Main Event- Gallipoli in brief description...
On 25 April 1915, eight months into the First World War, Allied soldiers landed on the shores of the Gallipoli peninsula. This was Turkish territory that formed part of Germany's ally, the Ottoman Empire. The troops were there as part of a plan to open the Dardanelles Strait to the Allied fleets, allowing them to threaten the Ottoman capital Constantinople (now Istanbul) and, it was hoped, force a Turkish surrender. The Allied forces encountered unexpectedly strong resistance from the Turks, and both sides suffered enormous loss of life. The forces from New Zealand and Australia, fighting as part of the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps), played an important part in the Gallipoli campaign. At its beginning, people at home greeted with excitement the news that our soldiers were at last fully engaged in the war.
Here we have a primary source of a diary of this main event- Gallipoli. This diary was published on 26 April 1916, months after the war had ended, and the diary has been laid out in a timeline layout, matched with a brief description of what had happened on those certain days during the war. Each date published on this diary is of some what importance to the event as they mark key bits and points of the event. For example, the well known date of April 25- when the "Australians and New Zealanders land north of Gaba Tepe", also mostly known as the Gallipoli Peninsula. This is an important date because of it marks the Anzac's debut and contribution to the war of Gallipoli and this is where things tend to go out the wrong way and made the war and game plan turn around. Another example could be May 9- "The Turks opposite Anzac Cove, being reinforced, deliver a strong attack on the New Zealanders and Australians, and are repulsed with lives of 7,000 men. Anzacs lost 500". This is important to include in the diary of Gallipoli as it provides much information that happened in that one very day, and it had useful information on the Anzacs. This diary of Gallipoli will be very useful for people and historians who want to know more about Gallipoli or want a short run through of the event, being able to find out some useful dates and information within those dates. [Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXI, ISSUE 16604, 26 April 1916]
Battle Diary from ANZAC^ [Battle Diary, Taranaki Daily News, National Library of New Zealand]
Diary Sketch [Lieutenant-Colonel Percival Fenwick. Gallipoli diary, 24 April to 27 June, 1915]