The 336-page paperback tells the story of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers who, having been recruited in Ireland, were ordered to spearhead the invasion of Gallipoli in Turkey. It was to be the First World War’s largest seaborne invasion and the British High Command, deadlocked in trench warfare on the Western Front, had high hopes the assault would force Germany’s ally out of the war.
Using letters and photographs, Philip Lecane's book recalls the ‘Dubs’ officers and men who had been recalled from an idyllic posting in India to be billeted on the civilian population in England. They then set off on what was presented as a great adventure to win glory and capture Constantinople.
Beneath a Turkish Sky also gives the story of the Turkish defenders and the locality being invaded. Accompanied by the Royal Munster Fusiliers and packed aboard the SS River Clyde, the ‘Dubs’ landed from ships boats on the fiercely defended beach at Sedd-el-Bahr. The song The Foggy Dew says “It were better to die beneath an Irish sky than at Suvla or Sedd-el-Bahr.” This book tells the story of the forgotten Irishmen who died beneath a Turkish sky in what was Ireland’s D-Day.
ISBN: 9781845888657 - See more at: http://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/index.php/beneath-a-turkish-sky-pb.html#sthash.Wqnr4p42.dpuf
Publisher's website.
The book's formal launch will be by Tom Burke Chairman of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association on Wednesday 17 June. If you wish to attend, the invitation instructions advise you to 'Assemble' at Hodges Figgis, 56 Dawson Street, Dublin 2 at 6:30pm.