Gallipoli: 100 years on

Why 1915's heroes and horrors hold us in awe

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Tony Wright   There is a spot behind Quinn's Post cemetery high up on the second ridge of the Gallipoli Peninsula where you can stand and gaze down the length of Shrapnel Gully all the way to the sea.

Gallipoli's creation myth should endure

Soldiers on the beach at Anzac Cove.

Peter FitzSimons   The tragic truth is that 100 years ago, the prevailing view was that a nation was not a real nation until blood was shed, writes Peter FitzSimons.

'Some day we will understand'

A NSW student on the schools tour of Gallipoli kneels in front a grave stone at Shrapnel Valley Cemetery.

Anthony Segaert   Standing at the Nek on the Gallipoli Peninsula, Sydney student Anthony Segaert pictures young men his own age in battle there 100 years ago.

Digging tales from Turkish trenches

lliteracy rates among the Ottoman soldiers were high – it is believed only one in every 1000 could read and write.

Ruth Pollard   For just 10 para – the smallest coin in the Ottoman Empire – 23-year-old teacher Halil Iyidilli would write a letter home to the loved ones of his fellow Turkish soldiers.

The legend has outgrown the men who fought

Australian troops on the deck of the battleship Prince of Wales, just before the Gallipoli landing.

Tony Stephens   This year, 2015, marks two anniversaries of famous conflicts: the invasion of the Ottoman Empire at Gallipoli in World War I, on April 25, 1915, and the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815.

It's a myth that Australians are peace-loving

Survivor: Ted Matthews, who died in 1997, was one of the last original Anzacs who landed in Gallipoli in 1915.

Tony Stephens   War has been such an enduring cultural pursuit that it challenges the myth of Australians as peace-loving people.

From deeds of daring, a nation comes of age

SMH editorial dinkus

Here we republish the editorial of The Sydney Morning Herald of April 25, 1916, which celebrates "not so much the birth of a nation as the coming of age of our people in the riper period of full nationhood".

A century on – a Gallipoli life in letters

William Aiken (the author's grandfather) and horse, at the Mena Camp in Cairo before embarking for Gallipoli.

Helen Pitt   Helen Pitt discovers a grandfather she never knew, in letters written home to Australia en route to Gallipoli.

Secrets of the Gallipoli peninsula

Nick Miller

Nick Miller   With the discovery of the Ottoman trench where 'first contact' took place at Anzac Cove, teams of scientists are in a race against time to preserve the Gallipoli peninsula for future generations.

Piecing together the remnants of the past

Sophie Lewincamp (conservator) working on ammunition belt from Australian Lighthorse leather bandalier.

Bridie Smith   The leather ammunition sash is old and brittle. But you can see it has been treasured. For years it has been stored, like a hibernating snake, with the leather curled around itself.

A great wave of sadness is coming our way

According to US studies, a staggering 18 per cent of veterans meet the criteria for either PTSD or depression.

Sarah Gill   Crafted images of war give us a heroic story but they also obscure the horror of PTSD, which continues long after the battle is over.

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Ten health issues Anzacs endured at Gallipoli

A member of the 7th Australian Light Horse Regiment having a bath in the desert in preparation for returning to Gallipoli.

Tom Decent   While we honour the men who gave their lives, we often shy away from the harsh realities of life on the front lines.

How well do you know your Anzac history?

One million of the country’s first coloured coins will come into circulation next month to commemorate the Anzac ...

Think you know your Suvla Bay from your Anzac Cove; your Private John Simpson from Kemal Mustafa? Take our quick quiz to see how much you know about the Gallipoli campaign.

By land or sea, Australians flocking to Gallipoli

Australian surf boats race to Anzac cove. 22nd April 2015. ANZAC Centenary Gallipoli ,Turkey.The Age Fairfaxmedia News ...

Tony Wright   It seemed an unpromising Gallipoli day as two paddlers in kayaks and rowers in a small flotilla of surfboats took to the waters of The Dardanelles​.

Gallipoli threat level 'as low as it goes'

ECEABAT, TURKEY - APRIL 21:  A visitor looks at plaques commemorating the Gallipoli Campaign at Anzac Cove as seats and ...

Turkey has ramped up the security for the centenary Anzac Day commemorations in Gallipoli and it will be the safest place in Turkey for Australians and New Zealanders, says Australian service.

Anzac Day: What's on in Sydney and NSW

We will remember them: Services commemorating ANZAC Day will take place across Sydney.

Lucy Cormack   Crowds are expected to be big at Martin Place for the Dawn Service, so go early or pay your respects locally. Here is your guide to commemorating Anzac Day around Sydney and NSW.

Turkey puts its existence down to victory

A Turkish school girl looks at the displays at the Istanbul Military Museum.

Tony Wright   As thousands gather in Istanbul on their way to remember the Anzac landing at Gallipoli 100 years ago, the Turkish military museum has assembled its own impressive memorial exhibition.

Gallipoli plaques are back - and reinforced

A brass plaque at Quinn's Post, Gallipoli.

Tony Wright   The bronze plaques of the Gallipoli Peninsula are back ... and this time, they are unlikely ever to be removed, even by the most determined thieves.

The bullet in the bible

Saved: Lieutenant Elvas Jenkins was struck directly over his heart by a lead ball from an exploding shell.

Kate Aubusson   Many believers have found salvation in the word of God, but none so literally as Elvas Jenkins.

What do Muslims think about Anzac Day?

Kuranda Seyit dinkus

Kuranda Seyit   For both Turks and Australians, the battle for Gallipoli was about empathy, mateship and sacrifice.

The legend and legacy of Gallipoli

A trench at Lone Pine.

Bridie Smith   Gallipoli: These are the things you need to know.

World War I: The Anzac spirit

The Faces of the Anzacs

The faces of Anzac

Interactive: Hundreds of people from Australia and around the world have contributed photos and details of our Anzacs.

Names of 731 Anzacs found in cave under the WW1 battlefields of France

The names of soldiers from Australia's  9th Battalion infantry unit have been found in a cave in northern France.

Greg Keller   Century-old graffiti by Allied soldiers, including Australians, has been discovered in a cave in Naours, a two-hour drive north of Paris.

'Confronting' tribute to Indigenous Diggers 

Sydney dramatic sculpture featuring marble and steel bullets will be unveiled in Hyde Park as a tribute to Aboriginal ...

Melanie Kembrey   "It might ruffle a few feathers but they are feathers that need to be ruffled," artist Tony Albert says of his new sculpture in Sydney's Hyde Park.

Nomanslanding – new Anzac art installation 

<i>Nomanslanding</i>: Artwork to commemorate Anzac centenary.

Tim Barlass   Two domes on extending arms slowly stretch from opposing sides and finally join together as one. This new installation on Sydney Harbour marks a centenary of the Great War.

Battle to stop wind turbines on battlefield

Peter's uncle, Peter Alfred William King was killed in action 12/05/1917 in the battle of Bullecourt.

Bridie Smith   The federal government has been asked to intervene to prevent the building of wind turbines on a former World War I battlefield in northern France, where 10,000 Australians became casualties of the Great War.

Indigenous fighters step to the fore

Names and stories: The play's cast of nine perform about 100 roles.

Ron Cerabona   Black Diggers brings the stories of World War I Indigenous soldiers to the stage.

Great War's fallen remembered

Lest we forget: The World War One centenary wreath-laying ceremony at the Australian War Memorial.

Conrad Walters   World War 1, by some measures the deadliest of all conflicts, is still as relevant today 100 years after the beginning of the event.

WW1 uniform builder

ww 1

INTERACTIVE: Drag and drop the pieces onto the digger to build the standard infantry uniform.

Synagogue opens doors to Anzac event

Revered: Sir John Monash will be remembered at a secular event to be held at the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation on April 23.

Kate Nancarrow   The Melbourne Hebrew Congregation is holding a secular event commemorating the Gallipoli centenary, inviting six country schools to participate.

Sleuths identify two Victorian WWI graves

A picture of one of the soldiers, Henry Huntsman.

Carolyn Webb   Military history buffs have identified the graves of two Victorian World War I soldiers, 98 years after they were killed in action.

Tim Fischer seeks justice for his hero

Sir John Monash

Tony Wright   On December 22, 1914, a great convoy of ships sailed from Port Melbourne bound for Albany, Western Australia, and on to what would become known as the Great War.

Homespun message of support for diggers

anzac

Tim Barlass   Ahead of Remembrance Day on Tuesday, an exhibition provides a touching insight into how those at home tried to lift the morale of the Australian boys at the front.

HMAS Sydney's battle with SMS Emden: honour on both sides, says Sir Peter Cosgrove on centenary

The beached Emden

Tim Barlass   On the centenary today of the sinking of the German warship SMS Emden by the light cruiser HMAS Sydney at the Battle of Cocos Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove will praise Australia's achievement in what was its first naval victory.But he also has praise for the Emden's Captain Karl von Muller, who became known as 'the last gentleman of war'.

Huge crowd at Albany commemorate 100 years since departure of Anzacs

We will remember them: Crew of the Royal Australian Navy ship HMAS Stirling commemorate the departure of the first Anzac ...

Peter FitzSimons   The Prime Minister, Governor-General and 60,000 others gathered in West Australia for ceremonies, speeches and re-enactments.

Nurses gave soldiers the courage to fight WWI: Anzac nurse's daughter

Untold: Margaret Young only learnt of the role her mother played in World War I after she died.

Aleisha Orr   When Margaret Young's mother died, her father gave her a satchel of letters which gave Mrs Young an insight into the role her mother played as a nurse in World War One - something her mother rarely spoke about.

Anzac spirit celebrated by indigenous WWI soldier's family on visit to Albany

Gordon Naley's WWI medals.

Aleisha Orr   "Both non Aboriginal and Aboriginal people went to serve in the wars together and they were mates, they were all on the same level and had the same respect for each other and same friendship and I think that's the real Anzac spirit isn't it?"

Frank Atkinson's memento of Gallipoli now a treasured family heirloom

Unique souvenir: Watson resident Frank Atkinson reflects on the bell his father Frank brought home from Gallipoli.

Ben Westcott   Three days after Christmas in 1915, a young Australian became impatient as he stood on the shores of the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey, waiting to be evacuated.

WW1 centenary: Australia remembers first naval victory

The wreck of the SMS Emden.

Natalie Bochenski   Australia's first naval victory will be remembered on Sunday as both the beginning and the end of an era.

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Ships set to sail in re-enactment of first Anzac convoy a century ago

Able seaman Ryan Marrris

Aleisha Orr   While the crew of the HMAS Arunta are looking forward to time on land after three months, they know they have it easier than the Anzacs 100 years ago.

100 years since first Australian losses of the World War I commemorated at Rabaul

HMAS Yarra off Rabaul, Papua New Guinea, has been searching for  Australian submarine AE1 that disappeared in this ...

Tim Barlass   It was a day that Australia remembered the first losses of World War I in a battle described by the Veterans' Affairs Minister on Thursday as "the untold story".

Ceremony on WA coast where Anzacs left for WWI one hundred years ago

Remembering them, 100 years on: The Royal Australian navy performs the sunset ceremony.

Aleisha Orr   The first of the main events commemorating the centenary of the final departure of Anzac troops is held in Albany.

A century on, the fate of the AE1 still a mystery

The AE1 submarine went missing on September 14, 1914.

Tim Barlass   Australia's greatest wartime naval mystery remains unsolved after Chief of Navy Vice-Admiral Tim Barrett said on Wednesday that he couldn't say whether new sonar images obtained by a minehunter were or were not the missing World War I submarine AE1.

Memories of war and peace

World War 1 widow Mrs Doris Johnson, 91, with a photo of her late husband Neville Johnson.

Danielle Miletic, Cosima Marriner, Candice Barnes   As our thoughts turn towards Gallipoli for the 100th anniversary next April, the surviving widows of World War I servicemen will be a special focus of commemorations. Three of them shared their stories.

Light Horse enthusiasts charge to Parramatta 

Graham Brown, who will be taking part in the Parramatta Lancers Parade this Saturday.

Heath Gilmore   Standing adjacent a stock horse, more than 15 hands high, Graham Brown exudes the requisite confidence of the Australian Light Horse.

Students remember local diggers 100 years after they went to war

Lest we forget: Captain Nick Hornbuckle (left), Mount Hunter public school students Issac Latham and Chantel Wright and ...

Eryk Bagshaw   Exactly 100 years ago, the first soldier from a sleepy town south-west of Sydney enlisted in the Light Horse Brigade of the Australian Army.

Anzac Memorial to get $38m redevelopment

An artist's rendition of a $38 million redevelopment of the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park.

Damien Murphy   After being unavoidably interrupted 80 years ago, the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park will be completed in accordance with the architect’s original vision.

Lest we forget – images of World War I fallen

Keith Payne with former ACT RSL president, and World War Two veteran, Ron Metcalfe, of Hughes, at the Australian War ...

David Ellery   Lighting up the the names of fallen World War I Diggers received a thumbs-up from the nation’s oldest living Victoria Cross recipient.

VETERANS

Gallipoli 100 years, the last Anzac: Alec Campbell

Herald obituarist, Tony Stephens remembers the last Gallipoli veteran, who died in 2002.

C. E. W. Bean, war correspondent

Herald journalist C. E. W. Bean was Australia's official war correspondent.

Governor-General Viscount William Slim

A popular British general, Viscount William Slim fought at Gallipoli and become Australia's 13th governor-general.

VIDEO

Students to make history with ANZAC tour

32 Western Australian students have been selected to attend the 2015 dawn service in Turkey.

'Rather be happy for 20 years than sad for 50'

Widows of WW1 soldiers recall their veteran husbands.

Letters from WW1

Kerryn Amery, letters from WW1

Diary of a Gallipoli soldier

As the nation pauses to remember those who fell in war, we take a look at the life of one soldier, Raymond Baldock, who landed at Gallipoli with the Anzacs.

Woman on board

When Tamara Sloper Harding joined the Navy in 1987 she never imagined that she would be putting on an army uniform and heading off to the jungle in East Timor.

OPINION

A century on, the battle on the home front is a war still being waged

While it is now 100 years since the start of World War I, the mental health consequences of going into battle have been with us for as long as war itself. Effective treatment, however, has been a long time coming.

Gallipoli did not define Australian warfare

As an Aboriginal person whose family fought at Gallipoli, I am acutely aware that there many Aboriginal families who had relatives who fought there. 

Time to honour sacrifices that helped win the war

As Australia gears up for next year's centenary of our favourite battle, Gallipoli, we should spare a thought for the first Australian to fall in WWI, Lieutenant William Chisholm, 22, killed - not at Gallipoli - but in France at the outbreak of war.

How the media can fight the war on cliches this Anzac Day

This Anzac Day, like others in recent years, there will be controversy. Questions will be asked; answers will be contradictory.