To be successful, a modern army needs logistical support to survive - to
arm, feed, transport, and care for its soldiers. As history shows us the
maintenance of health in any army, is a key factor in warfare.
In many respects the Gallipoli campaign was a doomed undertaking. The
seeds of ultimate defeat in December 1915 were the risks that attended a
hugely ambitious, complex, and large-scale amphibious operation - the
landings on well-defended shores on the Gallipoli peninsula, under cover
of darkness. Communications at the time were primitive, while general
staff officers had little understanding of their own army's medical
assets or the needs of a large medical organization. The Australian Army
Medical Corps (AAMC) received aid from, and gave support to, all five
forces at various times during 1915. Underlying the execution of the
Dardanelles campaign were factors wholly outside the control of the
Australian AMS. Undoubtedly tragic, and sometimes avoidable, errors were
made at the highest level of command, with subsequent pressures on the
AMS. An amphibious operation of this type and scale, however, was
without parallel in modern military history, and mistakes were
inevitable, as they are with any campaign of such complexity. Gallipoli
An Australian Medical Perspective explores these complexities and
mistakes through the eyes of the infant Australian Army Medical Corps.
