What about those men in the trenches? What about those suffering soldiers where their only purpose on the battlefield was to be played mindlessly as pawns in this murderous, never-ending game of war? Who ever thought about them? Well, the movie,"Gallipoli" certainly did. This Australian classic has achieved international acclaim and has compelled viewers for over two decades. It is renowned for its ability to not only teach the public about the horrible tendencies of war, but to teach the public about the old diggers that sacrificed their lives to make this country what it is today, Australia. To teach them the ever-lasting relationships between two mates, in the worst of circumstances.
The decision to commit allied forces to the desolate Gallipoli Peninsula of southern turkey in April of 1915, was a result of a plan by Winston Churchill to attack Germany through its Turkish ally. The proposal was supposed to threaten the Turkish capital, Constantinople, and thus forcing the surrender of the Turks. The amount of men sent out to achieve to this feat was undoubtedly low. Only 70,000 men were assigned. In an earlier War Council meeting, it was decided 150,000 men were insufficient to defeat Turkey, never mind 70,000. This fact had obviously been forgotten.
The landings, 3,500 yards off the Gallipoli Peninsula, took place on the 25th of April at around 3:30am. In retrospect, some say one of the very first mistakes of the Gallipoli campaign was the lack of vision when choosing the landing sites. They landed in a small bay south of Ari Burnu, later known as ANZAC cove. The bay was surrounded by steeply rising ground and rocky outcrops, prohibiting any free movement throughout the area. Unlike the open country further south.
On the first morn of the landings, evacuation had already been discussed. It was overruled due to Sir Ian Hamilton's reasoning's that evacuation would be impossible to execute at the time.