Good morning. It is a great privilege to stand here and speak today, to remember and commemorate the experiences of Gallipoli and the heroic sacrifices that have been made.
It was 4:30am on the 25th of April 1915, this very day, that I landed on the shores of Gallipoli along with 16,000 young men. I had been recruited shortly after arriving to Western Australia in 1911 from England and joined the 16th Battalion, becoming involved on that fateful day. Our troops were unsuccessful in an ambush and bullets were raining heavily down, men falling and stumbling in the dark, scrambling for shelter. Although we raced down the valleys and gullies to our landing areas, there were over 20,000 casualties.
We made homes on unsteady cliffs and narrow unprotected beaches, in deep trenches that were meant to protect us from rifle fire. Our bed …show more content…
The weather conditions were extreme on the peninsula and we were exposed to harsh winds, rain, snow, mud, flooding and unbearable heat. Our diet consisted of bully beef, hard biscuits, jam and tea, with our water strictly rationed. The lack of sanitation in the heat led to outbreaks of diseases such as dysentery, gastroenteritis, typhoid fever, pneumonia and cholera. The diseases were further spread with plagues of fleas, flies and rats swarming everywhere. The majority of the days were spent digging trenches and sunken roads, carrying biscuit boxes and building timber for hours, sweeping and disinfecting trenches. There was never a moment of peace or safety as the enemies could attack at any minute. When we were called to take action in August, everyone was all relieved
It was 4:30am on the 25th of April 1915, this very day, that I landed on the shores of Gallipoli along with 16,000 young men. I had been recruited shortly after arriving to Western Australia in 1911 from England and joined the 16th Battalion, becoming involved on that fateful day. Our troops were unsuccessful in an ambush and bullets were raining heavily down, men falling and stumbling in the dark, scrambling for shelter. Although we raced down the valleys and gullies to our landing areas, there were over 20,000 casualties.
We made homes on unsteady cliffs and narrow unprotected beaches, in deep trenches that were meant to protect us from rifle fire. Our bed …show more content…
The weather conditions were extreme on the peninsula and we were exposed to harsh winds, rain, snow, mud, flooding and unbearable heat. Our diet consisted of bully beef, hard biscuits, jam and tea, with our water strictly rationed. The lack of sanitation in the heat led to outbreaks of diseases such as dysentery, gastroenteritis, typhoid fever, pneumonia and cholera. The diseases were further spread with plagues of fleas, flies and rats swarming everywhere. The majority of the days were spent digging trenches and sunken roads, carrying biscuit boxes and building timber for hours, sweeping and disinfecting trenches. There was never a moment of peace or safety as the enemies could attack at any minute. When we were called to take action in August, everyone was all relieved