'Rest Gully, Anzac.' From an album compiled by Sergeant John Lord, who was at Gallipoli late in 1915.
Source: Museum Victoria
ANZAC Day this year marks the 90th anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign during the First World War.
During that war, the Australian Imperial Forces (AIF) was composed entirely of volunteers, with over 400,000 troops raised from an adult male population of around 2.7 million. By 1918 the AIF had suffered a casualty rate of more than 64%, leaving few Australian families untouched by the loss or injury of a loved one.
Museum Victoria’s significant collection of military memorabilia includes diaries, photographs and letters relating to the Gallipoli campaign. The following is an extract from the diary of Corporal S. W. Siddeley, Australian Army Medical Corps, First AIF, where he describes his participation in the battle at Helles, Gallipoli:
8th May 1915. The order came for us to advance and the 2nd Field Ambulance made their base hospital where we halted. The order was given to charge and Brigadier McKay [sic] yelled out ‘Come on Australia’ and the charge which made the 2nd Brigade famous took place. Our dear boys were knocked over like skittles, God knows how many died for Australia’s honour God knows it was hell.
A more extensive diary extract and images from Gallipoli are available at ‘God knows it was hell,’ part of Museum Victoria’s Imagining Australia 1914-1918 website. Presenting materials from the museum's collections, the site also explores issues about depictions of Australian identity during the war.