Today, April 25, is the anniversary of the first day of the Gallipoli campaign of 1915. In Australia and New Zealand, this day is honored as ANZAC Day, in remembrance of the heroic role of the armies of those two nations.
Yet (and despite the Peter Weir movie "Gallipoli"), it was not an ANZAC show only. The British and French fought at Gallipoli too. Twelve men - six sailors, six soldiers - won Victoria Crosses on this single day. The six soldiers all came from the same British regiment, the Lancashire Fusiliers.
Years after the battle, the best of the generals in the opposing Ottoman army paid generous tribute to the defeated soldiers of Gallipoli. By then, the former Mustafa Kemal had renamed himself Ataturk - and emerged as the ruler and remaker of his country. His words are inscribed on the memorial to the Allied forces that now stands at Gallipoli.
Heroes who shed their blood and lost their lives! You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours. You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.
Yet this is not a day only in military history. The Gallipoli invasion was the precipitating event in the Ottoman genocide against its Armenian population.
YouTube hosts a classic British documentary on the campaign, subdivided into four parts. Here's the first.
