On 25 April 1915, with the landing of the Australian and New Zealand
Army Corps (ANZAC) below the slopes of Sari Bair on the Gallipoli
peninsula, the ANZAC legend was born. Nine months later, having suffered
thousands of casualties from disease, hand-to-hand fighting, bombing,
sniping and forlorn charges across no man's land, the politicians and
senior military commanders in London called it quits. While the Turks
also suffered terribly, they at least emerged victorious. The fighting
at Anzac was not restricted to the ANZACs and Turks alone. British
troops also fought at Anzac from the earliest days of the invasion and
large numbers of British and Indian troops were committed to the Anzac
sector during the failed August offensive designed to break the
stalemate. The invasion was also supported by large numbers of men -
often noncombatants - who performed vital roles. Naval beach officers
kept logistics operating in some form of 'orderly' fashion; Indian mule
handlers moved supplies of food, water and ammunition to the front
lines; and medical staff and army chaplains worked on the beach, caring
for the wounded and the dead. All these men were frequently under fire
from the Turkish battery known as 'Beachy Bill'. Others surveyed the
narrow beachhead and bored deep holes for drinking water; signalers
tried desperately to establish and maintain communications; and the
gunners hunted the battlefield for suitable places to site their guns.
Off the peninsula, but just as vital, were the nursing and medical staff
on the hospital ships, at Lemnos, Alexandria, Cairo and Malta, and the
airmen who flew above the battlefield spotting for the navy and
artillery. Shadows of Anzac: An intimate history of Gallipoli tells the
story of the 'ordinary' men and women who participated in the Gallipoli
campaign from April to December 1915 and gave the Anzac legend meaning.
Drawing on letters, diaries and other primary and secondary sources,
David Cameron provides an intimate and personal perspective of Anzac, a
richly varied portrayal that describes the absurdity, monotony and often
humor that sat alongside the horrors of the bitter fight to claim the
peninsula.
