Gallipoli Today

Gallipoli is now an important symbol for Australia’s involvement in the first World War and a place of tribute for all those who lost their lives in the battle. Their deaths have not been in vain and slowly, we are learning to appreciate the effort they put in so that we can have a better, more peaceful future today.

People attend the service at the Lone Pine Australian memorial in Gallipoli.

We now commemorate our losses with two important dates in our calendar: ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day. On April the 25^th, we Australians go by the custom of a minute’s silence to remember those who died in the war. We also hold a traditional Dawn Service at the Shrine of Remembrance and have been doing so since ANZAC Day in 1923. Come Remembrance Day, we commemorate the death of our loyal soldiers with red poppies and another minute’s silence to remember the ending of the first World War, of the suffering at the time.

Red poppies are a symbol of Remembrance Day , but they are closely associated with ANZAC Day.
Red poppies grew wild on the European battlefields of WW1.

The horror of the Australian soldiers’ massacre in Turkey will forever be remembered as a cruel and dark time, and because of its disastrous landing plans, it will always remain a significant part in our Australian history and to many Australians. An Australian official correspondent by the name of Charles Bean claimed that our landing in Gallipoli cemented this sense of Australian nationhood, of identity. We Australians would not be who we are today if it were not for those many brave soldiers.

Lest we forget. 

THE BATTLE OF GALLIPOLI - RARE FILM FOOTAGE

 

This is a video of some rare, original footage filmed from the war in Gallipoli in 1915. The first 48 seconds of the film clip is spent setting the scene of Gallipoli. It seems rather peaceful and unharmed. Then, we see bombs coming from the navy warships, presumably from the Allied force. About a minute and a bit into the video, we then notice soldiers on foot and on horse, some hiding from gunfire. There are guns are hauled over fences, men in trenches and a tent probably for treating the injured. The war hasn’t been glorified one bit. It’s a tough time for all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feVOwtwR4OM

What happened at Gallipoli?

I remember it all too well. I was merely fifteen years of age when I was called upon to go into the war. Young, naïve, I craved a sense of masculinity and pride for my country. So there I was, in a navy vessel, halfway across the world from home in a completely unknown territory. After much intensive training in Egypt, we had been summoned to the Dardanelles in Turkey. I think it had something to do with communication with Russia.

Recruitment and Conscription in World War One

It was perhaps around 4:30 in the morning on the 25^th of April. The sun had barely come out. I almost sensed that something was not quite right as we landed on the shore of Galliipoli. As soon as we clambered out of our boats, they fired. Everywhere around me, troops fell. Clambering low, I took shelter in a small crevice and hid. From there, I could see that the Turks could easily attack us from their position upon this cliff. We were so vulnerable. Why had we been sent to our deaths? Halfway during the day, the remainder of the ANZAC arrived to the bloodshed and many suffered the same kind of terrible, tragic fate.

This soon turned into a trench war stalemate. Both our forces and the Turks had many casualties. This perhaps lasted about six months before we were all evacuated from the disastrous, failed mission. Nobody, I repeat, nobody, should ever have to witness the horror I did that day.



Australian troops landing at Anzac Cove at 8.00 am, 25th April, 1915.



Introduction to Gallipoli

The Gallipoli peninsula is located in Turkey, Europe. It is most well known for the devastating results that occurred because of the battle that took place between the Australian and Turkish soldiers during World War 1.

In these following blog posts, we will explore a few major aspects of Gallipoli and its’ role in World War 1. 

This post will introduce Gallipoli and what we will cover in the entries to come. There will be information on the events at Gallipoli, its’ purpose, why it means so much to Australia and finally, what it represents today.

  

Gallipoli Peninsula

When thinking of Australia’s connections to the Great War, many people will first think of Gallipoli. More than 8000 Australian soldiers died here, and around 15,000 were wounded.  It is tied into ANZAC Day, on the 25th of April every year, when we commemorate the soldiers who lost their lives to protect us in that war. 

Anzac Day Dawn Service, Australian War Memorial Canberra, 25 April 2002

The name Gallipoli comes from the Greek word ‘gallipoli’, meaning ‘beautiful city’. Before a destructive earthquake in 1354, the city of Gallipoli belonged to the ancient Greeks. It was soon reclaimed by one of the first few Ottoman Turkish empires. It was also used by the British and French during the 1854 Crimean War. Gallipoli was not part of any other wars until World War One.

Introduction to World War One

It began with the assassination of an Archduke and his wife.  It lasted four years from 1914 to 1918, killing more than 9 million people. This is World War I, the Great War, a horrific period in our history that forever changed the world.

But how did it all begin? Historians have now deduced there are four main reasons that led to the Great War: the Alliance System, nationalism, militarism and imperialism.

The Alliance System split most of 1914 Europe into two main alliances. One was the Triple Entente, which consisted of France, Russia and Britain. The Triple Alliance consisted instead of Germany, Austria-Hungary and for a short while, Italy. Another major cause for the World War was also because of this strong sense of nationalism. This meant unquestioning loyalty to one’s nation and also fear and suspicion of foreigners. The third reason for the World War was because of militarism. There was this sort of Arms Race between all of the Great Powers. The last reason for the Great War was because of imperialism.  Some of the nations had made pacts with other countries around the world. It wasn’t a case of simply a war breaking out in Europe. This was going to escalate to great levels.

The British Empire was very great and had control over many nations at the time. This was how Australia became involved in the Great War. Over 300,000 men took part, and of this number, more than half were either killed or injured.