Suvla 15
by Wayne Osborne
Published 2015 by Salient Books, Beeston, Nottingham
ISBN 978-0-9574459-5-6
Paperback, 195pp including appendices, bibliography, index
In the deluge of books on the Great War that are being published during these centenary years, here is one that stands out. It covers the build up to and execution of a terribly flawed and hopeless attack by units of the Yeomanry in the hills above Gallipoli’s Suvla Bay on 21-22 August 1915. This is one of the larger operations of the campaign in that area yet hitherto has received comparatively little attention in terms of published work.
Wayne Osborne has written several works before, mainly on the Sherwood Foresters and the 17th (Northern) Division, and his company Salient Books published one of the best of soldier’s memoirs, “Joffrey’s war”. He has also co-authored two volumes based on the diaries of Colonel Alexander Weston Jarvis – and Jarvis that acts as a thread running through “Suvla 15” for he commanded the 1/3rd (County of London) Yeomanry in the attack.
As the author says, he begins with the particular – following the mobilisation and training of Jarvis’s regiment; its move to Egypt and the disappointments of being left out of battle for a considerable time – and broadens out as we enter the battlefield, to put the regiment’s experience in the wider context of that of the 2nd Mounted Division.
“Suvla 15” is a good read. It is well researched and referenced but avoids the dryness of academia. It spans from high command decisions down to the grim experience of individual hapless dismounted troops of the Yeomanry as they find themselves ordered into a chaotic, smoking and bloody hell in front of the Turkish trenches. It is at once objective yet highly sympathetic to their plight. A book that makes you wince and thank God you were not there. But also a book that finds the lighter side of life during the somewhat haphazard mobilisation and the months of training. It can be read in one or two sittings, yet is also useful as a work of reference. Great stuff.
Maps are a perennial problem for military authors. The page format of this book is typical paperback 21.5 by 14 cm. Squeezing any map onto that is hard work. Yet somehow the three maps included have been managed to maintain clarity. Most unusual! The cover and chapter headings are sketches by Colin Smith: they are a nice enhancement.
Highly recommended.
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