General Sir Ian Hamilton
Ian Hamilton commanded the Gallipoli campaign and never held another command. Born in Corfu in 1853, the son of an army officer, he was commissioned into the Gordon Highlanders and served in Afghanistan, in the First Boer War at Majuba Hill, where his left wrist was shattered, in the Nile expedition, in Burma and on the North-West Frontier. He was Kitchener's chief of staff in the Second Boer War and was twice recommended for the Victoria Cross, refused on both occasions on the grounds of seniority. He was a military attaché with the Japanese army in Manchuria in 1904-05, and his published observations on entrenchments, machine guns and the cost of frontal assault were prescient and largely ignored. He was cultivated, wrote poetry, and was regarded as one of the ablest officers of his generation. In March 1915 Kitchener gave him the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force with almost no staff, no intelligence beyond a tourist guidebook and an out-of-date map, and no clear idea of the enemy's strength. The landings of 25 April 1915 on the Gallipoli peninsula were opposed and contained within days. Hamilton commanded from a ship offshore, was reluctant to interfere with subordinates who were failing, and did not press Kitchener for what he needed. The August offensive at Suvla achieved surprise and was squandered by inertia ashore. He reported that evacuation would cost half the force, was recalled in October 1915, and the evacuation in December was carried out without a single casualty. He spent the rest of his life defending the campaign, and died in 1947.
- Lived: 1853 CE – 1947 CE
- Nationality: British
- Roles: general
