Wartime snapshot
2010 marks the 95th anniversary of the landings at Gallipoli and the commencement of the Gallipoli campaign.
On 4 August 1914 the European nations went to war. As Australia was a British dominion Prime Minister Andrew Fisher’s government pledged full support for Britain and committed Australia to war. The war’s outbreak was greeted in Australia with great enthusiasm by some sections of the population.
By the end of 1914, more than 52,000 men had enlisted. The enlistment age was initially between 21 and 35 years. This was later raised to 44 years, and men younger than 21 who wished to enlist could do so with permission from their parents.
On 1 November 1914 a convoy of three warships and 36 transport ships carrying around 30,000 men sailed out of King George Sound in Western Australia. The troops trained in Egypt and on 25 April 1915 members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) landed at Gallipoli together with troops from Britain, France and their empires. This began a campaign that ended with the evacuation of troops on 19 and 20 December 1915.
Around 60,000 Australians and 18,000 New Zealanders served on Gallipoli, with the total allied force numbering 500,000. The Turkish force was of a similar size. During the eight month campaign some 8700 Australians were killed in action, or died of wounds or disease. Turkey lost nearly ten times as many soldiers, with over 86,000 casualties.
The Gallipoli campaign was a failure, but the well-planned evacuation in December enabled the Australians to leave Gallipoli without further loss. Many of those who served on and survived Gallipoli went on to fight on the Western Front in battles marked by greater casualties and harsher conditions.
References
- Gallipoli and the Anzacs, DVA, 2010. An education resource for secondary schools
- Investigating Gallipoli, DVA, 2010. An education resource for primary schools
