The Spectator at war: The price of failure

From ‘The Attack on the Dardanelles’, The Spectator, 27 February 1915:

THE British public have recognized the importance of the attack on the Dardanelles. They have seen instinctively that it means a great deal more than the mere bombardment of the vulnerable points offered by the enemy’s forts on the European and Asiatic sides of the gateway to Constantinople. It may be worth while, then, to show in more detail the significance of the action, and what are the results likely to ensue—provided that the general course of events is favourable to the Allies. Let us begin by saying, however, that, should the operations for any reason be temporarily unsuccessful, it would be most foolish to feel anxiety or even special disappointment. It is just one of those occasions when if we win the results may be enormously important, while if we cannot have our way and circumstances prove too much for us we shall, at any rate, be no worse off than we were before.