Gallipoli
In 1914, the cabled reports from Europe gave an increasingly desperate forecast – Europe was teetering towards war in a conflict between an increasingly stronger and powerful German empire and the rival British, French and Russian alliance.
As Britain returned to work after the August Bank Holiday Monday, war was declared on Germany and the declaration involved the whole British Empire. Australia’s Prime Minister Joseph Cook said: “If the Old Country is at war, so are we”.
Australia was in the middle of an election campaign. The opposition leader Andrew Fisher promised Great Britain “our last man and our last shilling” in any conflict with Germany. And the Prime Minister responded. ‘Our duty is quite clear – to gird up our loins and remember that we are Britons’.
There was almost jubilation at the outbreak of war. Most thought that the war would be all over by Christmas and men rushed to recruiting centers because they didn’t want to miss the excitement and adventure.
Canada offered 30,000 men, Australia pledged 20,000 and New Zealand already had compulsory military training. For the war In Europe, Australia raised a new army of volunteers – the Australian Imperial Force (the AIF). Recruiting began within days of the declaration of war.
Those who were too young raised their ages – and most were accepted.(See ‘Boy Soldiers’)
In little over a month, marches were held in the main capital cities hoping to encourage others to join them. They were called “six bob a day tourists” because their pay was considered high and many thought the war would soon be over – when Britain’s navy and army would tackle the German enemy.
The convoy with the Australian Division assembled in late October, and they were then joined by the New Zealanders. They formed the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps – the Anzacs – on their way Europe via the Suez Canal but the Anzacs disembarked In Egypt where they encamped near the pyramids ready for action against Turkey which had joined Germany in the war.
The Russians who were fighting on Germany’s eastern front, wanted the British and French to tackle the Turks to reduce pressure on Russia. The Anzacs Joined the British and French in a dreadful baptism of fire at Gallipoli. The British commanders anticipated that the Gallipoli peninsula would be “open to landing on very easy terms” and Turkey would have a force of only 40,000 to meet them.
On 25 April 1915, the Anzacs landed at a difficult and desolate spot on the Gallipoli peninsula and the Turks appeared to be ready for them. The Anzacs made little headway over a series of rocky heights covered with thorny scrub. At great cost the Anzacs, British and French made small advances, but Its force was wasting with casualties and sickness, while the Turks were able to reinforce their forces.
In August another offensive was made against the Turks, casualties were heavy, but it failed and a defeat was inevitable, The Gallipoli campaign was a debacle, Military censorship prevented the true story being told but a young Australian journalist, Keith Murdoch (father of Australian newspaper tycoon Rupert Murdoch) smuggled the story about the scale of the Dardanelles disaster back to the Australian Prime Minister who sent it on to the British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, who was no friend of the British military establishment. It led directly to the dismissal of the British commander, Sir Ian Hamilton who never again was to hold a senior military position.
The British Government ordered an evacuation. By day, the Anzacs kept up their attacks with more Anzacs observed to be landing – by night the force was withdrawn, broken only by sporadic rifle and gunfire. On 20 December 1915, the Anzac retreat was complete, unnoticed by the Turks who continued to bombard the Anzacs’ empty trenches. On 9 January 1916, the Turks carried out their last offensive on Gallipoli, revealing only that the entire force had withdrawn without casualty. The evacuation was the Allies most successful operation in Gallipoli.
A British Royal Commission into Gallipoli concluded that from the outset the risk of failure outweighed Its chances of success. The British had contributed 468,000 in the battle for Gallipoli with 33.512 killed. 7,636 missing and 78,000 wounded.
The Anzacs lost 8,000 men in Gallipoli and a further 18,000 were wounded. The Anzacs went on to serve with distinction in Palestine and on the western front in France.
Australia had a population of five million – 330,000 served in the war, 59,000 were killed.
New Zealand with a population of one million lost 18,000 men out of 110,000 and had 55000 wounded. These New Zealand figures (62%) represent the highest percentage of all units from the Anglo-Saxon world.
For nine months in 1915, British and French forces battled the Ottoman Empire – modern Turkey – for control of the Gallipoli peninsula, a small finger of Europe jutting into the Aegean Sea that dominates a strategic waterway, the Dardanelles. By opening the Dardanelles to their fleets, the Allies hoped to threaten the Ottoman capital, Constantinople (now Istanbul) and knock the Turks out of the war.
Among the British forces were the Anzacs – the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps – who landed on the peninsula on 25 April. The landing, like the Gallipoli campaign itself, was ambitious and ultimately unsuccessful: the peninsula remained in its defenders’ hands.
The campaign was a costly failure for the Allies: 44,000 British and French soldiers died, including over 8700 Australians. Among the dead were 2721 New Zealanders – roughly one-quarter of those who fought on Gallipoli. Victory came at a high price for the Turks: 87,000 men died in the campaign which became a defining moment in Turkish history The Gallipoli campaign was a relatively minor part of the First World War (1914-18), but it has great significance for New Zealand’s history and it has become an important symbol of its national identity. The campaign was the first time that New Zealand stepped on to the world stage, and the New Zealanders made a name for themselves fighting hard, against the odds, in an inhospitable environment.
New Zealand marks the anniversary of the Gallipoli landings each year on Anzac Day – 25 April – remembering not only those who died there, but all who have served the country in times of war. The Gallipoli battlefields are now part of the 33,000 hectare Gallipoli Peninsula Historical National Park, or the Peace Park.
Anzac Cove is perhaps the most famous spot on the Gallipoli Peninsular. This small cove which is 600m long, is where the men of the ANZAC corps first came ashore on 25 April 1915 and were sent immediately into battle along the Second Ridge. ANZAC Cove was only a kilometre of the frontline on the mountainous western side of the peninsula and within easy range of Turkish artillery, who inflicted massive casualties. By 1st May 1915, more than 27,000 ANZAC’s had landed at Gallipoli and ANZAC Cove became the main base for the Australian and New Zealand troops for the eight months of the Battle of Gallipoli. The Dawn Service was traditionally held within the cove until 1999 when a larger capacity purpose built “Anzac Commemorative Site” was constructed nearby on North Beach which is within easy walking distance.
Lone Pine was the site of one of the most famous battles of the Gallipoli campaign. From 6th – 9th August 1915, the maze of log covered trenches at Lone Pine became the scene of bloody, hand to hand combat, as the Australians attempted to take control of the Turkish line and divert the Turks attention from Chunuk Bair, which was the objective of the August offensive. The battle of Lone Pine was a rare success for the ANZACs, although it was at a very high price; 2200 Australians and 6000 Turks were killed of wounded. The site gained its name after the Turks cut down all but one of the Aleppo pines, which the ANZACs called the lonesome pine. Today the Lone Pine cemetery covers part of the battlefield and one tree raised from the seed of a Gallipoli cone, stands at the site. Lone Pine is the largest Commonwealth War Grave Commission Cemetery on the Gallipoli peninsular and it is the site of the Australian memorial service on ANZAC day.
Shrapnel Valley (aka Shrapnel Gully) which leads to Monash Valley, was vital to the ANZAC campaign. Although always under heavy Turkish fire (hence the name), Shrapnel Valley was the main route for Allied troops with essential supplies, to reach the front line along the Second Ridge. Many ANZACs lost their lives here, including Private John Simpson Kirkpatrick who was shot on 19 May 1915. Simpson famously evacuated wounded men from the slopes of the valley using donkeys and he is buried at Beach Cemetery. Today Shrapnel Valley is the second largest cemetery on the peninsula. It is also one of the most beautiful memorial sites, with a distinctive Judas tree in the centre.
Chunuk Bair is the second highest peak of the Sari Bair range, and the capture of this peak was one of the main objectives of the Allied August offensive. The New Zealanders managed to successfully take control of Chunuk Bair on 8th August but they were unable to hold the position whilst waiting for reinforcements, and the Turks regained control on the 10th. The loss of Chunuk Bair marked the end of the effort to reach the central hills of the Peninsula. The Chunuk Bair Cemetary was created after the armistice on the site and now 632 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War are buried here. In the cemetary a New Zealand National Memorial stands alongside the Ataturk Memorial. On ANZAC Day this site is where the New Zealand memorial service is held.
North Beach lies adjacent to ANZAC Cove, past the headland of Ari Burnu. A distinctive rocky outcrop nicknamed the “Sphinx’ by the ANZACs, overlooks North Beach, which now plays host to the ANZAC Day Commemorative Service each year. On 25th April 1915, one of the first waves of the 11th Battalion from Western Australia landed on North Beach and desperately struggled upwards to reach the plateau, under Turkish fire. Reaching the top, a day long struggle ensued as they fired upon the Turks in an effort to move inland and gain ground, whilst the Turks were withdrawing towards the ridge line. One of the men to come ashore at North Beach was Private John Simpson Kirkpatrick of the 3rd Field Ambulance, known as the ‘man with the donkey’. The 3rd Field Ambulance men set up an aid post at North Beach during the morning of 25th April, to search cliffs around the sphinx to find and care for the wounded.
