During World War I, the Indian Army, then called the British Indian Army, contributed a number
of divisions and independent brigades to the European Front in West, Mediterranean and the Middle East theatres of war in World War I. One million Indian troops would serve overseas, of whom 62,000 died and another 67,000 were wounded. These numbers included 1926 killed and
3863 wounded at Gallipoli while fighting as part of Australian-New Zealand Division, which itself
was part of Australia New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC).
Anzac Day. On 25th April every year, tens of thousands of New Zealanders observe ANZAC day with reverence at home and far across the oceans at Gallipoli, Turkey. This is the day the nation remembers her forefathers (many of who never returned home) who fought in wars far away from home in the two World Wars and in other campai gns in more recent times. ANZAC Day builds bridges across communities and unites generations of Kiwis, who gather at war memorials all over the land to commemorate those who gave their lives for their country, to honour those war veterans who made it back home and to pay tribute to the serving members of the Armed Forces.
In the early hours of April 25, at various Shrines of Remembrance, cenotaphs and war memorials everywhere in Australia and New Zealand, there is a gathering of the men and women who have gone to war and returned, and with their families and friends gather for a dawn service that heralds the start of another Anzac Day. Anzac Day was first marked in 1916. The day has gone through many changes since then. The ceremonies that are held at war memorials up and down New Zealand, or in places overseas where New Zealanders gather, remain rich in tradition and ritual befitting a military funeral.
After the First World War, returned soldiers sought the comradeship they felt in those quiet, peaceful moments before dawn. With symbolic links to the dawn landing at Gallipoli, a dawn stand-to or dawn ceremony became a common form of Anzac Day remembrance during the 1920s. The first official dawn service was held at the Sydney Cenotaph in 1927. Dawn services were originally very simple and followed the operational ritual; in many cases they were restricted to veterans only. The daytime ceremony was for families and other well -wishers and the dawn service was for returned soldiers to remember and reflect among the comrades with whom they shared a special bond.
The official ceremony is held in Wellington, the nation’s capital at the National War Memorial at 11:00 a.m. It starts off with the sounding of the “Last Post”, guard of honour, gun salute at the ‘Tomb of the Unknown Warrior’, followed by laying of wreaths by members of the diplomatic corps, led by the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps. After this it is the turn of the government led by the Governor General(or his representative), Prime Minister, followed by the leader of the Opposition, Mayor of Wellington, Chief of Defence Forces, the Chiefs of the three Services, Police Commissioner, etc. The Prime Minister, lays the wreath on behalf of his government and the people of New Zealand.
Anzac Day is seen and celebrated today as marking a very important episode in New Zealand's history. Official publications state that the Gallipoli campaign helped New Zealand define itself as a nation, in that after Gallipoli, New Zealand had a greater confidence in its distinct identity and a greater pride in the international contribution it could make. Further, it is also held that the mutual respect earned during the fighting formed the basis of the close ties with Australia that continue today.
Government officials from Australia and New Zealand as well as most of the last surviving Gallipoli veterans, and many Australian and New Zealand tourists travel to Turkey for a special Dawn Service at Gallipoli. The Anzac Day Gallipoli Dawn Service attracts upwards of 15,000 people. Prime Minister John Key and Chief of Defence Forces General Jerry Mateparae were both at Gallipoli this year, where they attended the Turkish International Service to mark the 95th anniversary of the Anzac landings in Gallipoli. The service took place at the large Mehmetcik Abidesi site, the main Turkish memorial, some way from Anzac Cove. Prime Minister John Key told the Turkish Service that it demonstrated the importance of the Gallipoli campaign not just for New Zealand and Australia but also for Turkey and the huge range of other nations involved. "It is not just the sons of Europe that lie in the cemeteries on this peninsula, but also those of Asia, Africa and North America. This is a powerful testament to the true international nature of this conflict." Wreaths were laid by Mr Key and representatives of Australia, Turkey, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Canada, Ireland, Britain and Germany, which were all involved in the Gallipoli campaign. Last year the service was attended by the Governor General and the Minister for Veteran Affairs.
Anzac is the acronym for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. This corps was created early in the Great War of 1914–18. In December 1914 the Australian Imperial Force and New Zealand Expeditionary Force stationed in Eg ypt were placed under the command of Lieutenant General William Birdwood. Initially the term Australasian Corps was suggested, but Australians and New Zealanders were reluctant to lose their separate identities completely.
It was originally intended to name the corps the Australasian Army Corps, this title being used
in the unit diary, following the common practice of the time, which often saw New Zealanders and Australians compete together as Australasia in sporting events. However, protests from
New Zealand led to adoption of the name Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The administration clerks found the title too cumbersome so they quickly adopted the abbreviation A. & N.Z.A.C. or simply ANZAC. Shortly afterwards it was officially adopted as the code name for the corps but it did not enter common usage amongst the troops until after the Gallipoli landings.
The word Anzac is part of the culture of New Zealanders and Australians. People talk about the
'spirit of Anzac'; there are Anzac biscuits, and rugby or rugby league teams from the two
countries play an Anzac Day test. The word conjures up a shared heritage of two nations, but it also has a specific meaning. It may have led to a military defeat, but for many New Zealanders then and since, the Gallipoli landings meant the beginning of something else – a feeling that New Zealand had a role as a distinct nation, even as it fought on the other side of the world in the name of the British Empire.
Before one 'tough' Ashes Series, Steve Waugh that very inspi rational Aussie captain of the
cricket Test team took his whole team to Gallipoli first so that they could be imbued with the spirit and fervour before the cricketing battle. They won the Ashes!
Despite being synonymous with Australia and New Zealand, ANZAC was a multi-national body. In addition to the many British officers in the corps and division staffs, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps contained, at various points, elements of the Indian Expeditionary Force G.
In 1901 oil had been discovered in commercial quantities at Masjid-e-Suleiman at the head of
the Persian Gulf. It soon became clear that the Ottoman Turkish Army was being mobilised and in August the Indian Government was instructed to prepare contingency plans to protect these strategic assets. As a contingency, the Indian Expeditionary Force D under command of Lieutenant–General Sir Arthur Barrett sailed from Bombay on 16 October 1914 for Bahrain. They, together with Expeditionary Force A who had been hurriedly sent to Europe at the end of September in response to a request from the Imperial General Staff for men to support the war effort— became the first Indian elements committed to war outside of India.
The Indian Army formed and dispatched the following seven expeditionary forces overseas
during the War:
1. Indian Expeditionary Force A (Western Front).
2. Indian Expeditionary Force B (East African Campaign).
3. Indian Expeditionary Force C (British East Africa).
4. Indian Expeditionary Force D (Mesopotamia).
5. Indian Expeditionary Force E (Sinai and Palestine Campaign and Battle of Megiddo).
6. Indian Expeditionary Force F (First Suez Offensive).
7. Indian Expeditionary Force G (Gallipoli Campaign).
The Allies were keen to open an effective supply route to Russia: efforts on the Eastern Front
relieved pressure on the Western Front. Germany and Austria -Hungary blocked Russia's land
trade routes to Europe, while no easy sea route existed. T he White Sea in the north and the Sea of Okhotsk in the Far East were distant from the Eastern Front and often icebound. The Baltic Sea was blocked by Germany's formidable Kaiserliche Marine. The Black Sea's only entrance
was through the Bosporus, which was controlled by the Ottoman Empire. When the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers in October 1914, Russia could no longer be supplied from the Mediterranean Sea.
By late 1914, the Western Front, in France and Belgium, had effectively become a stalemat e. A new front was desperately needed. In November 1914, First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill put forward his first plans for a naval attack on the Dardanelles, based at least in part on what turned out to be erroneous reports regarding Turkish troop strength.
The Gallipoli campaign took place at Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey from 25 April 1915 to 9
January 1916, during the First World War. A joint British and French operation was mounted to capture the Ottoman capital of Istanbul, and secure a se a route to Russia. The attempt failed, with heavy casualties on both sides.
The invasion plan of 25 April 1915 was for the 29th Division to land at Helles on the tip of the peninsula and then advance upon the forts at Kilitbahir. The Anzacs were to land north of Gaba Tepe on the Aegean coast from where they could advance across the peninsula and prevent retreat from or reinforcement of Kilitbahir. The small cove around and in which they landed became known as Anzac Cove. This sector of the Gallipoli Penins ula became known as 'Anzac Sector'; the area held by the British and French became known as the 'Helles sector' or simply 'Helles'. The French made a diversionary landing at Kum Kale on the Asian shore before re-embarking to hold the eastern area of the Helles sector. There was also a diversion by the Royal Naval Division, including a one-man diversion by Bernard Freyberg, later to become a three -star general in World War II, at Bulair.
In Turkey the name "ANZAC Cove" was officially recognised by the Turkis h government on
Anzac Day in 1985. In 1934, Kemal Atatürk delivered the following words to the first Australians, New Zealanders and British to visit the Gallipoli battlefields. This was later inscribed on a monolith at Ari Burnu Cemetery ( ANZAC Beach ) which was unveiled in 1985 and the words also appear on the Kemal Atatürk Memorial, Canberra:
"Those heroes that shed their blood And lost their lives. You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies And the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side Here in this country of ours. You, the mothers, Who sent their sons from far away countries Wipe away your tears, Your sons are now lying in our bosom And are in peace After having lost the ir lives on this land they have Become our sons as well."
Expeditionary Force G consisted of the 29th Brigade, serving away from its parent 10th Indian
Division. The infantry components comprised was composed of the 14th KGO Sikhs, 1/5th
Gurkha Rifles (FF), and the 1/6th and 2/10th Gurkha Rifles. 7th Mountain Artillery Brigade consisted of the 21st (Kohat) and the 26th (Jacob’s) mountain batteries, equipped with breech loading 10-pounder guns. There was also an Indian mule cart train of the Indian supply and transport corps whose services were vital for the operations of the entire ANZAC. Lone Indian muleteer who stayed back to provide logistic support to KIWIs is part of folk lore to date. All of these were served by the 108th Indian field ambulance.
In addition, 69 Punjabis and 89 Punjabis, on their way to France and Flanders as part of 7 th
Indian Infantry Division were rerouted and sent to Gallipoli. To date, present incarnation of 69
Punjabis i.e. 1st Battalion Brigade of the Guards (2 Punjab) proudly carries Gallipoli as one of its
31 Battle Honours.
The brigade was dispatched from Egypt and attached to the British 29th Division which had been decimated in the earlier battles. Held in reserve for the Second Battle of Krithia, they played a major part in the Third Battle of Krithia. Advancing on the left the Brigade was quickly halted except along the Aegean shore where the 1/6th Gurkha Rifles managed to advance. The 14th KGO Sikhs, advancing along the floor of Gully Ravine, were almost wiped out, losing 380 men out of 514 and 80% of their officers. The Brigade was next involved in the Battle of Gully Ravine and here the 2/10th Gurkha Rifles managed to advance half a mile. The Brigade next took part in the Battle of Sari Bair, under cover of a naval bombardment the 1/6th Gurkha Rifles assaulted and captured the hill, which was then shelled by the Royal Navy. With their casualties mounting and under command of the battalion medical officer they were forced to withdraw to their starting positions.
(Note: 1 Kohat , 6 Jacob and 3 Peshawar mountain batteries went to Pakistan in 1947. 22 Mountain Regiment took charge of the four mountain batteries that came to India viz. .2 Derajat, 4 Hazara, 5 Bombay and 7 Bengal. 5 Bombay is the oldest of the four in India. 29 Inf Bde continues to be on the ORBAT of the Indian army- this Bde used to be in Ferozpur under 7 Inf Div. )
Officially, India’s contribution to the Great War gives statistics regarding India’s participation in Gallipoli British officers (BO’s) and British other ranks (BOR’s) shown are those of the Indian army on the permanent Indian establishment.
Total Personnel Sent to Gallipoli up to 31 DEC 1919.
| BOs | BORs | IOs | IORs | Non combatants | Total Indian | |
| Indian | ||||||
| 42 | 18 | 90 | 3041 | 1819 | 60 | 4950 |
Total Indian casualties up to 19 Sep 1920
| Dead from all causes | Wounded | Missing and POW | ||||||||||||
| BOs | IOs | BORs | IORs | Foll | BOs | IOs | BORS | IORS | Foll | BOs | IOs | BORS | IORS | Foll |
| 72 | 33 | 3 | 1690 | 128 | 100 | 72 | 2 | 3578 | 111 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Indians who made the supreme sacrifice in the Helles sector are commemorated on the memorial at Cape Helles.
Twelve Tree Copse Memorial commemorates the New Zealanders killed in the Helles sector.
The India Gate in New Delhi designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens is a national monument and is one of the largest war memorials in India. Originally known as All India War Memorial, it is a prominent landmark in Delhi and commemorates the 90,000 soldiers of the erstwhile British Indian Army who lost their lives fighting for the British Indian Empire, or more correctly the British Raj in World War I and Afghan Wars. Names of those who sacrificed their lives at Gallipoli are also engraved at this memorial.
As stated earlier, despite being synonymous with Australia and New Zealand, ANZAC was a
multi-national body. In addition to the many British officers in the corps and division staffs, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps contained, at various points, the 7th Brigade of the Indian Mountain Artillery, Ceylon Planters Rifle C orps troops, the Zion Mule Corps, 4 battalions from the Royal Naval Division, the British 13th (Western) Division, one brigade of the British 10th (Irish) Division and the 29th Indian Infantry Brigade.
What is forgotten is that, while ANZAC is associated now only with Australia and New Zealand, on its ORBAT were the 7th Brigade of the Indian Mountain Artillery and the 29th Indian Infantry Brigade and number of other Infantry Battalions that were rerouted to Gallipoli while on their way to France. The core of ANZAC was the Australian 1st Division and the ‘New Zealand and Australian Division’. This New Zealand and Australian Division itself contained the New Zealand Infantry Brigade and the Australian 4th Infantry Brigade. However you will be aware that a British or dominion division normally contained three brigades, and what is largely unheralded is the contribution of the third Brigade of this Division, which was the 29th Indian Infantry Brigade, commanded by Major General Vaughn Cox.
Probable Causes Contributing to Forgotten History. Briefly the reasons can be summed up as follows:
ANZAC Day celebrations tend to ignore the contribution of the Indians, plausibly due to the fact that as an erstwhile colony, India’s military contribution was taken for granted as it had no independent political resonance to back it up. Actually the Indian participation in Gallipoli was substantial and contributed immensely to the operations. Fighting component of ANZAC comprised of 23 Infantry Battalions, 15 of which came from Australia, 5 India and 3 from New Zealand.
In addition to aforementioned Infantry battalions, in supporting arms 7 Mountain Artillery Brigade was also provided by India. Also full complement of supporting services for these 2 brigades was provided by India. Special mention needs to be made of Mule Cart Train of Indian Transport and Supply Services, which provided logistic transport service to whole ANZAC. Similarly 108 Field Ambulance Company attended casualties from all 3 nations comprising the ANZACS. Most publications and books on the Gallipoli campaign make little, if any mention of the contributions of the Indians to this gallant, if doomed, attempt to gain the Bosporus and defeat the Ottomans. Thereby few realize that the much celebrated achievements, as well trials and tribulations of ANZAC at the Dardanelles, which have been hailed as a defining point in New Zealand and Australian history, were also shared by a large contingent of the Indian Army Corps.
Politically, colonial rulers in India would not have been at all keen to commemorate a battle where they had lost, since the ruler’s ploy always had been to project that as a ruling class as they were invincible in order to keep the Indian masses in check. More so losing to Turks - a brown race akin to Indians - would have been incomprehensible for the India office in London in those days, to let it become well publicized amongst the masses of ruled Indians at that point of evolution of human relations. Unfortunate but this was the reality in early 20 th century and was the outlook of all Colonial masters round the world those days, irrespective of whether they were English, Spanish or others. White man’s superiority was an accepted belief and its perpetuation was the colonial master’s mantra.
The Indian Army in its history from 1757 to 1914 had on many an occasion suffered much heavier casualty where whole battalions were wiped out e.g. retreat in winter after First Anglo Afghan War. During that, the whole column except one civilian med officer either died in Afghan ambushes or due effects of cold weather. On many dead bodies were found tied to their wrist small pieces of their Regimental Colours, which would be recovered by their colleagues, so that same Battalion could be raised again by stitching a piece of Old Colours with new Colours, a sort reincarnation, in which the sub continentals believe. There are many other instances e g. Anglo Mysore wars of 1803, Lord Lakes campaign to reduce the Bharatpur Fort from 1803 to1823 and Anglo Sikh wars of 1840s. Thus by Indian army standards, Gallipoli was not such a major milestone for the Indian Army as it is for ANZAC.
Further during the Great War 1914-1919 much heavier casualties were suffered in France and Flanders. It is in recorded history that 69 Punja bis and a number of other units during the battle of Loos 25 Sep1915 went into attack in morning with 800 bayonet strength and in evening muster, tally was less than 150. Ferocity of World War I was much more than anything seen before or after, so Gallipoli campaign was one of many that Indian Army went through.
India and New Zealand have had a long history of joint military operations, which unfortunately have slipped from public memory and been all but forgotten in official disc ourse. The Indian participation in Gallipoli was substantial and contributed immensely to the operations. Same has continued to date. Briefly, to recapitulate, in the Second World War the Indian army was to number nearly 2 million men- the largest volunteer force in the history of human conflict. It was natural that the Indian troops would take to the field with their old ANZAC companions. They did so in the battlefields of North Africa and later in the fierce fighting to roll back the Germans in Italy, where their name became a byword among the nations of the Commonwealth during the battles of the Gustav Line and Monte Casino.
It is not commonly known that the very first operational sortie of the IAF against the Japanese in World War II was carried out jointly with a couple of New Zealander personnel of the RAF. This came about during the First Burma Campaign. Later, a RNZAF pilot, Squadron Leader GS Sharp, on deputation to the RIAF, was to win one of the 3 DSOs awarded to the RIAF, whilst in command of No 4 RIAF Squadron in Burma in February 1945.
Indian, New Zealanders and Australian troops were part of the Australia, New Zealand Army
Corps (ANZAC) that fought at Gallipoli. Of 5010 Indians who served in ANZAC, 1926 died and
3863 were wounded, s ome more than once. On pro rata comparison, above causalties speak for themselves. New Zealand and Australia had much larger contingents and their KIA causalities were 2741 and 7594 respectively.
For nine long months New Zealanders, Australians and Indians with allies from France and the British Empire battled harsh conditions and resolute Turkish opponents who were desperately fighting to protect their homeland.
By the time the campaign ended, over 120,000 men had died: more than 80,000 Turks, and
44,000 Allied soldiers.
In the history of the Great War, the Gallipoli campaign made no large mark. The number of dead, although horrific, paled in comparison with the number that died in France and Belgium. But for New Zealand, along with Australia and Turkey, the Gallipoli campaign left a lasting impression on the national psyche.