When World War I began, poet John Masefield had joined the staff of a British hospital for French soldiers, serving briefly in 1915 as a hospital orderly, and later publishing his own account of his experiences. As he was old enough to be exempted from military service, Masefield then visited the United States on a three month lecture tour to collect information on the mood and views of Americans about the war in Europe.
When he returned to England, he submitted a report to the British Foreign Office about the failure of the allied forces in the Dardanelles. As a result of that report, Masefield wrote Gallipoli. This book was an outstanding success, encouraging the British people and lifting them somewhat from the disappointment they had felt as a result of the Allied losses in the Dardanelles.
Published when the terror of Gallipoli was fresh in people’s minds, John Masefield described what the common soldier had endured in that dreadful campaign. His book was written a few months after the Allied withdrawal and is a classic.
