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“It was a relief to get ashore; we are packed so
tightly in the boats and moreover so heavily laden with
our kit that, had a shot hit the boat, we should have
no chance of saving ourselves – it was awful the
feeling of utter helplessness. Meanwhile the Turks pelted
us hot and fast. In jumping ashore I fell over, my kit
was so heavy; I couldn’t get up without help…
It was a magnificent spectacle to see those thousands
of men rushing through the hail of Death as though it
was some big game – these chaps don’t seem
to know what fear means…. The beach is littered
with wounded, some of them frightful spectacles; perchance
myself I may at any moment be even as they are.”
Background
on the Gallipoli campaign
On 4 August 1914 the European nations went to war. As
Australia was a British dominion, bound by a series
of alliances, Prime Minister Andrew Fisher's government
pledged full support for Britain and committed Australia
to enter the war. The outbreak of war was greeted, in
Australia, with great enthusiasm by some sections of
the population.
On 1 November
1914 a convoy of 36 transport ships carrying around
30,000 men and three escort warships sailed out of King
George Sound in Western Australia. The troops trained
in Egypt before being sent to the Gallipoli peninsula
to engage with strong Turkish forces.
On 25 April
1915 members of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF)
landed at Gallipoli together with troops from New Zealand
(ANZACs), Britain, and France. This began a campaign
that ended with the evacuation of troops on 19 and 20
December 1915. Following Gallipoli, Australian forces
fought campaigns on the Western Front and in the Middle
East.
By the end
of 1914, over 52,000 men had enlisted in the AIF. The
enlistment age was initially between the ages of 21
and 35 years. This was later raised to 44 years and
if men younger than 21 wished to enlist they needed
permission from their parents.
Around 60,000
Australians and 18,000 New Zealanders served at Anzac,
with the total allied force numbering 500,000. The Turkish
force was of a similar size. The eight month campaign
in Gallipoli saw over 8,700 Australian men killed in
action, died of wounds or disease. Turkey lost ten times
as many soldiers with over 86,000 casualties.
The Gallipoli
campaign was a failure. The well-planned evacuation
that ended during the early morning of 20 December enabled
14 Divisions to leave the Gallipoli peninsula with only
two deaths during the evacuation. Many of those who
served and survived Gallipoli went on to fight on the
Western Front in battles in which there were greater
causalities and harsher conditions.
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