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The very first Anzac Day parade in Sydney, along Macquarie Street, on April 25, 1916. Photo attributed to George Bell. Over a century later, the date is still commemorated in Australia, New Zealand, and other nations around the world. To put Anzac Day in context, we must travel back to February 1915 and the beginning of the Gallipoli Campaign.
The Allies held their positions at Cape Helles and Gaba Tepe, albeit precariously. Pinned own under constant enemy fire, little progress was made from their initial landing sites.
With the Allies' naval assault effectively repelled, preparations for large scale troop landings on the Gallipoli Peninsula began in earnest. British and Indian forces under the command of General Ian Hamilton together with troops from Australia, New Zealand, and the French colonies launched their attack on the peninsula on Sunday April 25, 1915.
The attack by the Allies on the Dardanelles Straits in February–March 1915 was an attempt to take control of the sea route from Europe to Russia. Its capture would expose the Ottoman capital at Constantinople to naval bombardment. But a lack of reliable intelligence and knowledge of the terrain, coupled with fierce Turkish resistance, severely hampered the success of the invasion. In the early stages of the battle, Turkish mines sank six Allied battleships, causing the naval assault on the Dardanelles to stall.
Allied troops initially met little resistance at Suvla. But mismanaged and incompetent leadership in all three locations delayed progress and allowed Ottoman forces to regroup and counter attack.
Barges laden with the wounded and dying maneuver alongside hospital ships anchored in the bay. Allied losses were mounting at a terrible rate as the Gallipoli Campaign ground to a halt.
A mid-October call for reinforcements by British forces commander General Sir Ian Hamilton fell on deaf ears, and he was subsequently replaced by Sir Charles Monro. By November, however, Monro was recommending an Allied evacuation from the peninsula, a view shared by British War Secretary Lord Kitchener. It was clear to everyone that the entire operation was a failure.
The Gallipoli Campaign began on February 17, 1915 with a failed naval attack by British and French ships on the Dardanelles Straits. The offensive was ordered by the First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill.
Pictured: the French battleship Bouvet sinking in the Dardanelles Straits on March 18 after striking a mine. She sank within two minutes with only 50 crew rescued from a complement of 710.
Despite coming under heavy fire and alarming casualties numbers, the Allies managed to secure two bridgeheads, the first being at Cape Helles on the peninsula's southern tip.
Gaba Tepe on the Aegean coast was later dubbed Anzac Cove in honor of the Australian and New Zealand troops that fought and fell at the location. Pictured is an Australian infantryman still in shock as hundreds of his comrades move among the dead and wounded on the beach at Anzac Cove the day after the landing.
On August 6, a second wave of Allied landings took place at Suvla Bay (pictured). This surprise action was intended to support a breakout from the ANZAC sector, 8 km (5 mi) to the south.
Men and horses at Suvla Bay. While a pause in the fighting was welcomed by exhausted Allied troops, Ottoman forces took advantage of the lull to bring up reinforcements and shore up their defenses.
Pictured is a British soldier paying his respects at the grave of a colleague near Cape Helles. Some 480,000 Allied forces took part in the eight-month Gallipoli Campaign. An estimated 46,000 died, of which 8,708 were Australians and 2,721 New Zealanders. On the Turkish side, around 65,000 were killed.
Later on April 25, a second bridgehead was secured at Gaba Tepe, on the western side of the peninsula, by assault troops mostly numbering those from the Australian and New Zealand Army Corp (ANZAC). The ANZACs managed to land two divisions on the beach, but met heavy resistance from well dug in Turkish forces. Pictured are ANZAC troops attacking an Ottoman trench.
On December 11, the evacuation began of some 105,000 Allied troops from Suvla Bay. The last troops left Helles on January 9, 1916 (pictured).
ANZAC Cove today serves as a lasting memorial to the Australian and New Zealand troops who fell during the Gallipoli Campaign.
The Allies underestimated the strength and resolve of Ottoman military potential. Many of the senior officers in Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's Fifth Army were German, and highly organized military strategists. Pictured is a camouflaged Turkish artillery post on the Gallipoli Peninsula.
Head of the Ottoman Fifth Army at Gallipoli was Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. As a front line commander at Gallipoli, he correctly anticipated where the Allies would attack. Atatürk is regarded as the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, and served as the nation's first president from 1923 until his death in 1938.
The Lone Pine Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery is located in the former Anzac sector of the Gallipoli Peninsula. It's named after the Battle of Lone Pine, which took place on August 6–10, 1915.
Ottoman trenches dug during the Battle of Chunuk Bair have been preserved as part of the memorial to the engagement that resulted in a brief victory for Allied forces.
Turkey's monumental Çanakkale Martyrs' Memorial commemorates the service of about 253,000 Turkish soldiers who participated at the Battle of Gallipoli. It's located within the Gallipoli Peninsula Historical Site.
The landmark Helles Memorial is the main commonwealth battle memorial for the whole Gallipoli Campaign.
Allied forces attempted to move forward and gain ground. But the Battle of Gallipoli was deadlocked, with Ottoman forces successfully defending their positions (pictured). ANZAC forces managed to capture Chunuk Bair, a strategically important hill, which represented the only success of the Allies during the campaign. However, victory was fleeting: the peak was recaptured a few days later.
Currently under construction, the Canakkale 1915 Bridge in Canakkale, Turkey will connect the European and Asian sides of the Dardanelles across the Straits, the same stretch of water that witnessed the first salvos fired in the Gallipoli Campaign over a century ago.
The English war correspondent Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett reported on the ground from Gallipoli and was highly critical of the conduct of the campaign. His scathing dispatches led to the birth of the ANZAC legend and the eventual dismissal of General Sir Ian Hamilton.
Sources: (History) (Gallipoli Association) (Anzac Portal)
See also: Fascinating photos of World War II
Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand and honors troops from these two nations who served in the Gallipoli Campaign of 1915–16, during the First World War. Pictured is the Canberra War Memorial festooned with poppies.
The British battleship HMS Irresistible sinking during the attack on the Dardanelles Straits. This Royal Navy photograph was published on May 1, 1915 in 'The War Illustrated' and is sourced from the Library of Congress.
Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance that honors members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought and fell at Gallipoli during the First World War. Commemorated annually since 1916 on April 25, the day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during that conflict, and those that have since died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations around the world. But to place Anzac Day in context, one first has to understand the events leading up to that fateful day over a century ago.
Click through and find out more about the Gallipoli Campaign and why we commemorate Anzac Day.
'The Water Diviner' (2014) stars Russell Crowe as an Australian farmer and water diviner who travels to Gallipoli to retrieve the bodies of his three sons killed in the campaign four years previously. The film marks Crowe's directorial debut.
This Peter Weir-directed film depicts the futile attack at the Battle of the Nek on August 7, 1915, in which hundreds of Australian troops perished. It stars Mark Lee and Mel Gibson. While favorably reviewed, it was criticized for a number of historical inaccuracies.
This is why we commemorate Anzac Day
Remembering the events at Gallipoli
LIFESTYLE Commemoration
Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance that honors members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought and fell at Gallipoli during the First World War. Commemorated annually since 1916 on April 25, the day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during that conflict, and those that have since died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations around the world. But to place Anzac Day in context, one first has to understand the events leading up to that fateful day over a century ago.
Click through and find out more about the Gallipoli Campaign and why we commemorate Anzac Day.