Withdrawal and aftermath

British field gun and crew evacuating Suvla, 1915-1916Evacuation of the Allied forces began in December 1915, and was completed early the following January. Both Ottoman and Allied sides had lost around 60,000 men, many from disease.

It was the single biggest Ottoman victory of the War, though three years later Allied forces occupied the peninsula again, following the Armistice of Mudros, 20 October 1918, which ended hostilities between the Ottomans and Allies.

The Ottoman empire was broken up, and the modern nation of Turkey recognised by the formal peace agreement signed at Lausanne in 1923.

The memory of the Gallipoli victory was of huge importance for the new Turkish nation, partly because Mustafa Kemal (later Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, ‘Father of the Turks’), the first President of Turkey, had commanded there successfully.

Invitation to ANZAC Day commemorations, 192118 March is the annual Turkish commemoration of the Battle of Çanakkale, when Allied ships were repulsed.

For Australia and New Zealand Gallipoli is equally significant, as a turning point in both nations’ relations with Great Britain and the formation of their own distinct national identities, celebrating ‘Anzac spirit’ as heroic, laconic, and anti-authoritarian.

The anniversary of the landing, 25 April, is observed as ANZAC day in both countries.

Further information about the three alumni of King’s killed in the Gallipoli campaign, who are shown in the image gallery below, as well as other members of the College who died during the wars of the twentieth century, can be found on the War Memorials site.

Further information

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