The Gallipoli landing
- When
- 25 April 1915 – 20 December 1915
- Reach
- Nationwide
New Zealand troops landed on the Gallipoli peninsula on 25 April. Of about 14,000 who served there, 2,779 died. The date became the country’s day of remembrance.
The campaign was a failure, and by December the peninsula was evacuated. Chunuk Bair in August was the one point where the heights were briefly taken, at a cost that gutted the Wellington Battalion. Gallipoli’s importance is not military but national: it is where a self-image of a distinct people, separate from Britain, is usually said to have formed. Anzac Day has been marked every year since 1916, and now draws larger crowds than it did fifty years ago.
Regions affected
Sources
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Related
New Zealand enters the First World War
About 100,000 served overseas from a population of just over a million. Around 18,000 died and 41,000 were wounded — proportionally among the heaviest losses of any country.
Passchendaele — the worst day
An attack on Bellevue Spur in Flanders mud, against uncut wire and without effective artillery support, killed around 845 New Zealanders in a few hours.
New Zealand troops sent to the South African War
The first overseas war New Zealand fought as a country: around 6,500 men and 8,000 horses, and 230 deaths.
New Zealand declares war on Germany
‘Where she goes, we go’ — 140,000 served overseas and nearly 12,000 died, from a population of 1.6 million.