Landing At Gallipoli Essay

The landing at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915 is often considered the most important event of the Gallipoli campaign of the First World War. Consequently, events and experiences that deserve equal or greater recognition are disregarded.

The landing at Gallipoli marked the beginning of a crushing campaign. In the early morning of 25 April 1915 ships carrying Australian and New Zealand soldiers arrived at the Gallipoli Peninsula. They were sent to prevent Turkey from threatening other Allied forces (Why did Anzacs land at Gallipoli? n.d.). The Anzacs landed at two positions of the peninsula: Cape Helles and Ari Burnu. However, they had expected these regions to be much flatter. This caused them to be at a disadvantage, and their following efforts

On August 7, Australian soldiers of the 3rd Light Horse Brigade were ordered to attack dominant Turkish trenches positioned atop Hill 700. The attack began when an offshore destroyer ambushed Turkish lines. However, the opening move failed, alerting the Turks who readied men to fire back with a machine gun. The first wave of Australian light horsemen rushed into Turkish lines only to be tragically eliminated within moments. The following wave of soldiers suffered the same fate and the charge became a bloodbath. Calls to cancel the doomed attack were rejected by Major John Antill, who had taken over command of the 3rd Brigade (AWM n.d.). The remaining soldiers realised the charge was suicide, but selflessly they followed orders, leaving behind loved ones, writing final letters and saying final prayers before meeting their tragic demise. This horror is portrayed through the painting ‘The charge of the 3rd Light Horse Brigade at the Nek, 7 August 1915’ (Lambert, 1924). The battle epitomises the failures and significant amount of casualties during the Gallipoli campaign and the First World War in

With the assistance of a donkey known as Duffy, Simpson brought wounded soldiers to safety from Monash Valley. Turkish bombs and bullets did not demoralise them in their exemplary endeavours to rescue wounded Anzacs scattered around steep, rugged hills. Unfortunately, while carrying two wounded men Simpson was shot in the back by a Turkish machine-gun, dying at the age of 22. He was remembered by many Anzacs who fought at Gallipoli as a compassionate man, and his legacy continues to an inspiration. A simple yet powerful statue depicting Simpson and his donkey assisting a wounded soldier is present at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra (AWM, n.d.). The efforts of John Simpson Kirkpatrick were pure symbols of the Anzac spirit and should be remembered as prominent experiences of the Gallipoli