| Australian troops charge a Turkish trench at Gallipoli. The amphibious landing on the Gallipoli Peninsula in April 1915 by British, Australian, New Zealand and French troops was the biggest-ever troop landing at the time. After progressing off the beaches, Allied troops encountered Turkish troops under the command of Mustafa Kemal who effectively rallied the Turks to dig in and hold their positions. The resulting deadlock produced classic trench warfare but under very harsh desert-style conditions including blistering daytime heat followed by frosty cold nights, typhus outbreaks, dysentery, insect swarms, dehydration and malnutrition. Such conditions, combined with insufficient reinforcements and the resiliency of the Turks under Kemal, wore down the Allies. Below: A Turkish artillery battery in action at Gallipoli. The Turks celebrated the Allied evacuation of Gallipoli as a great victory, particularly in the ancient city of Constantinople which the Allies would likely have captured had the Gallipoli landings succeeded as planned. |
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