676. The First World War: Churchill’s Calamity (Part 6)

Episode of The Rest Is History · June 3, 2026 · 1 h 17 min

Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook conclude the Gallipoli campaign, covering Churchill's fall, the failed August Offensive, the evacuation, and the birth of the Anzac legend.

Summary

In the final part of their series on the First World War in 1915, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook recounted the later stages of the Gallipoli campaign. They opened with the story of John Simpson Kirkpatrick, the stretcher-bearer with his donkey who became an embodiment of the Anzac spirit, before describing the stalemate after the landings, the failed battles of Krithia, the 24 May truce negotiated by Aubrey Herbert, and the appalling conditions of flies, unburied bodies and dysentery.

Sandbrook narrated the political crisis in London: Jackie Fisher's resignation, the Shell Crisis, the formation of the Asquith coalition, and Churchill's removal from the Admiralty. Despite this, the Dardanelles Committee sent more divisions, leading to the Suvla Bay landings and the August Offensive, which failed with heavy losses. Holland discussed the legend of the vanished Sandringham company, and the hosts covered Bulgaria's entry into the war, Keith Murdoch's damning report, Hamilton's replacement by Charles Monro, and the highly successful evacuation of December 1915 and January 1916.

Sandbrook argued that Churchill was rightly the chief culprit and doubted he truly learned from the episode, while defending the generals as placed in an impossible position. The hosts closed by examining how Gallipoli, through figures such as Charles Bean and Keith Murdoch, became the foundational myth of Australian national identity, with Holland linking it to the Bodyline series and Steve Waugh, and both arguing that the portrayal of British soldiers as feeble was undeserved.

Chapters

  1. 1:27

    Simpson and his donkey

    The hosts introduce Jack Fitzpatrick, alias John Simpson, whose death at Anzac Cove made him a symbol of the Anzac spirit.

  2. 5:31

    Stalemate after the landings

    Sandbrook recaps the campaign's origins and the failed Allied attacks at Krithia as trench deadlock sets in.

  3. 9:57

    The May truce and Aubrey Herbert

    The 24 May ceasefire to bury the dead, negotiated partly by the polymath MP Aubrey Herbert, is described.

  4. 13:50

    Flies, toilets and dysentery

    The hosts detail the horrific conditions at Gallipoli, including dysentery, with accounts from soldiers and Clement Attlee.

  5. 20:14

    Political crisis and Churchill's fall

    Fisher's resignation, the Shell Crisis and the formation of the coalition government lead to Churchill's removal from the Admiralty.

  6. 34:31

    Doubling down with reinforcements

    Despite Churchill's fall, the Dardanelles Committee sends four new divisions over objections from Haig.

  7. 39:52

    Suvla Bay and the August Offensive

    The new landings and the Anzac breakout attempts at Lone Pine and The Nek fail with heavy losses.

  8. 44:08

    The vanished Sandringham company

    Holland recounts the legend of the Sandringham estate workers who disappeared into a strange cloud.

  9. 46:23

    Bulgaria and Keith Murdoch's report

    Bulgaria joins the Central Powers and Keith Murdoch's exaggerated report helps turn opinion against the campaign.

  10. 53:50

    Churchill's resignation and the evacuation

    Monro recommends withdrawal, Churchill leaves government for the Western Front, and the evacuation succeeds with almost no losses.

  11. 1:00:04

    Verdict on the campaign

    The hosts assess casualties, Churchill's culpability and lessons, and Mustafa Kemal's rise.

  12. 1:06:38

    Gallipoli and Anzac identity

    The hosts examine how Gallipoli became Australia's founding myth, linking it to Bodyline and Steve Waugh.

  13. 1:13:35

    Series wrap-up and next episodes

    The hosts preview 1916 and a World Cup series on national anthems.

Key points

What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.

  • Dominic Sandbrook

    Sandbrook argues that sanitation and dysentery were a central part of the Gallipoli experience.

    “And this seems an odd thing, again, to talk about so much on a history podcast, but it's a central element of the Gallipoli experience”

    Listen from 17:03 · Dysentery

  • Dominic Sandbrook

    Sandbrook argues that the shell shortage was not peculiar British incompetence, as every combatant had exhausted pre-war stocks by 1915.

    “Every combatant by the spring of summer of 1915 is basically running out of shells because they've used all their pre-war supplies”

    Listen from 22:04 · Shell Crisis of 1915

  • Tom Holland

    Holland argues that the campaign was strategically pointless, since even pushing the Turks off Gallipoli would achieve little.

    “But it seems to me madness. Because even if you push the Turks, the Turk, sorry, off Gallipoli, so what?”

    Listen from 24:26 · Gallipoli campaign

  • Dominic Sandbrook

    Sandbrook contends that blaming the Gallipoli generals is too harsh because politicians placed them in an impossible situation.

    “I think blaming the generals for this is too harsh. They're in an impossible situation and it's, you know, it's Churchill's fault”

    Listen from 32:45 · Gallipoli campaign

  • Dominic Sandbrook

    Sandbrook compares Churchill's grandiose post-dismissal rhetoric about the Dardanelles to Boris Johnson.

    “You know who he reminds me of there? I mean, who he undoubtedly is like. He is Boris Johnson at this point”

    Listen from 34:15 · Winston Churchill and the Dardanelles

  • Dominic Sandbrook

    Sandbrook says Keith Murdoch's report to the Australian prime minister exaggerated and embellished Ashmead-Bartlett's earlier account.

    “Keith Murdoch writes this incredibly exaggerated, embellished version of the previous report”

    Listen from 49:31 · Keith Murdoch's Gallipoli letter

  • Dominic Sandbrook

    Sandbrook says Churchill's decision to serve on the Western Front is where the comparison with Boris Johnson breaks down.

    “And I think this is the point where the comparison with, yeah, Boris Johnson evaporates”

    Listen from 53:50 · Winston Churchill and the Dardanelles

  • Tom Holland

    Holland maintains that whatever his failings, Churchill was never a coward.

    “what you can't say about Churchill is that he was ever a coward”

    Listen from 56:16 · Winston Churchill and the Dardanelles

  • Dominic Sandbrook

    Sandbrook describes the evacuation as the one spectacularly successful part of the operation, contrary to Hamilton's predictions.

    “This is the one bit of the operation that really is a spectacular success”

    Listen from 57:49 · Evacuation of Gallipoli

  • Dominic Sandbrook

    Sandbrook argues that even a successful Gallipoli operation would have achieved little, since the fleet could not have taken Constantinople.

    “But the mad thing is, even if the Gallipoli campaign had worked. So what? So what?”

    Listen from 58:50 · Gallipoli campaign

  • Dominic Sandbrook

    Sandbrook, citing Andrew Roberts, argues that Churchill was the primary culprit and deserved to be blamed.

    “And Churchill is definitely the primary culprit. Even Andrew Roberts in his biography says, you know, he's the scapegoat in chief, but he deserves to be the scapegoat in chief”

    Listen from 1:01:11 · Winston Churchill and the Dardanelles

  • Dominic Sandbrook

    Sandbrook finds Churchill's description of Gallipoli as stakes Britain could afford to lose more shocking than his use of the word gamble.

    “But the shocking thing about that to me is not the word gamble. It's the stakes we could afford to lose because the stakes”

    Listen from 1:02:07 · Winston Churchill and the Dardanelles

  • Linked moment · 1:04:42Skip to 1:04:42 using a listen link in the info box.

    Dominic Sandbrook

    Sandbrook doubts that Churchill truly learned from Gallipoli, seeing his love of risky schemes as part of his character.

    “So did he really learn from it? I don't think he did, actually. I think it's always part of his character”

    Listen from 1:04:42 · Winston Churchill and the Dardanelles

  • Tom Holland

    Holland argues that Mustafa Kemal's Gallipoli reputation gave him the credibility later needed to cut Turkey's losses.

    “People accept this is a guy who defended the homeland and threw the great imperial power back into the sea”

    Listen from 1:06:15 · Gallipoli campaign

  • Dominic Sandbrook

    Sandbrook explains that Gallipoli looms large in Australia partly because it was the first time Australians fought and died in such numbers.

    “it's the first time Australians have fought and died in such numbers”

    Listen from 1:07:03 · Anzac spirit and Australian national identity

  • Tom Holland

    Holland argues that, like Bodyline, the image of an incompetent British high command at Gallipoli damaged Britain's reputation in Australia.

    “the notion of the British high command at Gallipoli being incompetent and kind of heedless of slaughter is very kind of damaging for Britain's reputation in Australia”

    Listen from 1:09:20 · Bodyline

  • Tom Holland

    Holland argues that the portrayal of British soldiers at Gallipoli as inferior is unfair, as they seem to have been as brave as the Anzacs.

    “And I think that that is unfair on the British record of the, certainly of the men who were fighting there”

    Listen from 1:11:31 · Anzac spirit and Australian national identity

  • Dominic Sandbrook

    Sandbrook says films like Mel Gibson's Gallipoli have made it hard for British soldiers to escape an undeserved reputation.

    “But thanks to things like the Mel Gibson film, it's very hard for them now to escape”

    Listen from 1:13:14 · Gallipoli (1981 film)

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From the publisher

After Gallipoli has descended into a bloodbath, why do the British pour in more troops? Does Churchill finally understand his fateful error? How do the allies escape the total mess they find themselves in? And, why has this failed campaign become the foundational moment of Anzac identity? Join Dominic and Tom as they bring an end to this disastrous Gallipoli campaign and the bloody year of 1915. _______ Lloyds. 250 years on and still backing the nation's aspirations. _______ Join The Rest Is History Club: Unlock the full experience of the show – with exclusive bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to every series and live show tickets, a members-only newsletter, discounted books from the show, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at the⁠restishistory.com⁠ To read our new newsletter, sign up at: therestishistory.com/newsletters Advertise with us: Partnerships@goalhanger.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Video Editors: Jack Meek, Harry Swan + Adam Thornton Social Producer: Harry Balden Producers: Tabby Syrett & Aaliyah Akude Senior Producer: Callum Hill Executive Producer: Dom Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on September 29, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.

Categories: History·Politics