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A small lifeboat, retrieved from the shores of Gallipoli, is a direct link to the first Anzacs and the day that helped forge Australia’s identity.
Curator’s notes
In 1915 Australian troops were part of an Allied landing at Gallipoli, Turkey.
The aim was to open a way for Allied ships to attack Constantinople, thereby allowing supply ships to help Russia in its fight against Germany. Turkey, an ally of Germany, controlled the Straits of the Dardanelles, stopping supply ships from entering the Black Sea and sailing to the main Russian port of Odessa.
Allied troops would land at Gallipoli, move overland and capture the Turkish guns that were overlooking the Straits, and then Allied ships could sail through safely to bombard and capture Constantinople, forcing Turkey to surrender.
This was the first engagement of the war in which Australian troops had been involved in large numbers as part of an international group — it was commonly seen as their ‘test’ as a nation. The invasion troops were brought into the area on naval ships, then loaded on lifeboats, and rowed silently into shore during darkness, just before dawn.
The result was a disaster. The landing troops did not manage to move up from the coast to seize the Turkish guns, and naval ships that tried to force their way up the Straits were sunk by mines. However, stories sent back from the landing by British and Australian journalists praised the fighting qualities of the Australian troops — they had passed the test.
Nine months after the landing, all Allied troops were withdrawn.
Despite the tactical failure of the landing, it has been commemorated ever since in Australia as our most significant national day, with Anzac Day becoming a nationally observed day since 1927.
See also Paul Byrnes’s Gallipoli on Film on ASO.
