to leg it from the German submarine; there is no ammunition
for the guns; no drafts to keep my Divisions up to strength; my Russians
have gone to Galicia and the Greeks are lying lower than ever.

"No. M.F. 288. From General Sir Ian Hamilton to Earl Kitchener. With
reference to my telegrams No. M.F. 274 of 29th May, and No. M.F. 234 of
17th May. If the information sent by Hanbury-Williams, to which I
referred in my No. M.F. 274, is correct it is advisable that I should
send you a fresh appreciation of the situation.

"I assumed in my No. M.F. 234 that you had adequate forces at your
disposal, but on the other hand I assumed that some 100,000 Turks would
be kept occupied by the Russians. By the defection of Russia, 100,000
Turks are set free in the Caucasus and European Turkey. After deduction
of casualties there are at least 80,000 Turks now against us in the
Peninsula. There are 20,000 Turks on the Bulgarian frontier which,
assuming that Bulgaria remains neutral, are able to reinforce Gallipoli;
some, in fact, have already arrived showing the restoration of Turkish
confidence in King Ferdinand. Close by on the Asiatic side there remain
10,000 Turks, making a total of 210,000, to which must be added 65,000
who are under training in Europe.

"The movement of the Turkish troops has already begun. There are
practically no troops left in Smyrna district, and there are already in
the field numbers of troops from European garrisons, while recently it
was reported that more are coming.

"The movement of a quarter of a million men against us seems to be well
under way, and although many of these are ill-trained still with
well-run supply and ammunition columns and in trenches designed by
Germans the Turk is always formidable.

"As regards ammunition, the enemy appears to have an unlimited supply of
small-arm ammunition and as many hand-grenades as they can fling. Though
there is some indication that gun ammunition is being husbanded, it was
reported as late as 27th May, that supplies of shells were being
received _via_ Roumania, and yesterday it was suggested that artillery
ammunition can be manufactured at Constantinople where it is reported
that over two hundred engineers have arrived from Krupp's.

"At the same time, the temporary withdrawal of our battleships owing to
enemy submarines has altered the position to our disadvantage; while not
of the highest importance materially this factor carries considerable
moral wei