PANEL 9

DEFENCE OF TURKEY

Their duty was to come here and invade, ours was to defend.
Adil Shahin,
Turkish veteran of Gallipoli

The British had expected the Gallipoli operation to conclude quickly and that the Turkish army would be no match for their soldiers. Instead they met a determined and resourceful opponent. At critical moments Turkish and German commanders took quick and decisive action and at no time did the British Empire forces manage the breakthrough which they so desperately sought.

On Gallipoli men of both sides showed bravery and endurance. After the Turkish counter-attack of 19 May, in which the Turks suffered so severely, the Australian and New Zealand soldiers began to regard the Turkish soldier with great respect. Something of the spirit of the Turks on Gallipoli can be seen in the response to an Australian note thrown into a Turkish trench urging its occupants to surrender: the response read, "You think there are no true Turks left. But there are Turks, and Turks' sons!" In this defence of the homeland, in the conflict known here as the Battle of âanakkale, Turkish authorities have put their casualties at between 250,000 and 300,000, of whom at least 87,000 died.

Turkish artillery on Gallipoli.
(Australian War Memorial A05287)
Inset: Colonel Mustafa Kemal, one of the principal Turkish commanders at Gallipoli later known as Ataturk – "Father of the Turks". He was to become the first President of the Republic of Turkey.
(Australian War Memorial A05319)