peter Burness' book compares with John Hamilton's Goodbye Cobber God Bless You?

Alan

[Jeff Pickerd]

Alan,

To have to compare one to the other is a big ask! THE NEK, A Gallipoli Tragedy, and its predecessor, THE NEK, The Tragic Charge of the Light Horse at Gallipoli, was, and in my opinion still is, the foremost work that covers the morning of the 7th August 1915, only overshadowed by that of Dr C. E. W. Bean’s Official History, Vol II. On the other hand John Hamilton’s “GOODBYE COBBER, GOD BLESS YOU”, looks at the events of the charge from the perspective of the 8th Light Horse Regiment, told in the most part by the men themselves. The narrative and style are more journalistic in nature to that of Peter’s, but it gives a greater depth to the unfolding of the advance, if only in so much in the main to the first and second lines of the charge. Both books are excellent, and for anyone wishing to get a real grasp on what took place up on Russell’s Top that morning, both books need to read, preferably as close together as possible.

Each author by acknowledgement and accreditation give substance to that claim, John Hamilton referenced Peter Burness’s work from the 1995 “THE NEK, The Tragic Charge of the Light Horse at Gallipoli”, in “GOODBYE COBBER, GOD BLESS YOU, Peter in his revised 2012 edition references and acknowledges John’s 2004 book. With the publication of both books extraordinary amounts of new information in the form of letters and diaries have been forwarded by descendants, the vast majority of which is yet to be published.

Whilst on the subject of the charge at THE NEK, to complete the story of the events of that fateful morning, the work on the 10th Light Horse Regiment’s roll, as portrayed by Ian Gill from “GALLIPOLI TO TRIPOLI, History of the 10th Light Horse Regiment AIF”, Neville Browning & Ian Gill, needs to be consulted.

Lastly, there is the story of the other participants of the charge attached to the 3rd Light Horse Brigade, the 8th Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers, the 8th Cheshire Regiment and 71st Field Company Engineers. Both Peter Burness and John Hamilton have described their participation.

Jeff

[judy7007]

Thank you Chris and Jeff for your reviews of this excellent book. I have the 1996 edition, bought some time ago. Finding out about couple of important corrections has been very helpful - but i will probably buy the new edition anyway.

Judy

[Jeff Pickerd]

Judy,

I would recommend that you do. Although I did take Peter to task over not making the revised edition more comprehensive, I know you already have Neville & Ian’s wonderful 10th LH history; from its pages of the charge you will get more detail and some of the sketches that should have been included in the revised THE NEK.

Jeff

[Auimfo]

Jeff,

As many of us have been telling you for years - you need to write the story of the Nek. Peter Burness and John Hamilton have indeed produced two excellent works but there's no man alive who knows more about the battle and that of it's participants than you!!

Cheers,

Tim L.

[gilly100]

I agree Tim and have also encouraged a work by Jeff, or, alternatively, the book of all books on the 8th Light Horse at Gallipoli. Jeff's assistance with our work was of huge value to the final product. I pestered him mercilessly!!!

Back to the thread - Burness' new work is excellent and well worth getting, on top of his earlier work.

And finally, and off thread again - Only just made the link - Auimfo - Well done Tim on your Fromelles book! Sandra too!!!

Will have to wait til October when in Perth to get one. Good luck with launch.

Ian

[AlanCurragh]

Thanks Jeff (and others) for your comments

Alan

[frev]

Sorry, off topic here too:

Tim & Ian - You know you're hitting your heads against a brick wall when it comes to our Jeff - he'll forever be holding out for that extra bit of info that's sure to turn up......tomorrow!!

And as to the 8th LH History - Jeff's work by now would probably rival the many volumes of Bean - not sure it would be easy to get so many volumes published today.....

Cheers, Frev

[gilly100]

Frev

With all due respect, better to publish sometime or no time at all. The purple circle in Canberra would be ill informed not to consider funding/backing such a work. Forget not having a degree in history, forget not being a veteran or military time served or working at some institution military history based, it is all about the quality of research. Here there is no question required.

Please forgive my impetuous comments ( especially you Jeff). I just wish to see a worthy volume of research/work out into book form. Otherwise I can only see it as partly wasted.

Only my humble opinion. Take it or leave it.

I was so lucky to have had this man's help, along with a few others, some of whom I have crossed swords with from time to time. Put that aside and deliver the best you can do is all, I say.

Cheers

Ian

[Jeff Pickerd]

I thank you all for your kind words, I am humbled, but this is not about me, it is about the work of authors that I hold in the highest of regard and respect. It has been my greatest privilege and honour to have been allowed to offer what assistance I could to such eminent and successful authors.

Ian, I gave up trying to work out the roll of the 10th LH in charge years ago, just all too hard; it is you who must take all the credit for finally putting the full story of what actually happened to the historical record.

Jeff

[judy7007]

Judy,

I would recommend that you do. Although I did take Peter to task over not making the revised edition more comprehensive, I know you already have Neville & Ian’s wonderful 10th LH history; from its pages of the charge you will get more detail and some of the sketches that should have been included in the revised THE NEK.

Jeff

I have taken your wise advice Jeff - it's on the way. And yes, indeed I do have Neville and Ian's wonderful book. I have also in recent years read online much that you have written and would very much look forward to a publication

Judy