Anzac day

[Marc Montgomery]

Curious to know of our ANZAC friends --and even Canadians-
if they are aware that 1000 Newfoundlanders participated in the Gallipoli campaign, Sept 1915 to Jan 1916 and also were tasked with the rear guard during withdrawal?

I tend to doubt the vast majority of Cdns know anything about this at all, but because Gallipoli is so ingrained in Aus and NZ..I wonder if it's known there?

[Richard Coutts-Smith]

Nope, not common knowledge over here, and not just Newfoundlanders either:

"On the allied side there are the French, who always get left out of the story. Their casualties were almost twice those of the Australians. Of course troops came from New Zealand, from India, from Australia, from all parts of the Empire –- even Canada: right near the end troops from Newfoundland arrived. And from the United Kingdom itself there were troops from England and Ireland, from Scotland and Wales. This is mostly unknown to Australians and I think it’s a really important part of the story and it puts the Australian role into perspective."
From
https://www.awm.gov.au/blog/2013/04/...ridge-too-far/

Now you have pointed it out I feel more than a little embarrassed, never let the facts get in the way of a good story.
Rich

[Marc Montgomery]

Didn't know the French were involved so learned something there thanks. I guess everyone else every involve got hammered. One newfoundland letter said hundreds of bits were killed during a landing killed
before they ever fired a shot. Newfoundland landed in Sept and the book you linked to said force
pulled out in Dec. . But newfoundland left in Jan so they must have really been rear guard about half the force died shot and disease with many cases of frostbite from wet frozen feet

[motto]

The French contributed 79,000 men to the campaign with a significant number of them being colonial troops from Senegal and Algeria who get very little mention. From memory, the French force was initially landed on the Asiatic side of the straits before being withdrawn and re-deployed on the peninsula.
And yes, at the tip of the peninsular the British troops were slaughtered as they tried to come ashore from the River Clyde that had sally ports cut in the bow and was deliberately run into the beach. I've stood where this happened and the beach is like the focal point of a large ampitheatre with the Turks on the high ground unable to be reached and with magnificent fields of fire. It was far worse than the Anzacs faced on the day. If it hadn't been for a slight shelving of the beach the devastation would have been total.

David

[hrpearce]

For a birds eye view of Gallipoli and descriptions of who was where a good book to read is Gallipoli Air War by Hugh Dolan.

[Marc Montgomery]

you really have to wonder about those in the high command that would send a force into such an untenable situation.

[Edwin Wand]

On the plus side of the Gallipoli awareness situation, the Canadian War Museum is presenting the following seminar.

I don't know if there are any plans to rebroadcast this in other cities.
http://www.warmuseum.ca/event/panel-...-perspectives/

Panel: Gallipoli – Three Perspectives
Presentation by the Cdn War Museum in Ottawa
The Battle of Gallipoli was an important campaign in developing the national identities of Australia, New Zealand and Turkey. Marking the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli, the Canadian War Museum brings together an international panel of historians to present their perspectives on this battle and its legacy across three countries.
Dr. Yigit Akin, Assistant Professor, Tulane University
Dr. Peter Pedersen, consultant historian for the Australian government’s commemorative projects on the Australian battlefields of the Western Front and retired Assistant Director for the Australian War Memorial
Dr. Katie Pickles, Professor of History, University of Canterbury, New Zealand

Doors open at 7 p.m.; panel begins at 7:30 p.m.
Presented in conjunction with World at War – International Speaker Series,an annual series of academic events, presented by the Canadian War Museum, to mark the centenary of the First World War. The events, presented in a variety of formats, provide an opportunity for the public to learn from leading Canadian and international experts about the war’s national and global reach, its cost and its legacies.
Date April 23, 2015 - April 23, 2015 Fees and Booking Tickets: $10, $7 for students, seniors and Members Location Barney Danson Theatre Audience Adults, Youth, Veterans Event Type Lecture

[Richard Coutts-Smith]

SBS news on telly tonight mentioned the full cast of allied Gallipoli combatants, including Newfoundlanders. So I'm proud to say I have been corrected, we do know about it, or maybe SBS reads MLU....
They also noted that young Australians are treating this as a celebration, not a commemoration. As with the rest of us, this generation will mature and understand in time.
Rich.

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by Richard Coutts-Smith

They also noted that young Australians are treating this as a celebration,
Rich.

When the pilgrimage thing began to take off maybe 20 years ago , it was rather a nasty thing to see drunken Aust. youngsters running around Gallipoli behaving like louts and making a lot of noise . Thankfully, that sort of thing has been taken care of .

An observation by me. It's funny how the WW1 commemoration events have become more and more popular as we are getting further away from when it all happened . When many of the WW1 vets were still alive in the 1960's and 70's, nobody seemed to notice them, generally, they were ignored by society and given no special treatment .

[Ed Storey]

Here are three images from the ANZAC Day traditional dawn (0545hrs) service which was held at the National War Memorial yesterday, 25 April, 2015.