Gallipoli, Turkey

As a wee boy growing up in Australia, the proud uniformed men marching through the streets of Sydney on Australia Day intrigued me.  Why were they called ANZACs? 

The ill- fated Gallipoli campaign in 1915 was an allied expedition carried out during the First World War. The aim being to gain control of the Dardanelles and the Bosporus straits from the Turks.  This would hopefully then lead to the allies capturing Constantinople (now Istanbul), which could possibly open up a supply route to the Black Sea to reinforce the Russian front.  The idea of taking control of the straits came from Winston Churchill, then the First Lord of the Admiralty.

Allied cooperation was poor, a severe lack of coordination between land and naval forces led to a two month delay between the naval bombardment and the landing of troops.  After the initial failure by the British naval bombardment to open the straits in Feb, the actual troop landings would not take place until April.

This two-month lag between the naval action and the arrival of land forces, gave the Turkish army ample time to reinforce its troops.  By April, the Turks had deployed six times as many troops as they had ready two months earlier.  The element of surprise was long gone.  On 25 April 1915, a landing force from the British Empire plus French troops landed at multiple places along the peninsula.

However, some of the landings went wrong and troops were landed in the wrong positions causing confusion that lost valuable time.  To make matters worse, this was followed up by only tentative attempts to make advances inland.  Most of the arriving armies were left on the beaches, which allowed the Turks to pour in reinforcements.  The battles over the next eight months saw high casualties on both sides due to the exposed terrain, weather and closeness of the front lines.  In addition, many casualties resulted from an epidemic of dysentery, caused by poor sanitary conditions.

Allied Trench

Trench

The allied landing and subsequent campaign on the peninsula during the First World War is usually known in Britain as the Dardanelle’s Campaign and in Turkey as the Battle of Çanakkale.  In Australia and New Zealand, the terms Gallipoli Campaign or just Gallipoli alone are used to describe the eight month campaign.

The campaign was also known for its successful stealthy retreat, when all went horribly wrong.  Total allied deaths were around 21,000 British, 10,000 French, 8,700 Australians, 2,700 New Zealanders and 1,370 Indians.  Total Turkish deaths were around 20,000.  New Zealanders suffered the highest percentage of allied deaths when compared with population size.

The volunteer ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps) troops, who were fighting under their own flag for the first time, lost more than 10,000 soldiers at Gallipoli.  Gallipoli is now viewed as the birthplace of their national identity, forging the characteristics of "mateship" and equality.

This campaign became a turning point in the national consciousness of several of the participants.  Australia and New Zealand still celebrate Anzac Day on 25th April, the day the Anzac troops landed at what is known as Anzac Cove.  Anzac Day is the most important national day of commemoration for Australians.

ANZAC Cove

The Sphinx at ANZAC Cove

Attendance at the Anzac Day dawn service at Gallipoli has become popular with upwards of 10,000 people having attended services in Gallipoli. Until recently, the Gallipoli dawn service was held at the Ari Burnu war cemetery at Anzac Cove, but the growing numbers of attendees resulted in the construction of a more spacious site on North Beach, Gallipoli, known as the "Anzac Commemorative Site".

Ari Burnu Cemetery

Graves near beach landing site

A diggers grave at Ari Burnu

Sailing recently on the Canakkale – Eceabat ferry from mainland Turkey through the Dardanelle’s, I wondered at the naval action that must have taken place prior to the allied landings.  It would appear not much has changed on the Gallipoli Peninsular in the 95 years since the landings, no heavy development and thankfully very little tourist type tack.

Gallipoli Peninsular

The Dardanelles

The work carried out by the Commonwealth Graves Commission is commendable; every cemetery is pristine and immaculate.

Lone Pine Cemetery

Allied graves Lone Pine Cemetery

New Zealand Cemetery

Royal Marine grave

Turkish Cemetery

An eerie silence prevails at the site of ANZAC landings at Anzac Cover, where graves lie only a few feet from the beach where these brave ‘diggers’ met their fate.

Lest we forget..........

The Dubliners, Galllpoli