William George Malone at Gallipoli

Lieutenant Colonel William George Malone stands outside his bivouac on Walker's Ridge. Malone, a Stratford farmer and lawyer, was the commander of the Wellington Infantry Regiment at Gallipoli.

The Wellington Battalion, which Malone commanded, landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula on 25 April. Malone immediately began to impose order. By example, determination and drive, he transformed weak defences held by frightened men into ordered garrisons that dominated their Turkish opponents. He consolidated and secured the Australian and New  Zealand Army (Anzac) Corps perimeter whenever it was threatened. The losses suffered at Helles on 8 May confirmed for him that 'this is the day of digging and machine guns and that prepared positions cannot be rushed'. As post commander at Courtney's Post and Quinn's Post between June and August he put this into practice by consolidating a precarious position at Quinn's Post, where an advance of 20 metres by the Turks would have forced the evacuation of the Anzac Corps.

Malone fought his superiors for building material and for basic comforts for his men as fiercely as he fought the Turks. His diaries chart a growing disenchantment with impractical British regular officers and a growing love for his men. Malone would not take no for an answer, and this led to a clash of wills between him and his New Zealand Infantry Brigade commander, Colonel F.E. Johnston, and his staff. Malone survived with the support of Johnston's superiors, Major General Sir A.J. Godley, commander of the New Zealand and Australian Division, and Lieutenant General Sir William Birdwood, commanding the Anzac Corps.

George Malone was killed during the fight for Chunuk Bair on 8 August 1915.