to cross the frontier. An Allied spy later confirmed that Bulgaria had no intent of breaching the border, instead halting from it. The battle at Kosturino and the subsequent evacuation of the Allies resulted in 1,209 British casualties, including 99 killed, 386 wounded, 724 missing and 10 artillery pieces. French casualties amounted to 1,804 killed, wounded or missing, as well as 12 machine guns and 36 ammunition wagons. The number of Bulgarian losses during the battle are estimated to vastly greater than that of the Allies, with at least 400 being killed on 9 December. Aftermath Thus there resulted a clear, albeit incomplete victory for the Central Powers. As a consequence they opened the railway line from Berlin to Constantinople, allowing Germany to prop up its weaker partner, the Ottoman Empire. Despite the Central Powers' victory, the Allies managed to save a part of the Serbian Army, which although battered, seriously reduced and almost unarmed, escaped total destruction and after reorganizing resumed operations six months later. And most damagingly for the Central Powers, the Allies—using the moral excuse of saving the Serbian Army—managed to replace the impossible Serbian front with a viable one established in Macedonia (albeit by violating the territory of an officially neutral country); a front which would prove key to their final victory three years later. The Allies were able to concentrate on fortifying the so-called Entrenched Camp, in preparation for a large scale Bulgarian invasion of Greece and an impending assault on Salonika. Following the failure of the August Offensive, the Gallipoli Campaign drifted. Ottoman success began to affect public opinion in the United Kingdom, with news discrediting Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton's performance being smuggled out by journalists like Keith Murdoch and Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett. Disaffected senior officers such as General Stopford also contributed to the overall air of gloom. The prospect of evacuation was raised on 11 October 1915 but Hamilton resisted the suggestion, fearing the damage to British prestige. He was dismissed as commander shortly afterwards and replaced by Lieutenant General Sir Charles Monro. Autumn and winter brought relief from the heat but also led to gales, blizzards and flooding, resulting in men drowning and freezing to death, while thousands suffered frostbite. After consulting with the commanders of VIII Corps at Helles, IX Corps at Suvla, and Anzac, Sir Herbert Kitchener agreed with Monro and passed his recommendation to the British Cabinet, who confirmed the