Hills Community
Centenary of ANZAC Committee
Centenary of ANZAC 1914 -1915
SPONSORS
Castle Hill & District RSL sub-Branch
Email: chrslsub@tpg.com
Phone: (02) 8858 4809
http://www.chrslsubbranch.org.au
http://www.castlehillrsl.com.au/
SUPPORTERS & SUPPORT ORGANISATIONS

Bella Vista Farm, Baulkham Hills

Boddington Family


Castle Hill Bowling Club


Castle Hill Country Club


Castle Hill RSL Pipe Band and Bugler


Castle Hill RSL Swimming Club


Castlebrook Memorial Park

Castle Hill Cemetery

Events Cinemas

Light Horse Troop -- 1st/15th RNSWL Band

Muirfield Golf Course -- Diggers Day
Committee

NAMBUS

Powerhouse Discovery Centre, Castle Hill

RAAF Richmond

The Kings School

Govenor of NSW
Federal Government
Premier of NSW
The Hills Shire Council
High Schools from the District
Primary Schools from the District
Hills Community
Centenary of ANZAC Committee
CENTENARY OF ANZAC 1914 -1915
CONTENTS
Program for Centenary of ANZAC
Preface and Introduction from Chair
1.
The Centenary of ANZAC COMMITTEE
- Committee Members
- Aims and Objectives of Committee
2.
Why We Commemorate ANZAC Day
3.
Events Leading to WWI
4.
Australia’s Position at the Outbreak of WAR
5.
The Australian Offer of Support
On 6th August 1914 -- A somewhat
forgotten event – Nauru & Rabaul
6.
The Forming of the A.I.F.
7.
The First Contingent Get Ready to Sail
8.
The Voyage Begins
9.
Training
10.
The Landing at Gallipoli
11.
Remembering the Fallen
12.
Photo Gallery
13.
Songs from the Era
14.
Bibliography
The ODE
PROGRAM FOR CENTENARY OF ANZAC
The following Commemorative Events have been specifically
designed for various sections of the Community and subBranch involvement.
Other events are designed for sub-Branch and invited
dignitaries and guests.
The following depicts all of these Commemorative Events for
2014 and 2015:
PROGRAM FOR CENTENARY OF ANZAC
2014
Feb 2014
Launch of Centenary of ANZAC Program
12 Jun 2014
Primary/Secondary Schools’ Story of ANZAC Competition
Late Oct/ early Nov
2014
Fleet Re-enactment at Albany
Notes:
The Castle Hill RSL sub-Branch will be sending a film crew to ALBANY WA for the above Re-Enactment.
This will be made available from this site when completed.
Persons attending Commemoration Events in both 2014 and 2015 may be photographed or filmed for
the purposes of putting together a historical account of the Centenary of ANZAC Commemorations.
PROGRAM FOR CENTENARY OF ANZAC
2015
18-26 Apr 2015
Powerhouse Centre Display for the Centenary of ANZAC
Week
18 Apr 2015
The Launch of the Centenary of ANZAC Week for Hills
19 Apr 2015
Centenary of ANZAC Sunday Commemoration Service
19 Apr 2015
The Centenary of ANZAC Commemoration Lunch
19 to 26 Apr 2015
The Centenary of ANZAC Stage Play
20 to 23 Apr 2015
Primary Schools’ Disabled and Students Tours
20 Apr 2015
Carillon WW1 Music Rendition and Tchaikovsky’s 1812
Overture
20 to 24 Apr 2015
NAMBUS Tours
20 to 24 Apr 2015
Lone Piper will play the Lament nightly following the Ode
on the balcony above the entrance to the Castle Hill RSL
Club.
21 Apr 2015
Primary/High Schools and Citizen Competitions Awards
Civic Lunch
PROGRAM FOR CENTENARY OF ANZAC
2015
21 and 22 Apr 2015
The Old Canteen Stage Show
22 Apr 2015
Film(s) with WW1 and ANZAC at the Events Cinemas at
Castle Hill.
23 Apr 2015
This Centenary of ANZAC Golf Day
23 Apr 2015
Commemoration Swimming Carnival
24 April 2015
Centenary of ANZAC Schools’ Commemoration Services
25 Apr 2015
Centenary of ANZAC Dawn Service is to be conducted at
the War Memorial at the Centenary of ANZAC Reserve,
Castle Hill.
26 Apr 2015
Centenary of ANZAC Participants’ BBQ
Centenary of ANZAC 1914 -1915
1. CENTENARY OF ANZAC COMMITTEE
PREFACE
The Centenary of ANZAC (COA) is the most important Hills District Community, and
Australian, occasion for this century. The sacrifices that were made by so many young
Australians in WWI and in particular the birth of the ANZAC Spirit at Gallipoli, will be
remembered by all Australians, and arguably was the birth of Australia as a Nation.
“LEST WE FORGET”
For this reason the Hills District Centenary of ANZAC Committee in conjunction with
the members of the Community of the Castle Hill RSL sub-Branch have put in place a
number of Commemorative, educational, events and activities, befitting this occasion.
A Committee has been setup, which is headed by Don Tait OAM the current President
of the Castle Hill RSL sub-Branch, and the main driving force behind these
Commemorations for the Hills District. This Committee is made up of sub-Branch
members and the Community at large.
This document is an attempt to bring together information about the events, from a
variety of sources, which are mainly historical, in order to appropriately cover these
Commemorations to Remember the sacrifices made by these young Australians.
INTRODUCTION FROM
THE
CHAIR
Nearly one hundred years ago young Australians landed at Gallipoli on the 25th April 1915 with many of them
paying the ultimate sacrifice during the landing and subsequent battles. Through their bravery and mateship
they arguable were responsible for the birth of our nation in the modern era, they influenced events that
shaped our history and they left us with the “ANZAC Spirit” that today still provides us with the characteristics
that are uniquely Australian.
In 2015 in every town and city across Australia these young men will be thanked and honoured for what they
did for generations of Australians – past and present. The Centenary of ANZAC will be the largest national
event ever held in this country, and our community in the Hills will play a major part in this commemoration.
The Hills Community, Centenary of ANZAC Committee has designed a program of activities and events for the
Centenary of ANZAC in 2015 that caters for all ages and backgrounds in our community. Everyone in The
Hills will have the opportunity to attend this once in a life time anniversary and, by doing so, will thank the
young men for what they did for us and Australia 100 years ago.
Don Tait OAM
Chair, Hills Community, Centenary of ANZAC Committee
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE COMMITTEE
The Hills Community, Centenary of ANZAC Committee has developed a comprehensive program of activities
and events for the Centenary of ANZAC in the Hills. In developing this program the objectives of the
Committee were:
The program should be appropriate to thanking and honouring the veterans of Gallipoli,

It should be for the entire community irrespective of age or background,

The community should be involved in the program’s planning and conduct,

It should be available to the maximum number of the Hills community to attend,

The resources and people needed to conduct the program should, as far as possible, come from the
Hills, and

The cost of conducting the program should come from government grants and through sponsorships.
HILLS DISTRICT CENTENARY OF ANZAC
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Chair:
Don Tait OAM.
Deputy Chair:
Adjunct Professor Jim Taggart. OAM.
Secretary:
Councillor Doctor Jeff Lowe.
Treasurer:
Craig Colbert.
Legal Advisor:
Steven Brown.
Centenary Advisor:
Gareth McCray.
Grants’ Coordinator:
David Hand.
Sponsorship Coordinators:
Tony Eades, and Bill Dokter.
Promotions/Public Relations’ Coordinator:
Melanie Morson.
Media Coordinator:
Bev Jordan.
Schools’ Coordinator:
Bryan Mullan.
Military/Pipe Bands’ Coordinator:
David Wood.
Stage Play Coordinator:
George Cartledge.
Mayor, The Hills Shire Council:
Councillor Doctor Michelle Byrne.
State Member for Castle Hill:
Dominic Perrottet MP.
State Member for Baulkham Hills:
David Elliott. MP
Events’ Overall Coordinator:
Don Tait OAM
Member:
Mike Yeo.
Website:
Graham Handley, and Robbie Duncan
Centenary of ANZAC 1914 -1915
2. WHY WE COMMEMORATE ANZAC DAY
With some minor modification from:
http://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/anzac/anzac-tradition
“When war broke out in 1914, Australia had been a Federal Commonwealth for only 13 years.
The new National Government was eager to establish its reputation among the nations of the
world. In 1915 Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of the allied expedition that set
out to capture the Gallipoli peninsula in order to open the Dardanelles to the allied navies. The
ultimate objective was to capture Constantinople (now Istanbul in Turkey), the capital of the
Ottoman Empire, an ally of Germany.
The Australian and New Zealand forces landed on the Gallipoli Peninsular at ANZAC Cove
on 25 April 1915, where they met fierce resistance from the Ottoman Turkish defenders. What
had been planned as a bold stroke to knock Turkey out of the war quickly became a stalemate,
and the campaign dragged on for eight months. At the end of 1915 the allied forces were , after
both sides had suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. Over 8,000 Australian
soldiers had been killed. News of the landing on Gallipoli had made a profound impact on
Australians at home, and 25 April soon became the day on which Australians remembered the
sacrifice of those who had fallen in the war.
Although the Gallipoli campaign failed in its military objectives, the Australian and New Zealand
actions during the campaign left us all a powerful legacy. The creation of what became known
as the ‘ANZAC legend’ became an important part of the identity of both nations, shaping the
ways they viewed both their past and their future.”
With some minor modification from:
http://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/anzac/anzac-tradition/
Centenary of ANZAC 1914 -1915
3. EVENTS LEADING TO WWI
Extracts from various sources (acknowledged by links to sites) with some minor
changes/adjustments on occasions:
JUL 28, 1914 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY DECLARES WAR ON SERBIA
“On July 28, 1914, one month to the day after
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife
were killed by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo,
Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, effectively
beginning the First World War.”
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/austria-hungary-declares-war-on-serbia
Archduke Franz Ferdinand & Wife
Serbian Nationalist being arrested.
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=archduke+franz+ferdinand&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=PpCeUv2eFMavkAXM8oDoAQ&sqi=2&ved=0CJc
BEIke&biw=1366&bih=676
JUL 29, 1914 KAISER WILHELM OF GERMANY AND CZAR NICHOLAS OF RUSSIA EXCHANGE TELEGRAMS
“In the early hours of July 29, 1914, Czar Nicholas
II of Russia and his first cousin, Kaiser Wilhelm II
of Germany, begin a frantic exchange of telegrams
regarding the newly erupted war in the Balkan
region and the possibility of its escalation into a
general European war.”
Czar Nicholas II
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_II_of_Russia
Kaiser Wilhelm II
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_II,_German_Emperor
AUG 01, 1914 FIRST WORLD WAR ERUPTS IN EUROPE
“On August 1, 1914, four days after AustriaHungary declared war on Serbia, two more
great European powers — Russia and
Germany—declare war on each other; the
same day, France orders a general
mobilization.”
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-world-war-erupts-in-europe
AUG 03, 1914 GERMANY AND FRANCE DECLARE WAR ON EACH OTHER
“On the afternoon of August 3 in 1914, two
days after declaring war on Russia, Germany
declares war on France, moving ahead with a
long-held strategy, conceived by the former
chief of staff of the German army, Alfred von
Schlieffen, for a two-front war against France
and Russia”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_von_Schlieffen
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germany-and-france-declare-war-on-each-other
EUROPE 2014
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/firstworldwar/maps/europe1914.htm
Centenary of ANZAC 1914 -1915
4. AUSTRALIA’S POSITION AT THE OUTBREAK OF WAR
Extracts from: “The Story of ANZAC from the outbreak of war to the end of the first
phase of the Gallipoli Campaign, May 4, 1915 (11th edition, 1941)” Author: Bean,
Charles Edwin Woodrow (C E W). Chapter I – Australia’s Position at the Outbreak
Mainly quotes from the above text with some possible changes. -- Acknowledged by the above Link.
ON 30TH JULY 1914
“A
cablegram in secret cipher from the British
Government to the Government of Australia
informed it that there was imminent danger of
war”
“Every Australian knew that a quarrel between
Austria and Serbia had occasioned the
intervention of Germany. Few then realised that
the Emperor and Government of Germany were
therein deliberately employing the characteristic
methods which aroused danger of war with Great
Britain”
“If Great Britain were involved, what was the position
of those younger British communities which inhabited
lands remote from the old world, and which were
loosely bound together under the name of the British
Empire?”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Empire
“Of those peoples of the world which had sprung from the
British stock, only one, that of the United States, had
left the Empire and grown to maturity as an independent
nation. The other offshoots, in Canada, Australia, New
Zealand, South Africa, and Newfoundland, were still but
adolescent.”
“The world regarded them and their motherland as one
community. Foreign nations had begun to know something
of the several British colonies as producers of raw
materials and of new ideas; but their population, still in its
infancy, was not yet reckoned as a factor in international
politics.”
Centenary of ANZAC 1914 -1915
5. THE AUSTRALIAN OFFER OF SUPPORT
Extracts from: “The Story of ANZAC from the outbreak of war to the end of the first
phase of the Gallipoli Campaign, May 4, 1915 (11th edition, 1941)” Author: Bean, Charles
Edwin Woodrow (C E W). Chapter II–The Australian Offer
Mainly quotes from the above text with some possible changes. -- Acknowledged by the above Link.
ON 30TH JULY 1914
“In the days of intense anxiety immediately before the
declaration of war, when the entrance of Britain into it,
and the steps which she would take if she did enter, were
equally uncertain there was a feeling in the British
dominions that a declaration of their support would
strengthen her position in the eyes of the world. New
Zealand on July 30th offered to send a force of New
Zealand troops if need arose.”
ON 3RD AUGUST 1914
“Colonel Sam Hughes, the talkative Minister of Militia and Defence in
biography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Hughes
Canada. He had said that “an offer of 30,000 men had been
practically decided upon,” and that 20,000 Canadians would be
ready to sail within a fortnight if required.”
“This news appeared in the Australian journals on Monday, August 3rd.
under large headlines: “Canada offers 30,000.” As a matter of fact
Canada had offered to send 20,000 men, and more if required, but the
actual terms passed unnoticed in Australia. Within two months in
Canada, as in Australia, the men in training were far more than were
originally contemplated.”
AUSTRALIA NEW GOVERNOR-GENERAL / PARLIAMENT DISSOLVED /NEW POLL
“The Ministry, in order to rid itself of this obstacle, had
introduced a Bill specially designed to bring the deadlock
to an acute stage, so that it might apply the remedy laid
down in the Australian Constitution for such a situation,
to wit, a dissolution of both Houses of Parliament. The
newly- arrived Governor-General, Sir Ronald Craufurd
Munro Ferguson,
had given his assent. Feelings ran high and bitter.
Parliament had been dissolved on June 27th, and polling
was to take place on September 5th.”
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/munro-ferguson-sir-ronaldcraufurd-7688
biography:
ON 30TH JULY 1914
“….the British Government despatched the first of the two
warning telegrams.
This was received by the Governor-General of Australia on
July 30th . It informed the Government that the time had
arrived for bringing into force the ‘precautionary stage’ of
the Defence Scheme.”
“This was immediately followed by a second telegram,
instructing the Australian Government that the measures
for the examination of ships entering Australia ports were
not at the moment required, but that arrangements
should be made to enforce them when necessary.”
ON 1ST AUGUST 1914
“On Saturday, August 1st, the word came that this precaution also
should be taken. On Thursday, July 30th, when the first critical news
arrived, the Governor-General was in Sydney, as was also Senator
Millen, the Minister for Defence. Joseph Cook, the Prime Minister,
alone was at the seat of Government in Melbourne: he had arranged
to follow Andrew Fisher, the leader of the Opposition, in an important
election speech at Colac on Saturday.”
Joseph Cook
biography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Cook
Edward Millen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Millen
Andrew Fisher
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Fisher
“It will appear to future generations of Australians a strange
token of the manner in which Australia stood on the brink of
the precipice without suspecting the tremendous plunge
ahead of her that, even on the receipt of this warning, the
Prime Minister (whose whole-hearted unswerving devotion to
the British Empire was and is one of the main principles of
his life) did not instantly call the members of his Cabinet to
meet him the next day or the day after in Melbourne”
“..that the Minister for Defence did not immediately return to
the Navy and Defence Departments at the seat of
Government”
“..and that the Governor-General did not forthwith move to
Melbourne and ask the Prime Minister to confer with him.”
ON 31ST JULY 1914
“On the night of Friday, July 31st , Senator Millen, by his
statement in Sydney that Australia was “no fair-weather
partner” in the Empire”
“.. and Andrew Fisher at Colac. By pledging to the support
of Great Britain, if necessary, Australia’s “last man and
last shilling,” placed the position of Australia beyond
doubt before the world.”
“Last Man Last Shilling Monument “:
http://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/conflict/ww1/display/30861-%60last-man%60-and%60last-shilling%60-monument/photo/3
ON 2ND AUGUST 1914
“On Sunday, August 2nd. a further telegram came
from the British Government asking that
precautionary measures should be taken at
defended ports.”
“At 1.50 PM. On Sunday, August 2nd Senator Millen
telegraphed to the Prime Minister that this action
was proposed.”
ON 1ST THROUGH 5TH AUGUST 1914 --- GERMAN SHIPPING IN AUSTRALIAN WATERS
“On August 1st a wireless message in the secret German
code was received by many German merchant ships which
were loading or unloading in Australian ports. On Sunday,
August 2nd. two of the German steamers which were taking
in coal at Newcastle in New South Wales suddenly left.”
“The steamer Westfalen did the same next day. Another fine
German ship, the Elsass, which was lying in Sydney Harbour
at the wharves in Woolloomooloo Bay, with papers for a
voyage to Antwerp, pushed off as early as she could on the
morning of Tuesday, August 4th , and in the hurry of swinging
round made a large hole in the Woolloomooloo Baths. There
were no instructions to stop her, and she cleared at 8.05
a.m. through Sydney Heads.”
SMS Westfalen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Westfalen
SMS Elsass
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Elsass
ON 5TH AUGUST 1914
“On August 5th the steamer Pfalz tried to get
away shortly after noon through the heads of
Port Phillip Melbourne), but was stopped by a
shot from the forts, which had just heard of
the outbreak of war.”
SS Pfalz
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Pfalz_(1913)
ON 3RD AUGUST 1914
“The Governor-General and Major White returned with the two
Ministers to Melbourne. The special Cabinet meeting, held
immediately on Monday afternoon (August 3rd), decided to offer to
the mother country the assistance both of the navy and of a force
of Australian troops. G. L. Macandie, Secretary of the Board of
Naval Administration, and Major White, acting-Chief
of the General Staff of the army, were instructed to be in
attendance, and the latter was asked to furnish any plans that
might exist for the sending of an expeditionary force from Australia
overseas.”
George Lionel Macandie
Major White who became :
General Cyril Brudenell Bingham White, KCB, KCMG,
KCVO, DSO
biography: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/macandie-george-lionel-7284 http://www.awm.gov.au/people/339.asp
AUSTRALIA’S PREPAREDNESS
“On the receipt of the first message the Government of the dominion would,
if it thought fit, order the “precautionary stage” of mobilisation. On receiving
the second it would take whatever steps it had decided upon for a time of
war. Australia, fortunately, had her ‘Defence Scheme’ almost ready. It so
happened that in 1908-the year following the Imperial Conference which
originated the plan-the Chief of Staff of the Australian Forces was Colonel
William Throsby Bridges, an able soldier and a man whose grim driving
force at all times strongly influenced whatever Minister he might be
working with Bridges
Sir William Throsby Bridges
biography: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/bridges-sir-william-throsby-5355
(whose title was Chief of Intelligence), inasmuch as the “General Staff” had
only been established since the South African War and was a new thing at
the date in question) started upon a Defence Scheme of his own. ……. The
steps to be taken by the States had been completely drawn up. Bridges
himself, who drafted them with a stern rigidity. He laid down the conditions
to be imposed upon the press.”
ON 6TH AUGUST 1914 -- A SOMEWHAT FORGOTTEN EVENT – NAURU & RABAUL
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Naval_and_Military_Expeditionary_Force
“The AN&MEF began forming following a request by the British government on 6 August 1914. The force was assembled under
the guidance of Colonel James Legge, and was separate from the Australian Imperial Force forming under Major-General William
Bridges. The AN&MEF comprised one battalion of infantry of 1,000 men enlisted in Sydney—known as the 1st Battalion,
AN&MEF—plus 500 naval reservists and ex-sailors who would serve as infantry. Another battalion of militia from the Queenslandbased Kennedy Regiment, which had been hurriedly dispatched to garrison Thursday Island, also contributed 500 volunteers to
the force. The objectives of the force were the German stations at Yap in the Caroline Islands, Nauru and at Rabaul, New Britain.”
James Gordon Legge
William Throsby Bridges
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Gordon_Legge
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Throsby_Bridges
“Under the command of Colonel William Holmes, the AN&MEF departed Sydney aboard HMAS Berrima and halted at Palm Island
off Townsville until the New Zealand force, escorted by the battlecruiser HMAS Australia, cruiser HMAS Melbourne, and the
French cruiser Montcalm, occupied Samoa on 30 August. The AN&MEF then moved to Port Moresby where it met the Queensland
contingent aboard the transport TSS Kanowna. The force then sailed for German New Guinea on 7 September but the Kanowna
was left behind when her stokers refused to work. The soldiers from the Kennedy Regiment were also left in Port Moresby as
Holmes felt that they were not trained or equipped well enough to be committed to the fighting that was expected.”
Colonel William Holmes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Holmes_(Australian_general)
“A scheme was proposed by which Australia and New
Zealand should each provide contingents based upon the
number of troops which they had respectively sent to the
South African War, but so organised as to compose, not a
series of unconnected contingents, but a single fullyorganised ‘division’”.
A division at that time was 18.000 strong. Australia was to
provide 12,000 men, and New Zealand about 6,000,
organised in the appropriate units - two infantry brigades
coming from Australia and one from New Zealand, each
with its proportion of ambulances and other troops.”
“Major White could guarantee that it was possible to raise and organise
for service abroad a volunteer force of 12,000 men of all arms, and to
have them ready for sailing within six weeks.
The Prime Minister was determined that Australia’s contribution should
be on a greater scale than this. If Canada had offered (as was believed)
30,000 men, Australia could not offer fewer than 20,000. White
agreed that 20,000 Australians could be raised, and that there was
a fair prospect that they would be ready to sail within six weeks.
The cable, which was immediately sent, ran as follows:
“In the event of war the Government (of Australia) is prepared to place
the vessels of the Australian Navy under the control of the British
Admiralty when desired. It is further prepared to despatch an
expeditionary force of 20,000 men of any suggested composition to any
destination desired by the Home Government, the force to be at the
complete disposal of the Home Government. The cost of despatch and
maintenance will be borne by this (i.e., the Australian) Government.” ”
ON 6TH AUGUST 1914
“Two days later, on August 6th, the Secretary of State for
the Colonies telegraphed that the British Government:
“gratefully accepted the offer . . . to send a force of
20,000 men. and would be glad if it could be
despatched as soon as possible.”
But already before that date men had begun to appear
from all directions at the headquarters in Sydney and
Melbourne begging to enlist, and on August 5th a small
staff had been established in the Victoria Barracks,
Melbourne, for registering their names.”
“Colonel William Throsby Bridges, Inspector-General of
the Australian Military Forces, had been in Queensland
when the war broke out, but had been recalled to
Melbourne.
…….From August 5th, when he reached Melbourne
and was entrusted with the organising of the
expeditionary force, he was determined that Australia
should send to this war an Australian “division”- a
compact unit, to be kept and fought as an Australian
unit wherever it might go.”
“He appointed Major White as the chief of his staff in the new force;
and he drafted a reply to the Army Council’s proposal. It stated that
Australia “fully expected 20,000 to go” and had begun organising a
division of infantry, including -in accordance with the regular Home
Army organisation three brigades of 3-gun batteries of artillery, but
without the howitzer brigade and heavy battery prescribed for a
British division.
(A full British division at that time would amount to 18,000 men).
The telegram added that, in addition, a light horse brigade was
being constituted, consisting of 2,226 men and 2,315 horses.”
http://www.lancers.org.au/site/light_horse.asp
“In the stand which he had made General Bridges
was actuated by pure Australian nationalism.
…..He had no expectation of personally
commanding either the force or the division.
Indeed he himself suggested that the command
should be given to Lieutenant-General Sir
Edward Hutton….
biography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Hutton_(British_Army_officer)
Had it fought through the war in the form favoured
by the Army Council, there would have been no
ANZAC Corps.”
Centenary of ANZAC 1914 -1915
6. THE FORMING OF THE A.I.F.
Extracts from: “The Story of ANZAC from the outbreak of war to the end of the first
phase of the Gallipoli Campaign, May 4, 1915 (11th edition, 1941)” Author: Bean,
Charles Edwin Woodrow (C E W). Chapter III – The “A.I.F.”
Mainly quotes from the above text with some possible changes. -- Acknowledged by the above Link.
THE FORMING OF THE A.I.F.
“…The scheme for the Australian Imperial Force (A.I.F.) was completed by
General Bridges and Major White on August 8th.
The force was to be drawn, as far as possible, from men who had
undergone some training:

half of them were to be men then serving in the citizen army of Australiamainly youngsters in their twentieth year and upwards;

the other half were to be men not then in the forces, but who had once been in
the militia or had served in the South African or other wars.
The units were to be connected with the different States in Australia;
they were to be definitely local and territorial.
This principle, laid down from the first, was of necessity afterwards
abandoned in the case of special arms, such as the artillery, the army
medical corps, and the engineers, but the infantry battalions and light
horse regiments continued to be recruited from their own States
throughout the war…..”
This chapter also discusses how the AIF was
being formed from the various states, the
populations of these states, and how it was
intended to break these down into Divisions,
Brigades, Battalions, Regiments, their training
locations etc. It also, discussed the breakdown
of the type of people enlisting and the rates of
pay that these volunteers would be paid.
“….The great driving force of Bridges created all
this new army within a month, mainly upon the
lines of the scheme which White had drawn
before the war…..”
A section discusses the types of people who
were clambering to join up.
“….hundreds of those newly-arrived younger
men who knew the old country as the land of
their childhood, English and Scottish
immigrants to whom their “home” was calling;
Irishmen with a generous semi-religious hatred
of the German horrors in Belgium….”
“In only two or three cases do the records preserve details of
these early enlistments.
The newspapers stated that by April, 1915, there had been
enrolled 12,000 shearers and station hands, members of
the Australian Workers' Union, and 1,000 bank clerks.
In New South Wales alone 164 students of the State
Agricultural College and 140 policemen had joined.
More than one clergyman, not accepted as chaplain,
enlisted in the ranks. One was a well-known priest of the
Church of England, Digges La Touche.”
http://webjournals.ac.edu.au/journals/adeb/l_/la-touche-everard-digges-1883-1915/
http://www.anzacs.org/pages/AOdigges.html
A very poignant quote from the book follows..
“The men who would not wait for
commissions as officers, which were to be
had almost for the asking by any educated
Australian if he chose to go to Great
Britain..................
the men whose greatest fear was that they
would not be “in” whatever was going ……….”
The lengths to which some young men went to was also discussed:
“Many men, rejected in the Capital of one State, made the long
journey to another to enlist. One youngster, four times refused in
Melbourne, was accepted in Sydney. Another man rode 460 miles,
and travelled still further by railway, in order to join the Light Horse in
Adelaide. Finding the ranks full he sailed to Hobart, and was finally
enlisted in Sydney.”
“Those who during the first few days crowded the recruiting offices
came mostly from the great cities. But within the first year many
farming districts had been deserted by almost all their young men.”
“Some who had been officers in the militia entered the force as
privates. Many a youngster, who could have had a commission,
enlisted in the ranks and remained there in order to serve beside a
friend.”
“But for the most part the wealthy, the educated, the rough
and the case-hardened, poor Australians, rich Australians,
went into the ranks together unconscious of any distinction.
When they came into an atmosphere of class difference
later in the war, they stoutly and rebelliously resented it.”
“Early in the history of the A.I.F. it became clear that the
right selection and training of officers was the problem
vital beyond any other in the creation of the Australian
Army. Given officers and non-commissioned officers of
the right type and of sufficient training, the rank and file
of an Australian force could be trained in a few months.”
This section discusses the various ways used for the selection of officers…
“The manner in which the regimental officers for the original 1st Division were selected may be illustrated by
the case of the 1st Australian Infantry Brigade, whose records for this period are, for some reason, much
more complete than those of the other troops.
The Brigadier, MacLaurin, was a man of lofty ideals, direct, determined, with a certain inherited Scottish
dourness rather unusual in a young Australian, but an educated man of action of the finest type that the
Australian Universities produce.
Henry Normand MacLaurin
biography:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Normand_MacLaurin
He felt that he was very young for the position, but he was ready to take any responsibility if it became his
duty. The notice of his appointment required him to nominate the commanders of the four battalions of
infantry composing his brigade.”
HTTP://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/ROYAL_MILITARY_COLLEGE,_DUNTROON
“One class of officers must be specially mentioned-the cadets of the
Australian Military College at Duntroon.”
“General Bridges. who had founded the college less than four years
before, decided to take with him the whole of the first year’s cadets.”
“By a flash of rare statesmanship, the college was thrown open to New
Zealanders should the New Zealand Government care to train its staff
there also. This offer was accepted, and an average of eight New
Zealand cadets entered yearly.”
“Hundreds of lives and the fate of battles might depend upon an
Australian staff and a New Zealand staff possessing an intimate
understanding of each other…………..”
“……….It may be said here that every cadet who passed through the
college in time served at the front; 181 fought in the A.I.F.; 42 died; 58
were wounded.”
Centenary of ANZAC 1914 -1915
7. THE FIRST CONTINGENT GET READY TO SAIL
Extracts from: “The Story of ANZAC from the outbreak of war to the end of the first
phase of the Gallipoli Campaign, May 4, 1915 (11th edition, 1941)” Author: Bean,
Charles Edwin Woodrow (C E W). Chapter V – The First Contingent Sails
Mainly quotes from the above text with some possible changes. -- Acknowledged by the above Link.
THE FIRST CONTINGENT GET READY TO SAIL
“At each Australian Capital, about the middle of August, the infantry regiments
began to take shape. In most cases the officer chosen to command one of them
received between the 13th and 17th of August a telegram informing him of the
fact, and instructing him to organise his unit and choose its officers.
On August 13th Major A. J. Bennett,' who had fought in South Africa, was ordered
by Colonel MacLaurin. The brigadier, to organise the 3rd battalion of the 1st
Infantry Brigade. The next day Major Bennett conferred with the brigadier, and
selected from eight of the training areas of New South Wales most of the officers
of the battalion. At 8:00AM. on August 17th the chosen officers presented
themselves. clothed in their militia uniforms, at the Victoria Barracks,
Sydney.”……..
“Such was the actual birth of one of those splendid regiments, which may go
down to history known by their mere numbers, but of which those who knew them
will never be able to think except as living breathing things, each full to
overflowing with its own peculiar motive and pride and character.”………
This section talks at length on the building of the forces that would eventually be
transported to Africa for further training and then would eventually be part of the
Gallipoli Campaign. This was a task which was carried out without haste and
taking into consideration the troops, supplies and horses for the Mounted
sections……..
ON 21ST SEPTEMBER
“The units of the first contingent all over Australia were
complete and ready to sail by September 21st.”
“There already lay in various ports a large
fleet of troopships, numbered A1 to A28 (a
system of numbering which the Australian
transports retained throughout the
war).”………
Transport Ships of WWI
http://alh-research.tripod.com/ships_lh.htm
Photos and numbers
“But things were happening upon the sea which had caused the Government suddenly to postpone the
date of sailing. The original intention of the Australian staff had been to begin shipping the horses away in
the slower vessels, from about August 26th. the other transports following as they were ready.” ……….
“…..the Admiralty warned the Australian Government ……“A convoy is not at present practicable.” the
telegram continued, “as the greater part of the Australian and New Zealand squadrons are engaged in
offensive operations in the Pacific. When the force does start it should go preferably in one convoy.” A
later telegram stated that the route would probably be by way of Fremantle, Colombo, Aden, and
Suez.”……..
The Admiralty had undertaken to provide an escort for the transports. What the escort was to be, and
when it could arrive, would depend upon the position of the German squadron in the Pacific-and the
German squadron had vanished. (Scharnhorst and Gneisenau)
SMS Scharnhorst
SMS Gneisenau
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Scharnhorst
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Gneisenau
There was only one British ship in the Pacific
which was beyond question capable of
defeating vessels of their class-the
Australian battle-cruiser Australia (which
Winston Churchill had desired to see
transferred to the
Atlantic).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMAS_Australia_(1911)
The first move of troops would be made when the New Zealand force started on its six days voyage across the
Tasman Sea to Australia. It would then sail for a week along the south coast of the Continent and find the
Australian transports assembled in the far west. at Albany or Fremantle, the last Australian ports on the
voyage to England. From that place the two forces would move together in one large convoy across the Indian
Ocean.
The Admiralty intended to let an escort of small cruisers bring the New Zealanders to Australia. and to
increase the escort with the modern light cruisers Sydney and Melbourne of the Australian Navy when the
whole force moved from Australia to Aden.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMAS_Sydney_(1912)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMAS_Melbourne_(1912)
It was arranged that the Australian transports should be concentrated on the Western Australian coast before
October 3rd, and the Admiralty therefore asked New Zealand to have its contingent assembled at Wellington
ready to sail by September 20th, by which date the small escort would be ready.
“The Admiralty ……….. telegraphed, on September 8th, to the Commander-in-Chief on the China Station that,
if the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were not accounted for by the end of the month, he must send the two
armoured cruisers Minotaur and Hampshire to escort the Australasian Expeditionary Force across that part
of the Indian Ocean…..”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Minotaur_(1906)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Hampshire_(1903)
It also looks at New Zealand concerns on this situation…..
“……..The New Zealand Cabinet, however, was most uneasy as to the diminutive escorts - the Psyche and
Philomel - which were to take the New Zealand ships as far as Australia. Yet it accepted the risk, informing
the Admiralty that its force would leave Wellington (N.Z.) on September 25th and reach Fremantle on October
7th…….”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMAS_Psyche
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Philomel_(1890)
The Admiralty responded to these concerns:
“……….if the situation in New Zealand waters changed, steps would be immediately taken to strengthen the
escort …… even at the cost of considerably delaying the departure of the convoy ………….On September 16th,
the very day on which it received this reply, the New Zealand Government heard that two days previously the
Scharnhorst and Gneisenau had visited Apia, the Capital of Samoa……. 1580 miles from Auckland….. and
2570 miles from Sydney……”
Sighting of Emden:
“…..On the day on which these cruisers were at Samoa information reached the
Admiralty from Ceylon that the German light cruiser Emden, of the same squadron,
was in the Bay of Bengal, apparently by herself, raiding the traffic off the Indian
coast between Calcutta and Madras…….”
SMS Emden
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Emden_(1908)
“…..Thus the whereabouts of the more important German warships in the
Pacific became known at the same moment. The Admiralty changed its
arrangements to meet the new situation. The battle-cruiser Australia and
the French cruiser Montcalm were ordered to cover the force in New
Guinea from attack, and then to search for the Gneisenau and
Scharnhorst. The Hampshire was diverted from her prospective duty on
the Australian escort, and instructed to find and sink the Emden. A far
more powerful ship was to take her place on the escort-the Japanese
Government lent the Ibuki, then lying at Singapore, for this purpose, and
she started at once (September 18th). The Minotaur had left the day
before. She and the Ibuki were to reach Fremantle about October 1st, in
order to pick up at that port the combined Australian and New Zealand
convoy. The transports were already beginning to move. Those from the
furthest Australian port, Brisbane, had embarked their troops, and on
September 24th started down the coast without escort towards the point
of concentration in the west. On the same day the embarkation of units
at the next most distant Sydney, was begun…….”
Change of Government in Australia:
Andrew Fisher, the Prime Minister of Australia - who, with Senator G. F. Pearce as Minister for Defence and
William Morris Hughes as Attorney-General, was now directing the Government of Australia
George Foster Pearce
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Pearce
William Morris (Billy) Hughes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Hughes
(Joseph Cook and the Liberals having been defeated by the Labour Party at the elections) - was exceedingly
restive at the notion of transports coming unescorted round the Australian coast. As the date of sailing
approached, this anxiety more and more obsessed him.
Troops begin to move:
“….On the day on which the 9th Battalion (Queensland) had actually left Brisbane in the Orient liner
Omrah the
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omrah
Australian Government inquired by cable of the Admiralty whether it deemed it was safe for this
independent movement of transports down the coast, as nothing definite had been heard of the
Scharnhorst and Gneisenau since September 14th.
The Admiralty replied that it still considered that the sailing of the transports round the Australian
coast was free from undue risk ‘but that, in view of the anxiety felt by the Governments of both
Australia and New Zealand, it had decided
The Admiralty replied that it still considered that the sailing of the transports round the Australian coast was free from undue
risk ‘but that, in view of the anxiety felt by the Governments of both Australia and New Zealand, it had decided that, when the
two cruisers (Minotaur and Ibuki) reached Fremantle, they should continue round the southern coast of Australia to New
Zealand, pick up the New Zealand convoy, and bring it to Western Australia.
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibuki_(1909)
This entailed three weeks delay, and was the cause of that countermanding of orders of embarkation
mentioned above.’ He pointed out that it would harass the troops and those who had to provide for them. It
meant deferring the time when they would be ready for service. The German cruisers would without firing a
shot achieve their object of cutting communications between Australia and England. Even when the escort
came, it would not be one which would prevent a vigorous enemy from damaging the convoy before being
himself destroyed.
The Admiralty had ordered the delay not because it believed it necessary, but in deference to the anxiety of
Australia and New Zealand.
On these grounds Bridges urged the Government to ask the Admiralty to move the Australian convoy as
previously decided, and, if necessary, to provide another escort for New Zealand troops, whose case was
admittedly different.……”
Suddenly Cancelled:
The Melbourne was ordered from Sydney to escort into harbour in Melbourne such transports as had already
sailed from Queensland. All arrangements for embarkation were suddenly cancelled.
This section further discusses the morale of the troops who had already said goodbye to their families and
friends, and also the perception and feelings of the public seeing that our troops hanging around in the
streets in uniform and not being sent into the foray to help out……
On the night of September 30th arrived news that eight days previously the two German cruisers had
suddenly visited and bombarded the town of Papeete, in the French island of Tahiti near the middle of the
Pacific, 2000 miles from New Zealand.
The one risk now remaining was that of meeting the German cruiser which had appeared in the Indian Ocean
and had raided the traffic there with extraordinary boldness the Emden. Another light German cruiser, the
Konigsberg was also in that ocean. but she was understood to be near the African coast.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%B6nigsberg-class_cruiser_(1905)
Admiralty on October 4th gave an assurance that the movement of the transports was now safe, and on the
strength of this Andrew Fisher agreed that it should be undertaken.
Troop Movements resumed:
On October 16th the New Zealand transports, ten in number, escorted by the Ibuki, Minotaur, Psyche,
and Philomel, left Wellington, and the movement of the Australian troopships towards the port of
concentration was at last resumed.
For the concentration of the transport fleet the Australian Government had chosen the deep and wide
harbour immediately inside the southern bend of the south-western corner of the Australian continent,
King George’s Sound, better known to travellers in the years before it was supplanted by Fremantle as
their regular port of call.
See Fleet Re-enactment in 2014. (link to sub-Branch video from Albany………..)
It consists of a large outer bay, sheltered from almost every wind and leading into a smaller inner
harbour almost entirely landlocked. The rolling heath covered hills shut in even the outer bay, except for
the narrow
entrances on either side of Breaksea Island at its south-eastern end. The small town of .4lbany and the
pier, where the largest ships can lie, are in a corner of the inner bay.
At this lonely sound there began to arrive, on October 24th. troopships from the ports of eastern
Australia.
The Miltiades carrying reservists of the British Army who were to join their regiments in England, had left
Sydney on October 17th ;
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/StateLibQld_1_114464_Miltiades_(ship).jpg
the - Argyllshire with artillery,
http://www.thekivellfamily.co.nz/family_pages/ralphs_diaries/images/ss_argyllshire.jpg
the Afric, with the 1st Battalion, the 1st Field Company of Engineers,
http://alh-research.tripod.com/Light_Horse/Afric_1qaa1.jpg
and part of the Train, and the Suffolk, with the 2nd Battalion, left Sydney the next day;
http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/images/hmssuffolk5.jpg
the Clan Maccorquodale, with horses,


http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P01122.003
the Star of Victoria, with the 1st Light Horse Regiment,
http://alh-research.tripod.com/Light_Horse/PC230006_star-of-victoria.jpg
and the Euripides, with the Headquarters of the 1st Infantry Brigade,

http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P03987.001

the 3rd and 4th Battalions, and the 1st Field Ambulance, followed on October 20th.
http://alh-research.tripod.com/Light_Horse/wm20111914p25_A7_medic.jpg
Melbourne being 600 miles nearer to the rendezvous, the Victorian transports started one day later, on the
average, than those from Sydney. The Queensland ships, which had been waiting in Melbourne nearly a month
since their voyage was stopped, sailed also. Sixteen ships left Melbourne between the 17th and 21st of October;
five left Adelaide between the 20th and 2and; two left Hobart (Tasmania) on October 20th. The Western
Australian troops, in two ships, were to join the convoy later, on its way to the Indian Ocean. On October 21st
the Orient liner Orvieto,
http://alh-research.tripod.com/Light_Horse/ta21111914ps01_ovieto_1qaa1.jpg
carrying General Bridges and the staff of the 1st Australian Division, the 5th Battalion, and the 2nd Field
Company of Engineers, pulled out from Port Melbourne pier, where the crowd had broken through the sentries
and was waving from the wharf. The Australian Imperial Force was launched upon its separate career.
Centenary of ANZAC 1914 -1915
8. THE VOYAGE BEGINS
Extracts from: “The Story of ANZAC from the outbreak of war to the end of the first
phase of the Gallipoli Campaign, May 4, 1915 (11th edition, 1941)” Author: Bean,
Charles Edwin Woodrow (C E W). Chapter VI – The Voyage and the Emden
Mainly quotes from the above text with some possible changes. -- Acknowledged by the above Link.
THE VOYAGE BEGINS
On October 26th the Orvieto reached Albany. Ahead of her coming in from the high seas through a heavy
rainstorm, was a black-funnelled ship the Geelong from Tasmania. Astern was the Star of Victoria, with
light horse from Sydney. Eighteen ships were already in the outer harbour, anchored’ in three lines. All day
others were arriving from every part of Australia. About noon entered the Euripides from Sydney. In this
vessel were Colonel MacLaurin, his staff, and half of his brigade. As she moved slowly past the flagship,
her decks lined with troops standing rigidly to attention, her band playing, there was impressed upon some
onlookers for the first time the truth which was proved on every battlefield later, that the Australian soldier
is exactly what his commanding officer makes him. The difference between any two ships in that convoy, as
between any two regiments later, was simply the difference between the officers commanding in them.
On the morning of October 28th fourteen ships were seen on the horizon. The first was a low thick-set
warship with three funnels smoking heavily. She moved in close under the hills to the west. This was the
Japanese cruiser Ibuki. She was followed by the large four-funnelled British cruiser Minotaur, with the
small Philomel and Pyramus like terriers at her heels. After them came the ten New Zealand troopships,
each painted an even grey and bearing on the side in small white letters “H.M.N.Z.T.,” together with a
number from 3 to 12.
The Melbourne, which had arrived the day before, kept continuous watch outside the harbour, slowly
cruising to and fro.
This section also discussed some of the problems occurring in South Africa, and there was some
discussion on a change of route:
On October 25th the British cabinet decided that the Australian and New Zealand convoy must come to
Europe by way of the Cape instead of by Egypt. A revolt had broken out among some of the Dutch in South
Africa, and the only troops by whom General Botha could be quickly reinforced were the Australasian
contingents.
However,
October 30th Botha had defeated the rebels, and on the very eve of the starting of the convoy the Suez
route was again adopted.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/G01547/
By the night of October 31st the coaling and watering of transports were completed. The last sick
man had been sent ashore. No leave had been given to the men in Albany, and General Bridges had
therefore on principle refused it to officers. At 6.25AM on the morning of November 1st. in bright
sunlight, with the harbour glassily smooth, the Minotaur and Sydney up-anchored and moved out
between the sun-bathed hills to sea.
At 6.45AM the central line of ships (known as the “first division ” of the convoy) started, the inshore
ship (Orvieto)
leading, and each of the others turning to follow as the line passed them. Half an hour later the
second division of transports followed; then the third; finally the New Zealanders in two divisions.
Outside the harbour the first division had stopped and was waiting on the motionless sea. The
second, with the Wiltshire leading, came up until it lay parallel about a mile away on the port beam;
the third division moved up
similarly on the starboard side. The New Zealand ships swung in astern of the three Australian
divisions. In each
line there were 800 yards between each ship and her next astern, so that the convoy was about
seven and a half miles in length. The Minotaur took station five miles ahead, and the Sydney and
Melbourne about four miles away on either beam.
At 8.55AM the whole fleet moved ahead-thirty-six transports and three escorting cruisers. Two days later the
Ibuki, with the great liners Ascanius and Medic carrying troops from South and Western Australia, was found
waiting beside the route on the high seas, half-obscured by a rain-squall. The two transports took up their
places in the line.
A11 -- Ascanius
A7 – Medic
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/H16157/
http://alh-research.tripod.com/Light_Horse/wm20111914p25_A7_medic.jpg
So through the Indian Ocean moved this convoy on a voyage such as was never undertaken before or since.
Every morning found the lines of the fleet holding on their appointed course. The pace was set by the slowest
ship in the first division, the Southern which was supposed to make 10 knots.
Avoiding detection by the German Fleet:
“Many precautions were taken to prevent the convoy from being sighted, especially at night, when a hostile cruiser might
have approached unseen. At the beginning of the voyage the thirty-eight ships were allowed to carry after dark their red
and green side-lights and stern-lights ; only the leading ship in each division carried a masthead light. All other lights
aboard were supposed to be screened.”
“…when passing the Cocos Islands, all other lights should be extinguished, leaving only on the water astern of each ship
this faint glow, by which the following ship was to steer. The officers of the merchant service who were masters of the
ships were at this stage very nervous in steaming without lights, and there was a marked anxiety to defer as long as
possible the date when the rule should be completely enforced. On the night of November 7th, when the Cocos Islands
were thirty-six hours distant, all lights in the fleet were extinguished for half an hour.”
“Even cigarettes and pipes were put out by order from the bridge. The only light upon the sea was the dim reflected glow
from each hooded stern-light, invisible at a few hundred yards, and the occasional winking of a signal-light.”
“In order to avoid betraying the convoy, no high-power wireless telegraphy had been allowed since the ships left , Australia;
only the cruisers and the leading ships in each line were permitted to use their wireless, and then merely for short
distance signals on “buzzer” circuit, which prevented them from being picked up at a greater distance than 15 miles.”
“But despite all precautions, many chances might have betrayed the convoy. The coal eaten by the lbuki sent
rolling through her funnels a dense pillar of smoke which hung over her like a canopy. By day it must have been
visible at forty miles.”
A Close Encounter:
“An incident, which might have ended seriously. occurred on November 5th, when the Orient steamer Osterley,
http://alh-research.tripod.com/Light_Horse/Osterley_1qaa1.jpg
carrying the Australian mail and passengers to England, appeared on the horizon astern of the convoy. The
Osterley slowly overhauled the fleet, and at sunset passed close to the starboard column. While she was signalling
her good wishes, another signal was noticed flashing from her upper deck, sent apparently by some passenger with
an electric torch. It read: “We have on board the German barber from the Omratt.” The message was passed on to the
Minotaur. There was grave risk in this encounter. The Osterley with the Australian mail-precisely such a prize as the
Emden was seeking-was about to make straight through the dangerous area.”
“On November 7th arrived news that the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, with their light cruisers, had met a British squadron
off the South American coast near Coronel, and that the British cruisers Good Hope and Monmouth had
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Good_Hope_(1901)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Monmouth_(1901)
been sunk. At dawn the next day the Minotaur, which had led the convoy from the Australian coast, turned from her place
ahead of the fleet, signalled to General Bridges and other officers that she had been ordered on other service, and
disappeared in the direction of Mauritius. The Melbourne took her place, and the convoy was now protected by a cruiser
ahead and one on either beam.”
“Such was the position when the sun set on November 8th. In the early hours of the next morning the fleet was due to pass
the Cocos Islands. The course had been laid slightly off the track of the mail-steamers in order to take the fleet about fifty
miles east of the islands.
The lights of the convoy, which even on this occasion were visible until nearly midnight, gradually disappeared. The sea was
glassily smooth, the air mild-a beautiful tropical night. The dark hulls of the convoy could be dimly seen, and far to
starboard the black smoke of the Japanese cruiser. There was no sound except the plash of the warm ripples, the “fist-fist”
of some valve in the engine-room, and the occasional clatter of a shovel in the stokehold. Through the whole night the
convoy moved without the least interruption. The exquisite rosy-fingered dawn found every ship still in its place, exactly as
every other morning found it. Ahead was the Melbourne, with a bright white light showing over her stern. As the day broke,
the siren of the Orvieto hooted, and the ships turned in succession a few points to port. They were at that moment swinging
round the Cocos Islands at a radius of 50 miles. The critical point of the voyage appeared to have been passed.”
“At 6.24 that morning (Monday, November 8th), the wireless operators in many of the ships suddenly received a short message. It began
with a certain call-sign, and was addressed to some ship or station which the operators did not know.
It simply said:
KATIVBATTAV.
About two minutes later the same signal was repeated.
Immediately upon this the wireless station of the Cocos Islands was heard calling:
“What is that code? What is that code?”
To this there came no answer, but at 6.29 the same unknown call was again made-once. The next signal caught was
that of the Cocos Islands calling the Minotaur.
No answer was heard; the Minotaur was well on her way to Mauritius.
Cocos Islands called her again and added:
“Strange warship approaching.”
Still the Minotaur did not answer.
Then came one general call from the COCOS station:
“S.O.S. Strange warship approaching.”
From that time on no further word arrived from it.
On receiving these signals the Melbourne left her place at the head of the convoy and started on a direct course for the Cocos Islands.
She was pouring smoke from every funnel, and was working up speed, when her commander, Captain M. L’E. Silver, R.N., realised to his
mortification that, as officer in charge of the convoy, his duty was to stay by the transports for whose safety he was responsible. He
therefore signalled to the Sydney to make for the Cocos Islands. ”
THE SINKING OF THE EMDEN:
“About 9.40 AM the Melbourne was seen moving from her
place at the head of the transports to a position far out on
the port beam. Someone said “Look at the Ibuki.” The
Japanese ship was moving across the bows of the convoy to
join the Melbourne. The smoke was pouring from her funnels
more thickly than ever, in rich creases tumbling away and
forming a dense background against which the ship almost
appeared to nestle.”
MAP of POSITION OF THE TRANSPORTS WHEN THE Sydney
LEFT THE CONVOY IN CHASE OF THE Emden, 7:00 AM, on
9th Nov., 1914
“The news had come at 9.30 AM from the Sydney, then not far beyond the horizon, that she had sighted the enemy’s ship, and that
it was steaming northward. As this northerly course might bring the enemy across the convoy’s track, Captain Silver had ordered the
Ibuki and Melbourne to place themselves between the transports and the point where the enemy’s cruiser then was. At 10.45 AM a
further wireless message arrived from the Sydney : “Am briskly engaging enemy.” At 1.10 PM came the signal : “Emden beached
and done for……””
See Commemoration at Bradleys Head 2013:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-06/deadly-wwi-naval-battle-remembered-in-sydney-service/5001376
“The Emden was now out of the way, but the Konigsberg, her sister-ship, might still be met with. Captain Silver ‘therefore enforced
upon the ships’ captains-for another night-the hated steaming without lights. News then arrived that the Konigsberg had been
definitely located on the coast of Africa.”
“On November 11th the Melbourne went on to Colombo to coal, leaving the convoy in charge of the Ibuki. The same day the
Hampshire arrived, and her captain took over command of the fleet from the time until it reached the Suez Canal.”
“With the Emden and Konigsberg out of the way, the transports were able to push on almost unguarded. The New Zealand ships and
three Australian transports were sent ahead to Colombo to obtain coal and water.”
“While they were there, the Sydney arrived, fresh from her fight. She had passed through the other Australian lines at sea during the
previous night when the troops were asleep, but as she steamed between the ships in harbour towards her berth at the quay every
eye was upon her. Yet from one transport alone came the sound of cheering. and that was quickly suppressed; for on the Sydney‘s
decks lay the maimed and dying survivors of
the Emden’s crew, and before her arrival the officers and men of the Sydney had asked by signal that there should be no cheering
as their ship passed through.
In Colombo most of the survivors of the Emden’s crew were taken on board three of the transports. Captain von
Muller. Prince Franz Josef of Hohenzollern, with the Emden’s surviving doctor, an engineer officer, and 48 men, were received in the
Orvieto.”
“The fleet sailed from Colombo by divisions at such times and speeds as were convenient. The third division, which, being the
fastest, had been left to sail last, caught up to the remainder on November 20th on the way to Aden. As the Afric could not maintain
the required speed, the Ascanitis was sent across from the second division of transports to take her place Nest morning the rest of
the fleet came up with the third division. which was motionless on the high seas. The Ascanitis had rammed the Shropshire at
daybreak. The ships went locked for a moment, and, 011 separating. the Ascanitis came ahead and rammed the Shropshire again.”
Centenary of ANZAC 1914 -1915
9. TRAINING
Extracts from: “The Story of ANZAC from the outbreak of war to the end of the first
phase of the Gallipoli Campaign, May 4, 1915 (11th edition, 1941)” Author: Bean,
Charles Edwin Woodrow (C E W). Chapter VII – The Training in the Desert
Mainly quotes from the above text with some possible changes. -- Acknowledged by the above Link.
TRAINING
The ships arrive in Alexandria from Colombo, via the Suez Canal and the
Australian and New Zealand troops move by train to just outside Cairo for
Training.
Transport Ships in Suez Canal
2nd December 1914
MAP of Suez Canal and Egypt
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/G01576/
http://geography.about.com/library/cia/blcegypt.htm
3RD DECEMBER 1914
“On the night of December 3rd, the 5th Battalion, after moving all day by train up the green Nile flats crowded
with a population which might have stepped out of the Old Testament, steamed into the railway siding built
especially for the Australasian troops in the heart of Cairo……………
………Near the first bridge it passed the great, dingy, yellow plastered buildings of the Kasr el Nil Barracks.
The sound of its band roused the Territorials who were quartered there. Figures came tumbling out of the
barracks across the gravelled parade-ground. They were Lancashire Territorials of the 42nd Division, who had
arrived in Egypt some weeks before to relieve British regulars needed at the front. When they found that the
troops marching past them were Australians, they cheered, clinging to the railings and waving…………
…………Until this time, although the men of the 1st Division had sailed together in a great fleet for weeks, very
few thought of it as a division. Troops had embarked in driblets, companies, battalions, brigades, from all
corners of Australia. But they were no more a division than a set of wheels, pistons, nuts, cranks, and
cylinders, stowed in a merchant-ship and labelled for overseas, would be a railway-engine…………..
………..Day after day for nearly a fortnight the detachments from the various States left their ships at
Alexandria and set off in different trains to special places. The 1st Light Horse Brigade, whose particles were
scattered throughout the transports, gradually crystallised on the edge of the desert south of Cairo at Maadi
Camp. The New Zealand Infantry Brigade, with its attached ambulance and signallers and other troops,
separated itself and settled at Zeitoun, on the northern outskirts of Cairo. The New Zealand Mounted Rifles
Brigade settled next to it. At the end of twelve days the 1st Australian Division, infantry, artillery, ambulances,
transport, and divisional light horse, was camped by the Pyramids ten miles from the centre of the city.”
First Australian Imperial Force
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_Australia_during_World_War_I#First_Australian_Imperial_Force
“…………Major-General W. R. Birdwood,’ under whom the Australian and New Zealand forces were to form an
army corps, was an officer singled out by Lord Kitchener.”
Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey.
6 October 1915. General
William Riddell Birdwood
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/G01222/
Lord Kitchener
Biography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Kitchener,_1st_Earl_Kitchener
Biography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Birdwood,_1st_Baron_Birdwood
Kitchener appointed him to command the Australasian Army Corps. The corps
staff-a considerable body, which grew much larger as the war continued and at
one time included about 70 officers and no less than 550 men - was a British
formation. Until nearly the end of the war, even when it was mainly composed of
Australians and controlled purely Australian divisions, it remained part of the
British and not of the Australian Army…….
It was also known that, in addition to the above troops , there would shortly arrive
in Egypt from Australia another infantry brigade (the 4th), two light horse brigades,
and a number of lines-of-communication troops for whom the British Government
had specially asked, such as hospitals. The only troops among these who would
go on to England were those of the motor transport………..
General Birdwood therefore sent to him, (General Bridges as commander of the
A.I. F.) on December 24th , his proposals for the constitution of the army corps. It
was to be called the “Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.”
This section continues on at length about the setting up of operations:……..
The first mention of ANZAC:
“ ………….One day early in 1915 Major C. M. Wagstaff , then junior member of the
“operations” section of Birdwood’s staff, walked into the General Staff office and
mentioned to the clerks that a convenient word was wanted as a code name for the
Corps. The clerks had noticed the big initials on the cases outside their room - A. &
N. Z. A. C. ; and a rubber stamp for registering correspondence had also been cut
with the same initials. Lieutenant A. T. White an English Army Service Corps man,
….suggested : “How about ANZAC ?” ………….”
(Photos if possible --- appears to be none)
“…….It was, however, some time before the code word came into general use, and at
the Landing many men in the divisions had not yet heard of it.”…….
“..The 1st Australian Division, on its arrival at the Pyramids, plunged at once into the work of
training. The staff’ divided the desert around Mena into three large training areas, one for each
infantry brigade. The divisional light horse, artillery, and engineers were given stretches of desert
outside of these ; the transport and ambulances were allotted ground nearer camp…..”
Training Plan:
“..The various commanders were asked to submit, within the first few days, schemes of training.
They were told that they could expect to devote a month to the training of companies, squadrons,
or batteries ; then ten days to training as battalions or regiments; after which they might work for
ten days as brigades. If the division were not then required for the front, it would begin exercising
as a whole division……”
“..This training ……… was one of the finest achievements in the history of the A.I.F. It was scarcely
realised at the time that its intensity was exceptional. A very limited leave was allowed in Cairo
after hours. Almost from the morning of arrival training was carried out for at least eight hours,
and often more, every day but Sundays….”
“All day long, in every valley of the Sahara for miles around the Pyramids, were groups or lines of
men advancing, retiring, drilling, or squatted near their piled arms listening to their officer.”
Physical size of the ANZAC’s:
“As they walked among the Cairo crowds, the little pink-cheeked lads from the Manchester cottonmills, who had had the pluck to volunteer in the East Lancashire Division. looked like children when
compared with the huge men of the Australian regiments. Australians had not realised that the
physique of their force was anything greater than the average, until this contrast forced it upon them
and upon everyone else in Egypt.”
Their physical difference apart, there were many other differences…… The Australian diggers were
interested in: “…………..Australian horseracing, or international boxing.” Whereas the British:
“……took most of the Australians’ dry jokes in earnest.”
“The overseas soldier was a man of the world, and the two had little foundation for real intimacy. Yet
both loved sport and admired courage. The Territorial possessed a fine grit ; he was pathetically
modest and unpretending; he had no money, but he would share whatever else they had.”
“The well-groomed British Yeomanry in Egypt - brave troops who showed their spirit at Scimitar Hill on
Gallipoli and in several fine charges later in the war, but with standards and prejudices quite different
from those of the Australians - mixed little with the troops from overseas; but a sympathetic
understanding, which lasted throughout the war, sprang up between the Australians and the
“chooms.”…….”
“…………..The training of the Australian troops was carried out almost entirely by their own officers, mostly old
militiamen, under the advice of the Australian staff. Colonel White, Major Duncan Glasfurd , and Major
Thomas Blamey
(no photo) --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duncan_Glasfurd
biography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Blamey
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/walker-sir-harold-bridgwood-8954
made it a practice to cut themselves free from their desks during a part of every day in order to go out among the
units in the desert. Occasionally officers from the Army Corps staff in Cairo - General Harold Bridgewood Walker
or Major Wagstaff (no photo) - were able to spend a day there. The brigadiers devised and controlled the schemes of
training for their brigades, which began to develop each its own peculiar character………..”
“…….Colonel McCay of the 2nd (Victorian) Brigade trained his command with conspicuous ability. He did a
great deal of the detail work himself, drawing his own orders, and sometimes training his own platoons- a
characteristic which marked him throughout his work at the front. He exacted incessant exertions from his
men. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Whiteside_McCay
A YMCA or mess tent at Maadi Camp.
1st Australian Division manoeuvres.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/G01615
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/G01633
The efficiency of the 2nd Brigade towards the end of its training attracted the special notice of General
Bridges and to some extent influenced the order in which he eventually threw his brigades into the
fighting………”
There is considerably a lot more information in this section about the various officers and their training methods………. but ba sically:
“The 1st Australian Division was trained in one way and another for some six weeks in Australia, six weeks on the voyage,
and from two-and-a-half to nearly four months in Egypt.”
“The light horse and artillery the period was not in reality so long, inasmuch as, during the first few weeks after the
voyage, the horses could only be walked, gently exercised, and gradually accustomed to the chopped straw which was
their main diet in Egypt.”
Reinforcements:
“………In the last days of January a contingent of 10,500 Australian troops and 2,000 New Zealanders reached Egypt.
They came in 19 transports. So safe were the oceans under the shield of the British Navy that the Australian submarine
AE2, towed by the Berrima for service in the Mediterranean, was their only escort. The Australian troops consisted of the
4th Australian Infantry Brigade, the 2nd Light Horse Brigade, a field bakery, field butchery, veterinary sections, and 1,800
reinforcements for existing units. The convoy passed through the Suez Canal at a time when a Turkish force, acting in the
desert within a few miles of it, had already been shelling the outposts near Kantara. The ships came through without
Interference, and on February 1st disembarked at Alexandria one of the finest contingents that ever left
Australia…………….”
This section follows with a similar discussion on the makeup of the reinforcements etc.
And the Training begins again: However, in closing this section and in summary:
“The training was simply the old British Army training. Little advice came from the Western front. The Australian and New
Zealand officers had to rely almost entirely on themselves. They had not seen a bomb; they had scarcely heard of a
periscope. But the intelligence shown by the men as they worked round a knoll on their bellies in a sham attack led an
officer newly-arrived from England to remark that General Bridges’ division was at least as well trained as any regular
division before the war. A British officer on General Birdwood’s staff said that a better division than the 1 st Australian had
never gone to battle.”
Centenary of ANZAC 1914 -1915
10. THE LANDING AT GALLIPOLI
THE LANDING AT GALLIPOLI
INTRODUCTION
Whilst there has been much written, and provided on the internet and other media sources, about the various
ANZAC campaigns during WWI, and whilst not really being the first campaign for Australia or any other country
for that matter, during WWI ( see 6th August 1914, Nauru and Rabaul). However, by far the most significant
event for Australia and New Zealand is the Landing at Gallipoli. Each year no matter where they might be,
Australians Commemorate the campaign that on the 25th of April 1915 gave birth to Australia as a Nation.
Historian still debate whether the ANZAC troops were landed at the correct place or not. They also continually
ask many questions in regard to the selection of a landing position:



Why did the Allied commanders send Australian troops to land on a beach before rugged hills, ridges and
steep gullies?
What was the objective?
What happened?
In answering these questions:
The objective was of course, it was one of the more imaginative strategies of the First World War ... “by gaining
control of the Dardanelles it would re-establish vital communications with Russia and release wheat and
shipping which had been locked in the Black Sea by Turkey.”
And, shortly after the landing the high command let it be known that an error had been made – the landing
should have been made on “Brighton Beach”, which was south of Anzac Cove and unlike the latter was in a
locality of relatively friendly topography.
MAP OF THE GALLIPOLI PENINSULAR
http://www.anzacsite.gov.au/1landing/why.html
THE FIRST DAY………
Due to the volume of information that needs to be shown here and in order to better understand the landing at Gallipoli the following
internet site, (which is considered, by the author, to be one of the best sites on this subject) IT SHOULD BE VISITED:
A basic overview of the 1st Day etc. follows:
2:00 AM
Sighting of Ships off Gallipoli Peninsula
3:00 AM
Landing of ANZAC Force at ANZAC Cove
4:15 AM
Landing of the Covering Force
4:35 AM
First Contact
4:50 AM
The Kaba Tepe Guns
5:20 AM
Early Forward Advance of ANZAC Forces
8:00AM
Maclagan and McCay
10:00 AM
Lt Col Mustafa Kemal’s Defining Order
12:30 PM
Front Line Forms, Artillery Used
-First NZ Forces and
-Indian Artillery land
22:00PM
The Case for Evacuation
24:00 PM
General Ian Hamilton’s Order to Dig In
8 Months More
Campaign Over
http://www.abc.net.au/innovation/gallipoli/
This date, 25th April, in 2015 is the Centenary of this landing at ANZAC “Z Beach”, and is one of the most influential
events that shaped WWI and Australia’s history.
Centenary of ANZAC 1914 -1915
11. REMEMBERING THE FALLEN
These are the words penned by RW Emerson –
They had fallen for one of the most ancient and dangerous of human illusions – the belief in the possibility of
a short and decisive war.
The casualty statistics for some of the countries in WWI are:
British Isles
Canada
Australia
New Zealand
Total casualties
Total embarked
Percentage
2,535,424
210,100
215,585
58,526
5,000,000
422,405
331,781
98,950
50.71%
49.74%
64.98%
59.01%
Gallipoli is Australia’s shrine to our fallen. As penned by the great Australian writer, Henry Lawson –
“The Star of the South shall rise in the lurid cloud of war”.
HILLS COMMUNITY :
The Hills District contributed like the rest of Australia and there were many young men who most likely signed up at the
Showgrounds in Castle Hill and also other surrounding locations. A total of some 567 embarked.
Not all persons enlisting came from the Hills District many came from Metropolitan Sydney, Country Towns, Interstate, and
Overseas. Also, many people moved into the Hills District after returning to Australia.
Records also, were not so good and some of the information is blank….. However, the following represents what is available:
Place of Birth
Main Hills District
centres:
Count
KIA
Gallipoli
KIA
164
22
5
5
Baulkham Hills
15
Castle Hill
41
Dural
19
Galston
9
Glenorie
8
Kellyville
12
Kenthurst
6
Carlingford
28
0
7
2
1
3
1
1
4
3
2
2
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
1
2
0
0
0
2
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
0
1
Parramatta
26
Windsor
20
Wisemans Ferry
14
Hills and surrounding:
(Includes above)
266
33
9
8
Sydney Metopolitan
Area:
49
2
1
1
Other Places in
NSW:
Place of Birth
Other States:
8
4
4
KIA
Gallipoli
KIA
15
1
0
0
QLD
5
TAS
1
VIC
9
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Overseas:
42
7
2
2
CEYLON
1
INDIA
1
IRELAND
7
NEW CALEDONIA
1
NEW ZEALAND
2
SCOTLAND
4
UK
26
0
0
0
1
0
1
5
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
121
4
0
0
UnKnown: (blank)
71
Count
NOTE: As unknown information is gathered from the various
sources this information will be updated.
In paying tribute to the many young men who travelled thousands of miles
from Australia and New Zealand (ANZAC’s) to fight for the freedom of all
during WWI, and in many cases to pay the “supreme sacrifice”.
They, “the Fallen” would also want us to remember those thousands of
young Turks who were merely defending their homeland and also paid the
“supreme sacrifice”.
“This is the kind of humility was show by the Turks when Mustafa Kemal
Atatürk, 19 May 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish army officer in
the Ottoman military, revolutionary statesman, and the first President of
Turkey. He is credited with being the founder of the Republic of Turkey. His
surname, Atatürk (meaning "Father of the Turks"), was granted to him in
1934 and forbidden to any other person by the Turkish parliament.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustafa_Kemal_Atat%C3%BCrk
Spoke the following words, almost twenty years later, ……….
“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.”
12. PHOTO GALLERY
Pictures from Gallipoli
There were great photographs taken at Gallipoli, some by the soldiers,
others by official military photographers, and also be the Press. One of
the most noticeable being Keith Murdoch who started off the Murdoch
media empire.
Click to Open Photo Gallery
All photos are courtesy of Australian War Memorial (AWM) – following is the description and link
to the AWM Web Page for each photo in the Gallery and other photos that may be of interest
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/
(followed by Photo number e.g. A00868/)
Just add the number of the Photo to the above link to see full details via your browser.
(see following pages……)
Pictures from Gallipoli
Australian War Memorial
Many thanks to the Australian War Memorial who have thousands of photos on
their web site. Following are links to some selected pictures, with their relevant
details (some which have been used in the previous photo gallery).
Soldiers watching as an 8 inch shell bursts in Monash Gully.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A01220/
60 pounder heavy artillery, being brought up before the move on 8 August at the
foot of Rest Gully. Note the boxes of ammunition (left).
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A01227/
Three unidentified Australian artillery men of the 7th Battery sitting at an 18
pounder gun surrounded by sand bags on top of ridge to the right of Tasmania Post.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A01476/
Troops arriving at Anzac Beach at 10.30 am.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A00834/
View of Anzac Beach, showing ships in the harbour.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A00868/
Boats carrying troops to shore on the morning of the Anzac Cove landing. General
Bridges is in foreground.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A01000/
Four boatloads of New Zealand troops being towed ashore by a destroyer after
leaving HMAT Lutzow.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A01148/
Pictures from Gallipoli
Australian War Memorial
(Further links to some selected pictures cont.)
Men of the 1st Royal Australian Navy Bridging Train (RANBT) working on the almost
completed roadway to the new pier. Large quantities of shale and rock had to be cut
away from the hillside during construction. Building materials are on the roadway
left and four barrels are on the right. See also A01250.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A01251/
The battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth being bombarded by Turkish shells off Cape
Helles.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A02647/
Damaged guns and limbers on the beach at Anzac Cove.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A04064/
Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey. 3 September 1915. Mr Keith Murdoch, an Australian
newspaper correspondent. (Grand Father of Rupert Murdoch).
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/G01212/
Embarkation of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF) for
New Guinea. At the request of the British Government a special force, the Australian
Navy and Military Expeditionary Force, was raised between 10 August 1914 and 18
August 1914, and despatched against the neighbouring German colonies. It was a
volunteer force, enlisted partly from the naval reserves in the various states and
partly from the militia. A portion of the military contingent is here shown, being
ferried down Sydney harbour in course of embarkation. These were the first infantry
to leave Australia. (Press photo).
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A03272/
Pictures from Gallipoli
Australian War Memorial
(
Further links to some selected pictures cont.)
Turkish prisoners of war after the August fighting at Lone Pine. This image of prisoners in a
barbed wire enclosure is number 14 of a commercially produced set.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A00881/
Captured Turkish prisoners being escorted to the compound at Gallipoli.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A01425/
Group portrait of Australian prisoners at Afion Kara Hissar. In the back row from left to right;
Lieutenant (Lt) L H Luscombe of the 14th Battalion AIF, captured on Gallipoli on 8 August
1915, Lt S R Jordan of the 9th Battalion also captured on Gallipoli in June 1915, Lt W E Elston
of the 16th Battalion, captured on Gallipoli on 26 April 1915 and Captain J A Brown, a Sydney
doctor serving as a Medical Officer with the Gloucestershire Yeomanry, captured on the
Palestine front in 1916. In the front row from left to right; Lt C H Vautin of the Australian
Flying Corps (AFC) captured on the Palestine front in July 1917, Captain T W White AFC,
captured on the Mesopotamian front in November 1915 and Lt W H Treloar AFC, captured
on the Mesopotamian front in September 1915.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A02265/
Turkish soldiers in the trenches of the 125th Infantry Regiment (16th Division). (Copied
from 'Gallipoli Bedeutung und Verlavf der Kaempfe (Kampfe) 1915' by Von Kannengiesser
Pascha).
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A02598/
Mustafa Kamal, (centre figure, second row from front) with a group of Turkish commanders
during the Gallipoli campaign.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A05296/
Pictures from Gallipoli
Australian War Memorial
(Further links to some selected pictures cont.)
Group portrait of six unidentified Turkish prisoners captured by the Australians during the fighting
in August 1915 around Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli Peninsula.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C00636/
Portrait of an unidentified Turkish prisoner captured by the Australians during the fighting on the
Gallipoli Peninsula in August 1915.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C00639/
Turkish prisoners in the Courtyard of the Fortress of Sedd-el-Bahr on the foot of the Gallipoli
Peninsula.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/G00212/
Turkish snipers sometimes concealed themselves in bushes for camouflage. This scene could depict
the capture of a Turkish sniper described in a letter from 1763 Private (Pte) Arthur Greenwood, 8th
Battalion, Royal Victoria (RV) Hospital, Netley, Hampshire, to his family, dated 16 February 1916.
Pte Greenwood's letter was written in response to his parents having seen a photograph of himself
and another Anzac, identified by Pte Greenwood as "G. Clifton NSW" (possibly 1930 Pte George
Clifton, 8th Battalion, later 5th Pioneer Battalion), escorting a camouflaged Turkish sniper. Pte
Greenwood wrote: "That Black you see in the picture was concealed in the scrub decorated as you
see him you could not see him in daytime he being exactly like a bush..." The sniper had been hiding
in scrub for some time -- "He was getting a lot of our men all the time" -- before Pte Greenwood and
Pte Clifton disabled him at dusk. Pte Greenwood noted that at least two photographs exist of the
scene. However, the authenticity of this photograph remains uncertain. Charles Bean often drew
attention to its uncertain origins. He wrote of it as "a complete fake. It was taken at Imbros. The
Australians are from the Field Bakery, and the Turk is a prisoner from the camp there."
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/G00377/
Pictures from Gallipoli
Australian War Memorial
(Further links to some selected pictures cont.)
Turkish prisoners holding picks and shovels with Anzac guards.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/G00456/
Guns and ammunition limbers, abandoned during the
evacuation of Gallipoli, collected at Ari Burnu by the Turks.
(Copied from a book of photographs taken by the Turks after
the evacuation of Gallipoli, and published in Germany; brought
from Asia Minor by an Australian prisoner of war.)
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C03211/
Major Frederick Tubb is buried in the Lijssenthoek Military
Cemetery near Poperinge, Belgium. His original cross, pictured,
was erected by his brothers, Lieutenant Arthur Oswald Tubb,
Sapper Alfred Charles Tubb and Captain Frank Reid Tubb. Frank
Tubb also served in the 7th Battalion, being awarded a Military
Cross in fighting around Pozieres in August 1916.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A02237/
Poppy Valley looking up to Bolton's Ridge
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C00426/
Looking towards Russell's Top.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/H00271/
Pictures from Gallipoli
Australian War Memorial
(Further links to some selected pictures cont.)
Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey. 1915. Arrival of the mail being distributed to men of the 1st
Australian Light Horse Field Ambulance in Chailak Dere, Anzac. Back row, left to right:
Corporal Cambridge; Private (Pte) Smith; unidentified (wearing cap hat); Pte Mackie
(standing at rear); unidentified; unidentified; Pte Hanleon (wearing pith hat); Pte Oliver
(barehested). Middle row: Pte Killner; Pte Boden (wearing cap hat); unidentified (bandaged
hand); Pte Roach (barechested, turned back hat); unidentified (hat); Pte Morris, the Poet
(ragged sleeves). Front row: three men unidentified. (Donor E. W. Lacy)
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C03613/
Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey. July 1915. The cemetery on Queensland Point at the mouth of
Shrapnel Gully, which was probably the largest Australian cemetery at Anzac. The spot
suffered considerably from shellfire. Gaba Tepe is seen in the distance.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/G01054/
Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey. 1936. Graves at the Gallipoli Beach Cemetery at Anzac Cove.
Two men are reading the inscription on the memorial. (Donor J. Richter)
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P02768.008/
The first 10th Battalion Headquarters at Anzac, taken soon after the landing. Reading from
left to right the Officers are - Captain (Capt) Harry Carew Nott (RMO) Capt Francis
Maxwell Lorenzo, Major Frederick William Hurcombe, and Lieut-Col S Price Weir, DSO, VD
and Mention in Despatches.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A00714/
Pictures from Gallipoli
Australian War Memorial
(Further links to some selected pictures cont.)
Lord Kitchener's farewell salute after visiting Australian troops at Anzac
.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A01034/
Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey. 1915. Generals Sir Harry Chauvel, Sir Alexander Godley and Sir
William Riddell Birdwood holding a conference in the open. (Donor Reveille. Sydney)
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/H15753/
Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey. 1915. Buildings of the AIF Corps Headquarters at the top of Anzac
Gully. (Donor F.T. Small)
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/H16595/
A group of wounded soldiers being taken from Gallipoli to Egypt by ship. Most display some
form of bandage. Identified is Captain (Capt) Charles Aloysius Denehy of the 7th Battalion,
centre foreground smoking a pipe. He has his hand on a bulldog and this may be the mascot of
the 7th Battalion who had a bulldog mascot called "Old Bill". Capt Denehy of Rutherglen, Vic,
was a school teacher prior to his enlistment.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A01150/
The Hospital Barge HB2, used for carrying casualties and other personnel in the Anzac area.
The two men in dark clothing are members of the crew operating the barges
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A01813/
The Hospital Barge HB2 coming alongside a Hospital Ship to transfer wounded.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A01816/
Pictures from Gallipoli
Australian War Memorial
(Further links to some selected pictures cont.)
A wounded Turkish soldier being carried out of the 1st Australian Field Ambulance
dressing station.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A03770/
Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey 25 Apr 1915. A steam Pinnace towing ships' boats full of
stretcher bearers from 1st Aust. Field Ambulance to ANZAC Cove at 0800 hrs (9Donor
T. Yeomans).
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A05772/
Walking wounded and sick Australian soldiers moving onto a pier on the Gallipoli
Peninsula. The men are waiting to embark on a barge plying between the shore and
the hospital ship, anchored at sea off the position.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C03403/
At sea. May 1936. Captain (Capt) Edward Unwin VC, Admiral of the Fleet (Lord) Sir
Roger Keyes and Field Marshal Lord William Riddell Birdwood on board RMS
Lancastria en route to Gallipoli and Salonika for wreath laying ceremonies. This was
Birdwood's first return to Gallipoli. Capt Unwin earned his VC for bravery under fire
when he left the converted collier River Clyde three times during the ill fated
attempted landing at V Beach to facilitate the landing and rescue wounded men lying
in shallow water near the beach. (Donor J. Richter)
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P02768.002/
Pictures from Gallipoli
Australian War Memorial
(Further links to some selected pictures cont.)
Trench life in the lines occupied by D Company. One of the men in the background is smoking a
cigarette, the feet of a resting soldier are showing in the foreground and the man on the right is
stirring a cooking pot in the hole in the wall
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A00718/
The 21st Battalion marching up Monash Gully after arriving at Gallipoli.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A00742/
Private Spence, C Company, 21st Battalion, AIF, observing through a periscope from a trench at Steel's
Post. Two rifles, left and right, are leaning against the parapet.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A00744/
Australian troops with bayonets attached to their rifles in trenches prepared for a possible gas attack.
They are wearing a very early model gas mask which would have been useless had gas ever been used
by either side during the campaign.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A00910/
Pictures from Gallipoli
Australian War Memorial
(Further links to some selected pictures cont.)
Due to wounds he received in the battle, Tubb was invalided to England and took no further
part in the Gallipoli campaign. While recuperating, further surgery was required to remove
his appendix on 27 December. Physically weak due to effects of the wounds and
exacerbated by the surgery, Tubb was sent to Australia to convalesce in March 1916. When
asked by reporters on his return to describe his Victoria Cross action he replied 'I did not do
a darned thing, when you consider what 6000 other fellows did but they did not survive that
terrible four days and I did'. He left Australia in early October and rejoined his battalion,
now in France, on 10 December.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A02150/
Three unidentified sailors sit working outside their dugout on the Gallipoli Peninsula. They
are possibly mending or untangling fishing nets or camouflage netting. The lettering on the
tally band of the sailor on the far right indicates that he is from the battleship HMS Glory.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C00637/
A steep hillside on the Gallipoli Peninsula, honeycombed with shelters known as dugouts
because of their means of construction.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C00742/
An unidentified soldier using a periscope in a trench on the Gallipoli Peninsula.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C01107/
Pictures from Gallipoli
Australian War Memorial
(Further links to some selected pictures cont.)
Tubb was promoted to the rank of major in February 1917. In June, he again became ill
and was invalided to England, rejoining his unit on 7 August. On the 20th of the
following month the battalion took part in the fighting around Passchendaele. Near
Polygon Wood, Tubb's company seized nine pillboxes only to come under allied
shelling when the supporting artillery barrage fell short. Tubb was mortally wounded
by one of the shells and died later that evening.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C01148/
Two unidentified soldiers of the 9th Battalion sitting outside a dugout on the Gallipoli
Paninsula.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C01444/
The 1st Battalion Indian Mule Corps carrying supplies to the 1st Battalion on the
Gallipoli Peninsula.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C02100/
A machine gun post in a support trench on the left of the Pimple and in front of Gun
lane, Gallipoli Peninsula.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C02121/
A group of unidentified Australian and New Zealand soldiers in a front line trench on
the Gallipoli Peninsula. Standing in the narrow confines of a trench passage, with
sandbags at the parapet above them, several of the men are smoking pipes and
cigarettes.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C03420/
Pictures from Gallipoli
Australian War Memorial
(Further
links to some selected pictures cont.)
Two soldiers pounding army wholemeal biscuits into meal for making porridge. The biscuit was
pounded with a shell and sifted through mosquito netting. The porridge made from this was the
delicacy of the Anzac Army and was particularly esteemed when flavoured with condensed milk.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A00849/
A group of men of the 17th Battalion serving a meal in tin cans at Saucer Gully, Anzac Cove. The
soldier second from right is smoking a cigarette and a jacket is on top of the bushes in the
background.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A02748/
13. SONGS FROM THE ERA
MUSIC FROM THE GALLIPOLI ERA
Summary of music works from The Great War
(click on or cut and paste following links into your browser for the sites
detail)
Excellent site for obtaining WWI song details etc. - Original
versions
of song
http://www.kingswoodresources.org.uk/history/20century/ww1/songs.htm
The recordings of some of these songs were made either during
or
soon after World War I
Your King and Country Want You
Pack Up Your Troubles
It's a Long Way to Tipperary
Keep the Home Fires Burning
There's a Long, Long Trail A-Winding
Oh, It's a Lovely War!
Hanging on the Old Barbed Wire plus many more
and of course
I'll make a man of you (music hall recruitment song)
MUSIC FROM WORLD WAR I
Links for Voices and Music from the era
The link below, when you click on the song, it displays the
words of the song and the music i.e.
Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag
Keep the Home Fires Burning
If you were the only girl in the world
http://www.ww1photos.com/WW1MusicIndex.html
Internet Archives – Community Audio - 10 songs
https://archive.org/details/SongsOfWorldWarI
Link for site in the U.K., Marr Sound Archives, Dept. of
Special Collections (it is an American focused clip (they
entered the war in 1917).
http://library.umkc.edu/spec-col/ww1/intro.htm
BIBLIOGRAPHY
FROM
Home Page
Contents
Sydney Morning Herald
http://images.smh.com.au/2011/07/15/2495909/ASANZAC_2011071516555898598
9-420x0.jpg
2011 Gallipoli Dawn Service -- Photos
Australian War
Memorial
http://www.awm.gov.au/
ANZAC Day and Photos from Gallipoli
etc.
http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/first_world_war/
Official History of the First World War
Author: Bean, Charles Edwin Woodrow
(C E W) Chapters I - VII
Events Leading to WWI
This Day in History
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Empire
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustafa_Kemal_Atat%C3%BCrk
National Archives UK
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/firstworldwar/maps/
Australian Dictionary of
Biography
http://adb.anu.edu.au/
Monument Australia
http://monumentaustralia.org.au/
Biographies of Key People
Politicians
Military
“Last Man Last Shilling” Monument
The Australian Light
Horse
http://www.lancers.org.au/site/light_horse.asp
Story with Photos
Profiles of Key People from History
Europe
Australia
Canada
Maps of British Empire
Navy Ships from the First World War
The Turkish Leader -- Biography of
Mustafa Kemal who served at Gallipoli
Maps from WWI etc.
FROM
Home Page
Contents
The Australian Light Horse
http://www.lancers.org.au/site/light_horse.asp
Story with Photos
Priest in WWI
Photo and Biography -- Digges La
Touche
Transport Ships of WWI
http://webjournals.ac.edu.au/journals/adeb/l_/la-touche-everard-digges-18831915/
http://www.anzacs.org/pages/AOdigges.html
http://alh-research.tripod.com/ships_lh.htm
About.com Geography
http://geography.about.com/library/cia/blcegypt.htm
Map of Egypt
Gallipoli and the ANZACS
http://www.anzacsite.gov.au/1landing/why.html
Map of Gallipoli
ABC
http://www.abc.net.au/innovation/gallipoli/
3D Documentary Depicting the
Landing at Gallipoli (a must see…..)
Various
http://www.kingswoodresources.org.uk/history/20century/ww1/songs.htm
http://www.ww1photos.com/WW1MusicIndex.html
https://archive.org/details/SongsOfWorldWarI
http://library.umkc.edu/spec-col/ww1/intro.htm
Music
Era…..
Photos and numbers (HMAT)
from
the
WWI/Gallipoli
THE ODE:
They shall grow not old,
as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them,
nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.
Lest We Forget
Centenary of ANZAC 1914 -1915