SARAH MIDFORD Gallipoli, Anzacs and the Great War La Trobe University eBureau Melbourne,VIC3086,Australia www.latrobe.edu.au PublishedinAustraliabyLaTrobeUniversity LaTrobeUniversity2017© Firstpublished2017 Copyright Information CopyrightinthisworkisvestedinLaTrobeUniversity.Unless otherwisestated,materialwithinthisworkislicensedundera CreativeCommonsAttribution-NonCommercial-NonDerivatives License CCBY-NC-ND http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ISBN978-0-9953727-1-9 DOIhttps://doi.org/10.26826/1002 Other information EditedanddesignedbyBiotext Enquiries: [email protected] 2   Gallipoli, Anzacs and the Great War SARAH MIDFORD 3   Contents Introduction 4 Chapter 1: HistoryofGallipoliand theregion 23 Chapter 2: BattlefieldGallipoli 38 Chapter 3: TheGallipoliarmistice 55 Chapter 4: Enduringthewar 59 Chapter 5: BroadeningthedefinitionofAnzac 79 Chapter 6: Grief,commemorationandmemory 93 Chapter 7: Anzaclegacy 105 About the author .Sarah MidfordisaLecturerintheSchoolof whencomposingtheAustralianAnzacnarrative HumanitiesandSocialSciencesatLaTrobe Herresearchfocusesontheculturalimpactofwar University.SheteachesClassics,Australian inhistory,literatureandcommemorativeprocesses StudiesandInterdisciplinaryStudiesandin throughouthistory,anddrawsconnections 2016receivedanAustralian Award for University betweentheancientandmodernworlds.Sheis Teachingforonlinecurriculumdesign.Sarah’sPhD, particularlyinterestedinhowAustraliannational fromtheUniversityofMelbourne,examinedways identityhasbeenconstructedusingclassical .inwhichclassicalnarrativesweredrawnupon ideas,textsandaesthetics 4   Introduction 5   ,TheAlliedforcescomprisedarmiesfromAustralia Britain,France,India,Ireland,Newfoundland(which .Introduction laterbecamepartofCanada)andNew Zealand Theapproximatenumbersofcasualtiesfromeach :heGallipoliCampaignwasfought Alliednationwereasfollows duringWorldWar I(the GreatWar) • Australia:8700 Tfrom1914to1918.This chapter • Britain:26 000 introducesthereadertotheGallipoli • France:>10 000 Campaign,thegeographicalimportance • India:1700 oftheDardanelles,andthemythical • Ireland:3000 andhistoricalimportanceofthe • Newfoundland:50 .Gallipolilandscape.Knowingmore • New Zealand:2700 aboutwheretheWorldWar Icampaign occurred,theancientmythsfromthe region,andthelonghistoryofthearea providesasolidfoundationforstudying .Gallipoli,theAnzacsandWorldWar I Gallipoli Campaign TheAlliedforceslandedontheGallipolipeninsula on25 April1915,aneventcommemoratedeach .yearinAustraliaandNew ZealandonAnzacDay Thecampaignlasted9 months.TheAnzacsand thosethatservedatAnzacCovewereallevacuated by20 December1915,andtheforcesthatserved furthersouthatCapeHelleswereevacuatedby .January1916 9 .ForcesfrommultiplenationsfoughtonGallipoli MoreOttomansoldiersfoughtanddiedonthe Gallipoli,caMay1915.AnIndianstandinginthe .peninsulathanfromanywhereelse.Asmany horseandmulelinesinagullyoffAnzacBeach as250 000TurksfoughtduringtheGallipoli NotetheIndian’sturban.Thisishalfastereo .image;thefullimageisheldatP02649.012 Campaign,although,becausemanyOttoman servicerecordsarelost,thisfigureisanestimate. Source: Australian War Memorial, donor JL Tedder; used under PDM 1.0 Atthetime,theTurkswerepartoftheOttoman Empire,whichwasalliedwithGermany.Germany anditsalliesfoughtastheCentralPower.German ,forceswerealsopresentonthepeninsula,but again,figuresareinaccurateandthenumber .ofGermansoldiersonGallipoliisunknown TheGermangeneralOttoViktorKarlLimanvon SanderscommandedtheOttomanforceson Gallipoli. More Ottoman soldiers fought and died on the peninsula than from anywhere else. Most fighters Gallipoli,1915.TwounidentifiedGhurkariflemensitting and casualties from the Allied atanAustralianArmyServiceCorpsdump.Thewooden .cratesstackedbesidethemprobablycontainammunition forces were British and French. Source: Australian War Memorial; used under PDM 1.0 Introduction 6  MoreBritishandFrenchforcesfought,andwere injuredandkilled,ontheGallipolipeninsulathan .fromanyotherAlliednation TheGallipoliCampaignremainsanimportant eventinAustralia'sandNew Zealand’shistory.The campaignhassimilarsignificanceforthemodern Turkishnation,whichformedaftertheTurkishWar ofIndependenceattheendofWorldWar I.Itis importanttorememberthattheTurkishsoldiers fightingaspartoftheOttomanEmpirewere ,defendingtheirhomelandfromaninvadingforce sotheirperspectiveontheGallipoliCampaignis .quitedifferenttothatoftheAlliednationsinvolved TheAnzacsoldiersmainlyfoughtaroundAnzac Cove(AriBurnu),ontheridgelinebetweenwhere theLonePineandChunukBairmemorialsarenow located.TheAlliesoccupiedtheslopestothewest .ofthefrontline,downtowardstheAegeancoast TheOttomansoccupiedtheeasternslopesacross .thepeninsulatotheshoresoftheDardanelles Thepositionofeachforcedictatedtheiraccess tofreshfoodandwater.TheAllieshadlittletono accesstofreshwater,withsuppliesbeingshipped infromnearbyGreekislandsandfromasfaraway TurkishsoldiersinacoveredshelteratKanleSirt. asMalta.TheAnzacsatemostlycannedfood,but CopiedfromGallipoli: Bedeutung und Verlauf der theOttomansoldiershadaccesstovillagesthat Kämpfe 1915byVonKannengiesserPascha. providedthemwithflourtomakefreshbread,as .Source: Australian War Memorial; used under PDM 1.0 wellaseggsandcheese InadditiontothefightingatAnzacCove,therewere battlefieldsatthetipofthepeninsula–atCape Helles.PredominantlyFrenchandBritishsoldiers foughtatCapeHelles,butAustralian,New Zealand .andIrishsoldierswerealsodeployedintheregion The Anzacs ate mostly canned food, but the Ottoman soldiers had access to villages that provided them with flour to make fresh bread, as well as eggs and cheese. Today,numerouscemeteriesandmemorials occurallalongtheGallipolipeninsula.MostAllied memorialsaresituatedaroundAnzacCoveand alongtheridgelinetothenorth,wheremostofthe fightingoccurred;fewerAlliedmemorialsareat CapeHelles.TheTurkishMemorialtotheMartyrs soldierswhodiedfighting)islocatedatCape) Helles.Itistallenoughtobeeasilyseenfromthe .AsianshoresoftheDardanelles Gallipoli,August1915.BodiesofdeadTurkish soldierslyinginashallowtrench3 daysaftertheir Becauseofthenumberofsoldierswhodiedon attackonAustralianpositionsatLonePine. theGallipolipeninsula,ithasbecomeasiteof ,Source: Australian War Memorial; used under PDM 1.0 pilgrimage,particularlyforpeoplefromAustralia Introduction 7  .TheGallipoliPeninsulaandtheDardanellesfromVirtualEarth,usedwithpermissionfromMichelleNegusCleary New ZealandandTurkey.Thepeninsulais TheAlliesbelievedthatcapturingtheGallipoli importanttoothernationsaswell,buttheGallipoli peninsulawouldenablethemtocontrolthe Campaigndoesnothavesuchanimportantplace Dardanelles,andthereforeprovideasafe intheirnationalhistory.Asaresult,fewerpeople passageforAlliedwatercraftbetweenRussiaand .fromothernationstraveltoGallipolitopaytheir North Africa .respectstothedead EarlyinWorldWar I,theMediterranean ExpeditionaryForcewasdeployedontheEastern Front.TheRussiannavyhadvesselsintheBlack .The Dardanelles and the Seathatneededtobedeployedfurtherwest Gallipoli peninsula However,tomanoeuvrethem,theyneededtopass throughConstantinopleandthroughBosphorus GallipoliisontheeasternedgeofEurope–tothe Strait,whichseparatestheEuropeanandAsian eastofGreeceandtothesouthofIstanbul.The continents.OncethroughtheBosphorus,thenavy MediterraneanSealiestothesouthofGallipoli,the couldentertheSeaofMarmara,continuethrough AegeanSeatothewestandtheBlackSeatothe theDardanellesintotheAegeanSea,andthensail .northeast.Thesebodiesofwaterareallimportant intotheMediterraneanSeaandbeyond becausetheyfacilitatetradeandcommunication AfurtherobjectiveoftheEasternFrontwasto betweentheAsian,EuropeanandAfrican moveforcesthroughEasternEuropetowardsthe continents.TheDardanelles,whichrunsbetween CentralPower’sarmiesfightingontheWestern theGallipolipeninsulaandmainlandTurkey,is .Front,sothattheycould‘comeupbehind’them acentralchannelthatconnectsall3 seas,and ,DoingsowouldhavedividedGermany’sforces .thereforeall3 continents whichwouldbeforcedtodefendthemselveson .ThestrategiclocationoftheDardanellesmade boththeEasternandWesternfronts .thiswaterwayanattractivetargetfortheAllies Introduction 8  However,theAnzacsandotherAlliedforceswere Homer’s Iliad is an epic poem notsuccessfulintheirobjectivetoconquerthe Gallipolipeninsula.TheynevercapturedIstanbul about a few weeks at the end of the ordivertedtheattentionofGermany’sarmyfrom 10-year-long Trojan War, which was theWesternFront.TheGallipoliCampaignwas fought between the Achaeans (an allied a failure. force of Greeks) and the Trojans. .The Anzacs and other Allied forces WedonotknowwhetherHomerwasarealperson were not successful in their objective BeyondknowingthattheauthorshipoftheIliad to conquer the Gallipoli peninsula. andtheOdysseyiscreditedtoHomer,wehavevery littleknowledgeoftheman.Theseworksheis saidtohavecomposed,however,wereextremely importanttextstotheancientGreeks,andhave Trojan War and the becomeextremelyimportanttextstowestern Gallipoli peninsula civilisation.