national identity

Within a few months of the outbreak of war (August 1914) a line of trenches stretched from Switzerland to the Belgian coast. The Germans and their Austro-Hungarian allies were on one side of the line, and on the other there were the French and British forces and their allies. Things had reached a stalemate.

The grand plan

Map of Gallipoli showing landings

General Sir Ian Hamilton, in charge of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, had about a month to finalise plans for the landing of troops on the rough coastline of the Gallipoli Peninsula. There was much improvisation in the weeks preceding the landings and little time to practise.

The attack on Chunuk Bair in August 1915 was one of New Zealand's key events on Gallipoli. Here, on one of the three peaks in the Sari Bair range, the New Zealanders fought hard to win the summit. The victory was short-lived and costly, like so much of this August offensive.

The August offensive was the last major throw of the dice for the British allies in the Gallipoli campaign. In mid-September the weary New Zealanders were withdrawn to Lemnos for rest and reorganisation. By the time they returned to Anzac in November, the future of the campaign had been set.

The Gallipoli peninsula is a spectacular place: steep valleys, deep ravines and high cliffs towering above long, narrow beaches. It can be searingly hot in summer and bone chillingly cold in winter. For most of 1915, this impressive and unforgiving landscape was home to thousands of young men; many of whom, like the New Zealanders, were far from home.