ABSTRACT
In Egypt the Turkish forces had reached the Suez Canal, and after an encounter on February 3rd had retired discomfited into the Sinai Peninsula. Meanwhile military events in the eastern theatre of war were not facilitating our diplomatic efforts in the Balkans. For the remainder of February the Councils activities were concentrated almost entirely on the task of scraping up troops for the Dardanelles. The Russian defeats made success at the Dardanelles more important than ever. Churchill had strong support on the War Council for his view, but Kitchener would not budge. The Allied divisions could be disposed to prevent Bulgaria from attacking Greece. Kitchener was insistent, however, that Russian troops should also be brought to the scene; Bulgarian troops, he thought, would never fire on Russians. Kitchener, recognizing that first-rate troops would be required for the Salonica venture, proposed to use the 29th Division, and to send instead to French a first-rate Territorial division, the North Midland.
