John is fascinated with the tragedy that was Gallipoli, one of the most disastrous campaigns in the First World War. This occurred over nine torrid months in 1915. Winston Churchill takes much of the blame for the disaster, he was largely responsible for encouraging an Allied task force to land on the Gallipoli peninsula in north-western Turkey. He argued that once they secured the peninsula, the Royal Navy would sail up the Bosporus and force the Turkish Government in Constantinople, to sue for peace. Alas, the devil was in the detail. John has visited the Gallipoli peninsula and has extensively researched the history of the campaign. He has discovered that two of his great uncles served there.
Views: 209 | Enquiries: 0John Mather graduated from Bristol University in 1976 and is a retired Chartered Civil Engineer, having spent a 41 year career in the construction and maintenance of highways & bridges. John is passionate about swimming and has swum in many lakes and rivers in Europe and further abroad. As well as nearly being arrested by the Turkish navy when swimming in the River Bosporus and dodging Komodo dragons in Indonesia, his coldest swim was in Siberia's Lake Baikal! He has written two books about swimming. These are entitled: • “A Pictorial Guide to Greater Manchester’s Public Swimming Pools” (ISBN: 978-1-291-117890-5) Published by Rossendale Books 2012 • “Challenging Waters: The Diary of a Lake District Swimmer” (ISBN: 978-0-9955990-0-0). Published by Sublime Swimming Press on the 28th February 2018
As well as volunteering for the Lake District National Park Authority and occasionally helping out on archaeological excavations, his other interests include art and the history of both civil engineering and the First World War.
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