An international conference to mark the 95th anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign will be held at the Australian War Memorial in August, the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Alan Griffin, announced today. Gallipoli: A ridge too far will examine the climactic battles of early August 1915, including those at Lone Pine, the Nek, Chunuk Bair, Hill 60 and Suvla Bay.

“Although often overshadowed by the landings of 25 April, 1915, these bloody struggles marked the turning point of the entire eight-month-long land campaign on the Turkish peninsula,” Mr Griffin said. “In early August 1915, after months of stalemate in the trenches on Gallipoli, British, Australian, New Zealand and Indian troops launched a series of assaults in an all-out attempt to break the deadlock and achieve a decisive victory. The ‘August offensive’ resulted in heart-breaking failure and costly losses on both sides.”

Debate has continued to the present day over the strategy and planning, the real or illusory opportunities for success, and the causes of failure in what became the last throw of the dice for the Allies. Some argue these costly attacks were a lost opportunity; others maintain the outcomes were inevitable. The conference will draw leading military historians from around the world to bring multi-national perspectives to these intriguing questions.

Speakers from Australia, New Zealand, Britain, France, Germany and Turkey will present their most recent research findings. The keynote speaker will be Professor Robin Prior of the University of Adelaide, author of Gallipoli: the end of the myth (2009). Other speakers will include the Australian War Memorial’s Dr Peter Pedersen , Dr Stephen Badsey from the United Kingdom, Professor Holger Afflerbach from Germany and Turkish expert Kenan Çelik OAM.

Mr Griffin said it was most appropriate that the conference be held at the Australian War Memorial on Thursday 5 and Friday 6 August, 2010, the eve of the 95th anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of Lone Pine.

“In the words of renowned First World War historian, Professor Jay Winter of Yale University, the Australian War Memorial is a unique institution braiding together the emotive power of a shrine, the representational power of a museum, and the scholarly riches of a great archive. The Australian War Memorial is one of the premier centres for First World War studies in the world today. It enables scholars and laymen to come together in an act of recognition, the recognition that the Great War shaped the world in which we live,” Mr Griffin said.

Those interested in attending the conference can register or find further information at: www.awm.gov.au/events/conference/2010/