(Gwilym & Margaret)
During his war service Gwilym went right through the Souvla Campaign and took part in the
evacuation, leaving with only the things he stood in, all his kit being left behind, then went to Gaza,
Palestine and Egypt, proving himself a worthy and gallant officer, being specially mentioned in
General Murray’s dispatches. General Murray was Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian
Expeditionary Force, in which role he laid the military foundation for the defeat and destruction of
the Ottoman empire in the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant.
On August 6th 1915 was the site for the landing at Souvla Bay by the British IX Corp as part of the
August Offensive during the Battle of Gallipoli. The landing, and others at various points along the
peninsula, were designed to capture the peninsula from Turkish troops defending it, and to open the
Dardanelles Straits to British warships – thus facilitating a planned naval attack on Constantinople
(Istanbul). The Gallipoli campaign ended in failure and high casualties for the British.
Gwilym was in hospital and his brother-in-law Lieut. F.J.L. Gribble (also in Egypt) was able to
inform progress to the family and, of course, to inform them of Gwilym’s death.