PANEL 1

THE DARDANELLES – HISTORY

Apart from the inscriptions on graves and memorials, there is little at Gallipoli on the old Australian and New Zealand battlefields which tells visitors the story of the conflict fought there in 1915. When it was found necessary to build a new commemorative site for the annual Anzac Day Dawn Service on Gallipoli, the opportunity was taken to provide this historical overview at the new site. These ten panels are the result.

A brief overview of the Gallipoli campaign from an Australian perspective is difficult to write. All that can be achieved is an introduction to the main events such as the landing and the major battles such as Krithia, Lone Pine and Chunuk Bair. Some attempt, also, had to be made to convey the physical hardships - apart from the ever-present possibility of death and wounds -that the soldiers of both sides endured during the campaign.

Each panel consists of an illustration, a contemporary quotation, and about 170 words of narrative text. By comparison with today’s museum panels, this is rather long. However, as many Australians and New Zealanders who visit Anzac have made a big personal commitment to get there, it was thought that they would be willing to give time to understanding what happened at Gallipoli.

Panel 1 has a map to locate visitors within the region of Turkey where Gallipoli is situated. The quotation from Winston Churchill, with whom the idea for taking the Dardanelles originated, indicates something of the contempt which the British had for Turkey’s military capabilities. Those who fought the Turks there in 1915 soon found them a formidable enemy.