EACH year on Anzac Day, Australia and New Zealand commemorate the anniversary of the Gallipoli landings on 25 April, 1915.

On that day thousands of young men far from their homes stormed the beaches of a peninsula in Turkey called Gallipoli.

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March 18 1915, not April 25 1915, is the date celebrated in Turkey as the Day Of Victory in the Battle of Canakkale, also known to the Turks as the Invasion of Gallipoli.

The other countries that played vital roles such as Britain, France and Germany do not celebrate or commemorate the Dardanelles campaign.

In the wider story of the First World War, the Gallipoli campaign made no large mark.

The number of dead, although horrific, pales in comparison to the death toll in France and Belgium during the war.

However for Australia, along with New Zealand and Turkey, the 1915 Gallipoli campaign is of special importance.

In 2015, for the 100 year anniversary of the Dardanelles campaign, Brian Jones, with help from friends from Tea Gardens, Hawks Nest and North Arm Cove, recorded excerpts of soldiers’ letters, diaries, official documents etc from British, German, Turkish and Australian sources.

“Put all together as an audio program, it gives a very humanistic viewpoint of the disastrous attempts of the Allied fleet to force the Dardanelles Straits in February 1915 and the slaughter at the Gallipoli landings on April 25,” Brian said.

“The program tells of the extraordinary courage, tenacity and initiative of the Anzacs landing at Anzac Cove.

“It pays tribute to the British Forces desperate attempts to get a foothold at Cape Helles further south where their incredible bravery won them twelve Victoria crosses.

“One British Regiment adopting the motto ‘A Victoria Cross before breakfast’.

“Not overlooked is the Turks stubborn and courageous resistance to the invasion,” Brian said.

On Anzac Day, Monday 25 April 2022, Myall Coast Radio plans to broadcast Brian’s program ‘The 1915 Dardanelles Campaign’ on air from 9:00am.

All the voices heard on the audio program are local people.

“Unfortunately two of them have passed away since the recording, namely Lou Moore and John Fitzegerald, two very special and loved members of our community,” Brian said.