Why did anzacs go to war

The campaign ended on 9 January when British forces completed the evacuation of Cape Helles. The First World War was fought by competing empires, albeit empires in decline, and inevitably the men who fought came from different parts of the globe.

The British-French force included men from these countries and their colonies. Indeed, journalist Robert Fisk points out that two-thirds of the 19th Division, the first to face the Anzacs, were Syrian Arabs. They were thrown into the Second Battle of Krithia. More than 1, Anzacs about a third of the two brigades were killed or wounded there. The survivors returned to Anzac. This honour was rare. Other than the Victoria Cross, it was the only honour able to be granted to a man killed in action.

Of the 60, Australians who died in the Great War, only about were accorded this honour. They include his Victory Medal, with the Mentioned-in-Despatches rosette on its ribbon.

Simpson and his donkey are still the subject of vigorous discussion. The Defence Honours and Awards Appeal Tribunal considered the merits of the case for awarding Simpson a Victoria Cross as a part of its Inquiry into unresolved recognition for past acts of naval and military gallantry and valour. In recommending that no action be taken, the Tribunal noted:. Some submitters suggested that Simpson deserved a VC because he represented what it means to be Australian, and there was strong community support for such recognition.

While this might be a popular proposition, the VC can only be awarded for valorous conduct in the presence of the enemy. AE2 was the first submarine to penetrate the Dardanelles. For five days the AE2 carried out orders to disrupt Turkish shipping. When her torpedoes were spent and she was attacked by Turkish gunboats, the submarine was scuttled and her crew captured.

He was evacuated immediately but died on 18 May while being transported to Egypt for treatment. His body was returned to Australia the only person to receive this treatment until the Unknown Soldier in and his grave overlooks the Royal Military College, Duntroon. On 18 May, the Turks launched a major counter-attack, but by this time the Australian and New Zealand troops had had time to prepare proper defensive positions and the resultant slaughter of the Turkish forces is thought to have left 10, men dead or wounded.

With the failure of the May counter-attack, things quietened down until August, when British troops landed at nearby Suvla, and the Anzacs and Gurkhas made supporting attacks at Lone Pine, Chunuk Bair and the Nek. The Battle for Lone Pine began on 6 August. The Lone Pine operation was planned as a diversion to draw Turkish reserves away from a major British attack to be launched at the northern end of the Australian and New Zealand position at Gallipoli.

The Australians suffered more than 2, casualties at Lone Pine and the Turks over 5, Historian Peter Burness describes the battle and sets it in context in this article from Wartime.

A total of nine Victoria Crosses were awarded to Australians during the Gallipoli campaign. The pre-attack artillery bombardment had ceased seven minutes early and New Zealand troops, who were scheduled to attack from a different approach, were unable to do so. The result was that men of the strong force lay dead and little was achieved.

The fighting at Hill 60 on 21 and 27 August in which Australian troops gave support to a larger British assault was the last major action of the Gallipoli campaign. The all-too-obvious stalemate of the campaign and the deterioration of the weather as winter approached convinced the high command that it was time to evacuate the troops. The evacuation of Anzac and Suvla began on 7 December and was completed by 20 December.

The estimate provided by the Australian War Memorial is 8, but, as is the case with virtually all casualty figures, this number has varied somewhat over the years and slightly different figures are cited in other sources. This figure is for deaths up to 16 January and might not include deaths after this date which resulted from wounds received before the evacuation. On page , Australian deaths are given as officers and 7, other ranks a total of 8, , but on page it is stated in a table of month-by-month deaths that there were officers and 8, other ranks a total of 8, Little did they realise the hardships and suffering that lay ahead, for they had been landed at the wrong place and the Turkish army were prepared for them.

Eight long months of bitter fighting against the Turks would follow. Although their Gallipoli campaign would not result in victory over the Turks, the remarkable bravery and courage shown by the ANZACs during that time would long be remembered. Stories such as their fierce attack at Lone Pine where they fought their way through the logs and mud into the Turkish trenches and battled the Turks with their bare hands, and reports of the terrible attack at the Nek where wave upon wave of ANZACs charged the Turkish lines to their certain death, would be told for generations to come.

The courage of a stretcher bearer named Simpson who, with his donkey, risked bombs and bullets week after week to carry the wounded to safety only to finally lose his own life on the beach of ANZAC Cove, will never be forgotten. Their Aussie sense of humour while facing death daily and their bonds of mateship would later inspire not only Australians but people from all over the world. All these stories, together with the reports of the terrible losses were being printed in the newspapers back home in Australia.

After reading such horrors, why then did 36, men volunteer to join the war effort? Win or lose, they wanted to be with their mates. Their country needed them and they wanted to stand up and be counted.

A fresh plan was devised: the army under Sir Ian Hamilton would occupy the Gallipoli peninsula. This would eliminate the Turkish land and shore defences and open up the Dardanelles for the passage of the navy. It would involve British troops first capturing the tip of the peninsula on 25 April, then advancing northwards. Meanwhile the Anzacs would land on the western coast north of Gaba Tepe, at a narrow point on the peninsula.

The British and Anzac forces only succeeded in getting a toe-hold on the peninsula. Over the next eight months little progress was made, and the Anzacs were evacuated in December.