Gentle waves flop onto the pebbly shore. In another world, eighty-five years ago, Simpson and countless others landed on this beach, north of Ari Burnu. Back then, manhood was measured on the battlefield. Australians called themselves British. Now Turkey welcomes the annual ‘invasion’ of Australians. ‘Hello Anzac,’ yell the street traders and rug merchants of Istanbul.
Few Australians gathered here could explain the folly of the August offensive. Some don’t even bother to poke around the hills and valleys where the Gallipoli legend was made. A pebble or a handful of sand will do as a memento. Maybe a photo of Simpson’s grave. Then it’s back to the bus. But Gallipoli is forgiving like that. You don’t have to wrestle with the detail to feel its pull.
Just before dawn the ridges behind North Beach show up like arthritic fingers. Politicians take turns in trying to express what Gallipoli means. But you keep turning back to the cliffs. Wind and rain have eroded them but they still look out over everything. It’s what the Anzacs saw rise out of the blackness when they landed on 25 April 1915.
How would we face battle? This is what the Australian battalion commander Walter McNicoll wondered as his men climbed into the boats. The Australians did well in their debut, as many saw it, on the world stage. Later, they did even better – in France and Belgium. Nearly six times as many Australians died there than died at Gallipoli. Cliff Pinnock, the nervous evacuee, died in France. So did Ivor Margetts, the Hobart school teacher who fretted that the Gallipoli landing would make or mar the name of Australia.
Monash, too, sensed that Australian deeds at Gallipoli would linger in history. ‘I suppose that some day, on some high plateau overlooking Anzac Beach, there will be a noble memorial erected by the people of Australia, to honour the memory of their fallen dead, who lie peacefully sleeping in the little cemeteries in the valleys around,’ he wrote during the campaign.
2015 and beyond
It may be a century later, but Gallipoli’s hold is stronger than ever. A ballot system has presented 3800 Australians with double passes for the 2015 Anzac Day dawn service. More than 42 000 Australians had applied for a place – more than twice the number of Anzacs who landed at Anzac Cove in the first 12 hours of 25 April 1915.
There are memorials all over Gallipoli now, soaring white columns, thousands upon thousands of headstones, a lost generation mouldering in the tawny ground of a foreign field. But these memorials are perhaps not as affecting as sitting alone in the dark on the Gallipoli shore and letting your imagination take hold.
As the blackness turns to an inky blue, you think you can glimpse the lifeboats and see the faces of young men from Adelaide and Hobart. Grim faces of men going to war, men going out to kill other men. And innocent faces, too, wide-eyed and open. Because on that April morning these young Australians had no notion of how terrible war could be.
They are all gone now, these men. And in another sense, because they have found their way into our hearts and minds, they are with us forever.
Anzacs clamber off a transport ship at Gallipoli, 25 April 1915. (AWM J05589)
Many Australian units took mascots to Egypt. (AWM C02588)
The Sphinx. (AWM C01488)
Anzac Cove. Note the naked swimmers. (AWM H03500)
Eager for news from Gallipoli, crowds gather outside the office of the Argus. (AWM H11613)
Wounded men, early May. (AWM C02679)
Winston Churchill, pictured here in France, drove the decision to invade Turkey. (AWM H12243)
Captain Phil Fry. A soldier sleeps in a dugout behind him. Fry was killed in a bayonet charge. (AWM A05401)
Packing cases serve as stairs for the steep climb up Pope’s Hill. (AWM H15375)
John Simpson Kirkpatrick, right, alongside a skeleton used to train stretcher-bearers at a Western Australia camp. (AWM A03116)
Anzacs wait for a letter – their only contact with the outside world. (AWM P01116.047)
Private Oliver Cumberland. (COURTESY OF JOAN CROMMELIN)
Private Joe Cumberland. (COURTESY OF JOAN CROMMELIN)
Alfred Cameron, of the 3rd Light Horse, was one of the few Aborigines to serve at Gallipoli. (COURTESY OF THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM)
Mustafa Kemal, later known as Atatürk, is credited with saving the Turkish position. (AWM A05319)
The wedding of Phil Robin, third from the right, and Nellie in Egypt. Behind Robin stands Arthur Blackburn. (COURTESY OF ROBIN ASHWIN)
Sergeant Cyril Lawrence gets a haircut. (AWM P02226.020)
Historian Charles Bean, front, and British journalist Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett at Imbros, 1915. (AWM A5382)
Lieutenant General William Birdwood swims in the Aegean. (AWM G00401)
Colonel John Monash survived Gallipoli to become Australia’s most famous military leader. (AWM A01241)
General Sir Ian Hamilton the day after he was sacked as Allied commander-in-chief. (AWM H10350)
The youngest Anzac, Private James Martin, before leaving for war. He died in October 1915, aged fourteen. (AWM P00069.001)
Lieutenant Hugo Throssell in a London hospital after earning the Victoria Cross at Hill 60. (AWM P00516.003)
Taking aim with a periscope rifle. (AWM A04045)
Captain Alfred Shout was the most decorated Anzac at Gallipoli. He died after the battle of Lone Pine, where he earned the Victoria Cross. (AWM G01028)
Making bombs out of jam tins, explosives, shrapnel and barbed wire. (AWM G00267)
A blindfolded Turkish envoy is carried over wire entanglements by naked Anzacs. (AWM G00988)
Australians and Turks bury fallen soldiers during the truce. (AWM H03954
A self-firing rifle devised to give troops time to evacuate without the Turks noticing. (AWM G01291)
Dragging a water tank up the hills above Anzac Cove. (AWM G01117)
The wounded below Pope’s Hill on the morning of 7 August. (AWM C02707)
An officer mourns the loss of a mate. (AWM G00419)
Chaplain Ernest Merrington uses biscuit boxes and a scrap of cloth as an altar. (AWM P01875.004)
Anzacs playing cricket on Shell Green to distract the Turks from the evacuation. Shells can be seen exploding in the background. (AWM G01289)
An unidentified Anzac in France. The ‘A’ on his shoulder denotes service at Gallipoli. (AWM E03886)
Appendix I – Soldiers Write Home
Oliver Cumberland writes to his sister.
Cairo
31-5-15
Dear Una,
I suppose you received my last letter in which I told you I was slightly wounded. I am quite well now and expect to go back to the front any time, but Una, prepare yourself to hear the worst if you have not already heard it – poor Joe is gone – he died of wounds in Alexandria hospital on the fifth of May. I did not know until yesterday, I went to headquarters offices in Cairo and saw the list of killed and wounded. I had been very anxious wondering where he was, and when I saw the list I did not know what to do. I wandered about the streets nearly mad, I felt so lonely. I am letting you know at once because I think it is always best to know the truth, however sad. He died for his Country Una, I know how you will feel sister – God help you all to bear it.
If I can get away for a couple of hours when I pass through Alexandria, on my way back to the front, I will visit the hospital where he died and see if he left any message.
I received a bunch of letters from home yesterday and two postcards from Doris. I suppose you will have seen the list of killed and wounded in the papers before you get this.
I think the worst of the fighting in Turkey is over now, it could not be any worse than it was the first few days.
Well dear sister there is no more to say so I will conclude, with best love to all
Your affectionate Brother
Oliver
My address is still the same.
Colonel William Malone, writing from Anzac to his two young sons, 9 May 1915: it must have taken some effort to find something cheerful to write about.
&nb
sp; I see lots of strange things here, big ships and little ones, aeroplanes and all sorts of guns and things. Soldiers and sailors. The other day a tortoise called on me. There were two or three of them living in a bank close to where I slept. I lived on the bank too. There were lots of frogs. I didn’t see them, but they made such funny croaking – not like our frogs. Something like birds with a bad cold.
A letter from Private John Simpson:
28.2.15
Dear Mother,
Just a line to let you know that we are leaving Egypt today. I don’t know where we are bound for but hope that it will be England or France. Now Mother you will have to excuse short note as we are all in a hustle and bustle to get the transports waggons [sic] packed and leave this afternoon. So with love to you and Annie
I remain
Your loving son
Jack
A letter home from Private James Grieve.
Firing Line
Aug 27th 1915
Dear Mum and Dad,
Just a few lines to let you know that I am still alive and doing fairly well under the circumstances. After leaving Heliopolis where I wrote the last letter from, we went to Alexandria in the train, and there we boarded the boat. We didn’t see much of Alexandria as we got right off the train and on to the boat. We left Alexandria on the 16th of August on the Alunia and had a very good trip as far as the island of Lemnos. It took us two days to come from Alexandria to Lemnos, and it was a beautiful trip, and I think I would have enjoyed it only that I had a bad attack of toothache and I had to have it pulled out and the Dr. nearly pulled my head off. We stayed at Lemnos for a day, but we didn’t get off the boat. We were transhipped off the Alunia on to a smaller boat the Partridge and we left Lemnos at about 6 o’clock on Thursday afternoon on the 19th and arrived at the Dardanelles at about midnight the same night. It took us till nearly daylight to unload our Battalion and all our gear and ammunition, and it was the hardest bit of work I have done since I joined the army. After landing we went up into a bit of a gully where it was a bit safe, and although bullets and shells were whizzing over our heads I had a good sleep. That night Friday we moved to another quarter and made ourselves comfortable in a dug out and camped there till Sunday morning. At two o’clock on Sunday morning we were all roused out of bed and told that we had to make a charge. We had to march over a mile to the place and not knowing the country it took us longer than it should have, and we didn’t get into the charge till daylight and the result was that a good number of our boys were bowled right out and also a good number wounded. We lost both our captains, one was wounded and the other killed, also one Lieutenant was killed out of our company. It was awful to hear the moans and groans of the wounded and dying. One poor chap lying a few feet away from me was wounded in the knee. I bandaged it up for him as well as possible and he started to crawl back but I heard after that he was shot dead while crawling back ‘poor fellow’. There were bullets and machine guns whizzing all around, also shrapnel which is worst of all. It fell all around me and several chaps fell around me and yet I escaped. It was marvellous how I came out without a scratch, but I expect it was my luck. After the charge, I got into a trench which about 60 of our Batt. were in and there we had to stop for about 35 hours and keep the Turks at bay. In that trench things were awful. Our own dead, and also dead Turks lying all around and the smell was awful but that was not the worst. We were in such a cramped position and it was almost impossible to get water and I never felt the want of water as much in my life before. I would have given all I possessed in this world to have had a real good drink of water. But we hung out and it was a great relief to get out of it. I never wish to have the same experience again. Since coming out of the trench we have only been sapping and digging trenches and although we are always in a more or less dangerous position it isn’t too bad. Well Mum and all at home I hope this little note finds you all well and that you will not think I am forgetful for not writing sooner but I can assure you this is the first opportunity I have had since I landed here and I will write at every available opportunity. Remember me to all at Kellyville and tell Ag to give my best love to all the girls down at the Palace, also to Mary F. I will now close with love to all at home from your ever loving son James.
Jim.
A. Sparrow sends his best love to Sis. Also does M. T. C. Butler.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Appendix II – Australian VC Winners at Gallipoli
The Victoria Cross is the highest award for bravery in the British armed forces. The medal was instituted by Queen Victoria in 1856. Thirty-nine Victoria Crosses were won during the Gallipoli campaign, nine to Australians.
The Victoria Cross is made of bronze, which was cast from the metal of guns captured from the Russians during the Crimean War.
Australian recipients of the VC at Gallipoli are:
Lance Corporal Albert Jacka (14th Battalion), at Courtney’s Post, 19–20 May 1915
Lance Corporal Leonard Keysor (1st Battalion) at Lone Pine, 7–8 August 1915
Lieutenant William Symons (7th Battalion) at Lone Pine, 8–9 August 1915
Corporal Alexander Burton (7th Battalion) at Lone Pine, 9 August 1915
Corporal William Dunstan (7th Battalion) at Lone Pine, 9 August 1915
Private John Hamilton (3rd Battalion) at Lone Pine, 9 August 1915
Captain Alfred Shout (1st Battalion) at Lone Pine, 9 August 1915
Lieutenant Frederick Tubb (7th Battalion) at Lone Pine, 9 August 1915
Lieutenant Hugo Throssell (10th Light Horse Regiment) at Hill 60, 29–30 August 1915
Select Bibliography
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Robson, L. L., The First A.I.F. A Study of its Recruitment 1914–1918, Melbourne University Press, 1970.
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Schuler, Phillip, Australia in Arms, T. Fisher Unwin, 1916.
Scott, Ernest, Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–18, Volume XI, Angus & Robertson, 1936.
Shadbolt, Maurice, Voices of Gallipoli, David Ling Publishing, 2001.
The Gallipoli Story Page 12