Ninety years ago today (25 April) NZ and Australian troops (known as the ANZACs) landed on beaches of the Turkish Gallipoli Peninsular with orders to take Chunuk Bair, the high point of extremely rough terrain beyond which was the strategic waterway, the Dardanelles.

This daring and ill-conceived plan back in 1915 was the brainchild of the British First Lord of the Admiralty, Sir Winston Churchill, who had not reckoned with the hostile geography of Gallipoli nor the fighting courage of the Turks.

Already in position at Chunuk Bair, Turkish troops under the command of General Mustafa Kemal, later called Ataturk ("Father of the Turks"), rained down deadly artillery and machine gun fire, pinning the ANZACs to their narrow strip and decimating them.
Casualties were extreme, 32% Kiwis killed and a further 55% badly injured and maimed. The Australians suffered likewise. It was a slaughter.

Meanwhile, the British and French forces were landing at Cape Helles, some 30 kms to the south, and after coming ashore to no resistance were enjoying cups of tea upon the beach.

Fighting continued another 9 months with massive casualties on all sides - including the Brits, the French and the Turks.

Lt.Colonel Malone of NZ's Wellington Regiment initially refused orders to take Chunuk Bair, saying ‘I am not going to send them over to commit suicide.'
He was not popular with British command for his adamant stance that never again should NZ forces be commanded by another country's generals.
However, he waited until just before dawn on August 8th and successfully seized Chunuk Bair. At about 5.00 pm that same day some long-awaited help came in the form of an artillery bombardment from a British warship just offshore.
But the shells and shrapnel burst amongst the few surviving Kiwis causing further casualties. Of the 760 troops who began the assault at first light, only 70 were left unhurt by the end of the day.
Ironically, William Malone was one of those killed by a shell fired from the British destroyer out at sea.

These days the Turks and the ANZACs share strong bonds of friendship based on mutual admiration for each other's courage and honour during that terrible Gallipoli Campaign.
General Ataturk established a memorial to the ANZACs at Anzac Cove, the beach where they landed, and showing the measure of the man he was, wrote these very moving words:

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 to us between the ‘Johnnies' and the ‘Mehmets,' where they lie side by side here in this country of ours. . . You, the mothers, who sent your sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well."