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Soldiers Experiences At Gallipoli

Soldiers Experiences At Gallipoli. WHY ENLIST?. Support for the 'mother country' (Britain) was not the only reason Australian men rushed to enlist, other reasons included: Fear that the opportunity for adventure would pass them by if they did not enlist quickly

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Soldiers Experiences At Gallipoli

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  1. Soldiers Experiences At Gallipoli

  2. WHY ENLIST? • Support for the 'mother country' (Britain) was not the only reason Australian men rushed to enlist, other reasons included: • Fear that the opportunity for adventure would pass them by if they did not enlist quickly • The feeling that it was their 'duty' to enlist • The chance to earn higher wages • The desire to avoid the disapproval of peers and young women; some women showed their disapproval of men who were not in uniform by giving them a white feather, a symbol of cowardice • Hatred of the 'Hun' (insulting name for Germany)

  3. Australian Experiences at the Gallipoli Campaign

  4. Brief Outline of Gallipoli Campaign • Australian soldiers were unprepared and unaware of what awaited for them at Gallipoli • on 25th April 1915, 16000 Anzac troops landed 2km north of the intended position • Turkish forces were located at the top of the steep cliffs that fringed the tiny landing beach- which later became known as Anzac Cove • With artillery at both ends of the beach, the Turkish forces were ideally located to gun down the invaders • By nightfall of the first day the Anzacs had advanced about 900m with around 2000 casualties, including 621 dead • over the next week another 27000 soldiers landed at Anzac cove where they fought to maintain control of the beach and build trenches- All under constant barrage of Turkish fire from distances as close as 30m.

  5. Trenches and Dug-outs • Soldiers armed with entrenching tools and sandbags hastily constructed the trenches and dugouts that would provide them with some protection • over the following weeks, dugouts appeared all over the hillsides above Anzac Cove • These were the places where the Anzacs ate, slept, wrote letters home, smoked cigarettes and waited until they were called to active duty.

  6. Living Conditions • Conditions at Gallipoli tested everyone’s endurance • By mid-year the weather had become hot and there were plagues of disease-carrying flies and fleas • Supply ships bought in water from Egypt but their was never enough • By October, Soldiers were beginning to experience the bitter cold, mud and ice of a Turkish winter • Troops who had arrived in peak physical condition soon suffered dysentery, diarrhoea, gastroenteritis and infestations of lice • It was virtually impossible to keep clean • toilet's were open pits • corpse's lay rotting in no-man's land • As many as 20% of soldiers were sick due to poor hygiene

  7. Relaxation • It was difficult to escape either physically or psychologically from the war • However, soldiers were willing to risk the danger's of enemy fire in their quest for some light relief and the opportunity to feel cool and clean • soldiers relaxed by swimming and playing cricket on the beach.

  8. Reference Anderson. M, Low. A, Keese. I, Conroy. J. Retroactive 2 stage 5: Australian history. Third edt. (2000) John Wiley & Sons: Milton Qld.

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