Dominic Sandbrook

This is something that has never been done before.

Egypt, yeah.

So they have troops in Egypt.

And as we will see, those are the Anzacs.

Who are they going to bring over?

So the man who was chosen to command the operation is one of Churchill's closest friends in the army.

He's a guy called Sir Ian Hamilton.

Sir Ian Hamilton is often given a very bad press in books about Gallipoli.

You know, you mentioned lions led by donkeys.

I mean, he's definitely not a donkey.

If you were being very critical of him, you'd say he was a bit of a dilettante.

And in fact, that's the criticism that people make.

He fought in both Boer Wars, decorated.

He's a novelist.

He's a poet.

He is regarded as, you know, the most cerebral, the most intellectual of the British Army's senior officers.

He's got a kind of quite a wry, sardonic sense of humor.

I like his line after the war.

He said, there is nothing certain about war, except that one side won't win.

And I think that suggests that he's not absurdly over-optimistic.