Item 01: Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett diary, 1915-1917 - Page 131
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[Page 131]
amidst the hardly concealed jeers of the onlookers. Well he has gone Thank God after helping to slaughter the equivalent of three as good Divisions as ever wore the British unaform. Nothing can bring back the dead and I do not think anyone will attempt to bring back Hunter Weston. On all sides you hear nothing but criticism of the Headquarters Staff and the incompetency of the other Generals.Sir I is criticised because he never visits the front lines. In fact I do not suppose he is known even by sight to the majority of his troops. He is especially unpopular with the Colonials chiefly on account of his throwing away two of their brigades in the reckless attack on Achi Baba on May 8th.
The Staff on the other hand dislike General Birdwood and are jealous of him and always carefully suppress any refernce to his doings.Oh the jealousies of the Generals. They surpass anything ever known before. I used to think politics a dirty game but the Army is four times as bad in this respect. The dispatches sent home to the unfortunate public contain the most ghastly lies. For instance in his last dispatch Sir Ian puts the Turkish killed at 5150 and estimates the wounded at 15000. As if he has any possible means of knowing. Probably their total losses in these abortive attacks amounted to some eight thousand killed and wounded. I think Aubrey Herbert's charge against him is the most serious of all namely the wickedness of always leaving thousands of our wounded to perish in front of the lines after these attacks have failed instead of arranging for an armistace for their burial. The Turks have alway proved themselves perfectly willing to have armistaces and have actually asked for one at Helles which was refused by our General Staff.