WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.720 Welcome to the Deep Dive. Today we are heading 00:00:02.720 --> 00:00:05.419 back to a day that completely shattered illusions. 00:00:05.780 --> 00:00:08.259 And forged national identities. Yeah, exactly. 00:00:08.460 --> 00:00:10.960 And changed the course of military history. We're 00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:14.820 looking at April 25, 1915. The landing at Anzac 00:00:14.820 --> 00:00:17.600 Cove. Right. And our grounding source for this 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:20.399 exploration is an incredibly detailed historical 00:00:20.399 --> 00:00:23.500 article breaking down this specific First World 00:00:23.500 --> 00:00:26.359 War battle. It's a heavy one. It really is. Our 00:00:26.359 --> 00:00:30.410 mission today is to, well... To bypass the grand 00:00:30.410 --> 00:00:33.109 sweeping myths of the era, we're gonna pull you 00:00:33.109 --> 00:00:35.490 right down into the gritty, chaotic, on -the 00:00:35.490 --> 00:00:37.909 -ground reality of a military plan that went 00:00:37.909 --> 00:00:40.630 completely sideways. Sideways is an understatement. 00:00:40.950 --> 00:00:43.890 We're dissecting a fascinating intersection of 00:00:43.890 --> 00:00:46.729 tactical failures, monumental assumptions, and 00:00:46.729 --> 00:00:48.729 honestly extraordinary human resilience. Yeah, 00:00:48.729 --> 00:00:51.409 we're looking at how a single day of sheer survival 00:00:51.409 --> 00:00:54.030 in a hostile landscape forged a lasting legacy 00:00:54.030 --> 00:00:56.170 for three different nations. The sources we're 00:00:56.170 --> 00:00:58.409 using today strip away all that geopolitical 00:00:58.409 --> 00:01:00.310 grandstanding. They just lay bare the mechanics 00:01:00.310 --> 00:01:01.850 of the battle. Which is what you need for this. 00:01:02.369 --> 00:01:05.549 Exactly. They show us not just what went wrong 00:01:05.549 --> 00:01:07.769 on the beaches and cliffs of the Gallipoli Peninsula, 00:01:08.370 --> 00:01:12.049 but how the soldiers on both sides reacted when 00:01:12.049 --> 00:01:15.230 meticulously crafted plans evaporated. Right. 00:01:15.269 --> 00:01:18.450 Upon contact with reality. Yes. So to really 00:01:18.450 --> 00:01:20.230 understand the stakes for you as the listener, 00:01:20.349 --> 00:01:22.950 we need to bypass the standard history textbook 00:01:22.950 --> 00:01:26.519 introduction. Let's jump straight into the Imperial 00:01:26.519 --> 00:01:29.239 War Cabinet's massive strategic gamble. Right. 00:01:29.340 --> 00:01:32.840 The grand plan. It's early 1915 and the British 00:01:32.840 --> 00:01:35.140 planners in London are looking to break the broader 00:01:35.140 --> 00:01:37.359 deadlock of the war. They want to open a new 00:01:37.359 --> 00:01:39.700 front in the Mediterranean. Their target is the 00:01:39.700 --> 00:01:42.439 Dardanelles. Yep. That narrow strait in the Ottoman 00:01:42.439 --> 00:01:45.540 Turkish Empire. And the ultimate goal is an amphibious 00:01:45.540 --> 00:01:47.879 invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula. Basically 00:01:47.879 --> 00:01:50.260 to secure a passage for the navy. Exactly. They 00:01:50.260 --> 00:01:52.260 want to sail right up to the Turkish capital, 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:54.420 Constantinople, and just force an armistice. 00:01:54.519 --> 00:01:57.420 Boom. War over. The hubris embedded in this planning 00:01:57.420 --> 00:01:59.900 stage is staggering. I mean, they formed the 00:01:59.900 --> 00:02:01.859 Mediterranean Expansionary Force under General 00:02:01.859 --> 00:02:04.359 Ian Hamilton, and a key part of this invasion 00:02:04.359 --> 00:02:08.259 falls to a force of over 30 ,000 men. The Australian 00:02:08.259 --> 00:02:12.659 and New Zealand Army Corps. Right. ANZAC. Commanded 00:02:12.659 --> 00:02:15.539 by Lieutenant General William Birdwood. And the 00:02:15.539 --> 00:02:17.930 planners in London. They essentially treated 00:02:17.930 --> 00:02:21.330 this like a pristine map exercise. It's wild 00:02:21.330 --> 00:02:23.569 to read about. It really is. They operated under 00:02:23.569 --> 00:02:25.870 this bizarre assumption that the Gallipoli Peninsula 00:02:25.870 --> 00:02:28.990 was sparsely defended. If it was defended at 00:02:28.990 --> 00:02:31.569 all. Right. They didn't seriously consider the 00:02:31.569 --> 00:02:34.639 possibility of heavy coordinated Turkish opposition? 00:02:35.060 --> 00:02:37.699 No. The blueprints they drew up basically mapped 00:02:37.699 --> 00:02:40.900 out an unopposed stroll up the hills, just seize 00:02:40.900 --> 00:02:43.620 the ridges, cut off Turkish communication lines, 00:02:43.699 --> 00:02:45.699 and have a cup of tea. Which brings us to the 00:02:45.699 --> 00:02:48.060 actual execution. OK, let's unpack this. The 00:02:48.060 --> 00:02:50.719 morning of April 25. Where the friction of war 00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:52.780 immediately takes over. It's the middle of the 00:02:52.780 --> 00:02:55.259 night. At 1 a .m., the British ships stop out 00:02:55.259 --> 00:02:58.580 at sea. The troops transfer into 36 wooden rowing 00:02:58.580 --> 00:03:01.159 boats. Towed by small steamers. Yeah. So I want 00:03:01.159 --> 00:03:03.360 you to imagine sitting in one of those boats 00:03:03.360 --> 00:03:07.080 in the pitch black. Terrifying. By 3 .30 a .m., 00:03:07.080 --> 00:03:09.620 the larger ships stop and the men have to row 00:03:09.620 --> 00:03:12.060 the last 50 yards in total darkness. Bending 00:03:12.060 --> 00:03:15.039 complete silence. Exactly. They're supposed to 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:17.900 land at a designated beach between a headland 00:03:17.900 --> 00:03:20.990 called Gabatepe and Fisherman's Hut. But the 00:03:20.990 --> 00:03:23.750 currents and the darkness throw them wildly off 00:03:23.750 --> 00:03:26.569 course. Wildly. They land a full mile north. 00:03:26.789 --> 00:03:29.710 At a jagged, unforgiving spot called Aribernu. 00:03:29.949 --> 00:03:32.469 Which later becomes known as Anzac Cove. And 00:03:32.469 --> 00:03:35.729 that single navigational error completely altered 00:03:35.729 --> 00:03:38.069 the terrain they faced. And by extension, the 00:03:38.069 --> 00:03:40.610 entire nature of the battle. Right. The planners 00:03:40.610 --> 00:03:43.949 expected an open, relatively flat beach. A place 00:03:43.949 --> 00:03:45.909 where they could easily organize battalions and 00:03:45.909 --> 00:03:48.990 march inland. Instead, as the sun begins to rise, 00:03:49.310 --> 00:03:51.909 the ANZ -AXE forces find themselves staring up 00:03:51.909 --> 00:03:54.930 at nearly vertical cliffs. 300 -foot steep cliffs. 00:03:55.090 --> 00:03:56.789 And these cliffs aren't just bare rock. They 00:03:56.789 --> 00:03:59.789 are covered in thick, impenetrable, coarse scrub. 00:04:00.090 --> 00:04:02.569 It is an absolute nightmare terrain for an amphibious 00:04:02.569 --> 00:04:04.810 assault. But, and here's what's fascinating from 00:04:04.810 --> 00:04:07.229 the sources, there's an incredible paradox regarding 00:04:07.229 --> 00:04:09.849 that navigational mistake. Missing their target 00:04:09.849 --> 00:04:12.509 was a logistical disaster, yes. But it almost 00:04:12.509 --> 00:04:15.430 certainly saved the Anzac seas from a total massacre 00:04:15.430 --> 00:04:18.009 on the beaches. Because the intended target, 00:04:18.230 --> 00:04:21.350 Gabatepe, was not the empty stretch of sand the 00:04:21.350 --> 00:04:23.709 British envisioned. No, the Turks had heavily 00:04:23.709 --> 00:04:25.509 fortified it. They had a strong point there. 00:04:25.810 --> 00:04:28.290 Complete with an artillery battery. Heavy, 15 00:04:28.290 --> 00:04:30.810 centimeter. and 12 centimeter guns. Supported 00:04:30.810 --> 00:04:34.730 by interlocking machine gun nests. Had the ANSAACs 00:04:34.730 --> 00:04:36.769 landed where they were supposed to, they would 00:04:36.769 --> 00:04:39.850 have been walking directly into a wall of coordinated 00:04:39.850 --> 00:04:42.629 artillery fire. So the steep hills surrounding 00:04:42.629 --> 00:04:45.990 their accidental landing spot actually shielded 00:04:45.990 --> 00:04:48.410 them. It's a remarkable twist of fate. It really 00:04:48.410 --> 00:04:51.220 is. A mistake saves them from immediate destruction, 00:04:51.500 --> 00:04:54.480 but plunges them into utter tactical chaos. Total 00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:57.300 chaos. The boats are all mixed up along the shoreline. 00:04:57.860 --> 00:04:59.459 Officers are trying to figure out where on earth 00:04:59.459 --> 00:05:01.420 they are. Holding maps that do not match the 00:05:01.420 --> 00:05:03.920 jagged clefts in front of them at all. And Turkish 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:06.360 sentries have already opened fire from the reaches 00:05:06.360 --> 00:05:09.100 above. So the Grand Corps plan was just immediately 00:05:09.100 --> 00:05:11.579 discarded. Because it was physically impossible 00:05:11.579 --> 00:05:14.699 to execute. Right. Men from different battalions 00:05:14.699 --> 00:05:17.459 simply started scrambling up the Ari Bernou slope. 00:05:17.579 --> 00:05:20.189 They were literally grabbing the thorny gorse 00:05:20.189 --> 00:05:22.790 branches. Digging their bayonets into the dirt 00:05:22.790 --> 00:05:24.829 just to pull themselves up the inclines. And 00:05:24.829 --> 00:05:27.110 because the original plan is entirely out the 00:05:27.110 --> 00:05:29.709 window, the orders passed down the line become 00:05:29.709 --> 00:05:32.790 incredibly disjointed. Vanguard units like the 00:05:32.790 --> 00:05:34.730 9th and 10th battalions, they're given these 00:05:34.730 --> 00:05:36.990 frantic orders to just go as fast as they can. 00:05:37.089 --> 00:05:39.449 Keep going at all costs. Yeah. So instead of 00:05:39.449 --> 00:05:42.569 forming a solid, cohesive, defensive line, they 00:05:42.569 --> 00:05:46.209 advance piecemeal into the deadly scrub -covered 00:05:46.209 --> 00:05:49.720 terrain. areas known as the 400 Plateau and baby 00:05:49.720 --> 00:05:52.439 700. The battle just immediately devolves into 00:05:52.439 --> 00:05:55.759 small pockets of men fighting isolated, confusing 00:05:55.759 --> 00:05:58.600 skirmishes. Those rapid advances led to some 00:05:58.600 --> 00:06:01.939 incredibly intense close quarters encounters. 00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:04.779 Because they were pushing forward so aggressively 00:06:04.779 --> 00:06:07.740 through the brush, some Australian units actually 00:06:07.740 --> 00:06:10.519 stumbled right into hidden Turkish artillery 00:06:10.519 --> 00:06:12.990 positions. Yes. The sources share a brilliant 00:06:12.990 --> 00:06:15.209 anecdote about this exact kind of encounter. 00:06:15.449 --> 00:06:17.649 It involves Lieutenant Thomas's platoon. Right. 00:06:17.870 --> 00:06:20.129 So they're wandering across this plateau, taking 00:06:20.129 --> 00:06:22.529 fire, desperately looking for the guns that are 00:06:22.529 --> 00:06:24.430 targeting the beaches. And they finally spot 00:06:24.430 --> 00:06:26.790 a Turkish artillery battery hidden at the head 00:06:26.790 --> 00:06:29.730 of a gully. Thomas's men opened fire, charged 00:06:29.730 --> 00:06:32.069 the gun crews, and actually managed to capture 00:06:32.069 --> 00:06:34.889 the artillery pieces. But the Turkish crews had 00:06:34.889 --> 00:06:37.730 managed to remove the breach blocks before retreating. 00:06:38.359 --> 00:06:41.139 Right. And for those unfamiliar, a breach block 00:06:41.139 --> 00:06:43.959 is the heavy steel mechanism that seals the rear 00:06:43.959 --> 00:06:46.240 of the cannon. Without it, the explosive force 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:48.420 of the shell would just blow backward out of 00:06:48.420 --> 00:06:51.180 the gun. Making it completely impossible to fire. 00:06:51.399 --> 00:06:53.160 So the Australians realized they couldn't turn 00:06:53.160 --> 00:06:55.399 the captured guns on the enemy. Adapting on the 00:06:55.399 --> 00:06:58.379 fly. They take whatever tools they have and completely 00:06:58.379 --> 00:07:01.579 smash the delicate optical sights. They destroy 00:07:01.579 --> 00:07:04.319 the internal screw mechanisms to ensure that 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:06.959 even if the Turks reclaim the position, they 00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:08.920 can never use those guns against the beaches 00:07:08.920 --> 00:07:11.579 again. It's a perfect distillation of the quick, 00:07:12.279 --> 00:07:14.660 brutal improvisational warfare that defined the 00:07:14.660 --> 00:07:17.430 morning. And they absolutely needed to improvise 00:07:17.430 --> 00:07:19.730 because that foundational British assumption 00:07:19.730 --> 00:07:22.029 that the Ottoman Army would just fold under pressure 00:07:22.029 --> 00:07:25.610 was fatally flawed. The planners in London completely 00:07:25.610 --> 00:07:28.250 ignored recent history. The Ottoman Army of World 00:07:28.250 --> 00:07:30.769 War One was heavily influenced by German military 00:07:30.769 --> 00:07:34.050 advisers. And more importantly, their commanders 00:07:34.050 --> 00:07:36.670 down to the company level were highly experienced. 00:07:36.810 --> 00:07:39.129 These were hardened veterans who had just fought 00:07:39.129 --> 00:07:41.449 in the grueling Balkan Wars. They knew how to 00:07:41.449 --> 00:07:43.810 maneuver. They knew how to utilize defensive 00:07:43.810 --> 00:07:46.220 terrain. And they were fiercely motivated to 00:07:46.220 --> 00:07:49.199 defend their homeland. Which brings us to a crucial 00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:52.680 moment, into this sprawling chaotic beachhead 00:07:52.680 --> 00:07:55.360 steps, one of the most significant military and 00:07:55.360 --> 00:07:57.600 political figures of the 20th century. Here's 00:07:57.600 --> 00:07:59.839 where it gets really interesting. Lieutenant 00:07:59.839 --> 00:08:02.980 Colonel Mustafa Kemal. The commander of the Turkish 00:08:02.980 --> 00:08:05.519 19th Division. His involvement on that first 00:08:05.519 --> 00:08:07.620 day is a master class in battlefield command. 00:08:07.839 --> 00:08:10.939 And situational awareness. The British thought 00:08:10.939 --> 00:08:13.199 they had the element of surprise, right? Right. 00:08:13.319 --> 00:08:17.540 But by pure, incredible chance, Kemal's 57th 00:08:17.540 --> 00:08:20.000 Infantry Regiment wasn't asleep in their barracks 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:21.959 when the landing happened. They had been awake 00:08:21.959 --> 00:08:25.160 since 5 .30 a .m., fully armed and prepared. 00:08:25.259 --> 00:08:27.339 Because they were scheduled to conduct a routine 00:08:27.339 --> 00:08:30.279 military exercise in the hills overlooking that 00:08:30.279 --> 00:08:33.320 exact area. It is a staggering piece of terrible 00:08:33.320 --> 00:08:35.919 luck for the invading forces. So when Kemal gets 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:38.480 word of the landing, he doesn't wait for explicit 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:40.740 orders from the higher -ups in the Ottoman command 00:08:40.740 --> 00:08:44.120 chain. He personally leads his vanguard regiment 00:08:44.120 --> 00:08:46.559 toward a high ground position called Çinlikber. 00:08:46.740 --> 00:08:49.840 He looks down at the chaotic advance and immediately 00:08:49.840 --> 00:08:53.100 recognizes the strategic reality that the British 00:08:53.100 --> 00:08:55.559 planners failed to grasp. Whoever held those 00:08:55.559 --> 00:08:57.480 commanding heights would dominate the entire 00:08:57.480 --> 00:08:59.500 battlefield. If the Anzies took the heights, 00:09:00.059 --> 00:09:02.000 they could fire down onto the Turkish supply 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:04.259 lines and the campaign was functionally over. 00:09:04.440 --> 00:09:07.500 So he stops retreating Turkish sentries, forces 00:09:07.500 --> 00:09:10.039 them back into a defensive line to buy time, 00:09:10.340 --> 00:09:12.899 and prepares the 57th Regiment for a massive, 00:09:13.100 --> 00:09:15.600 immediate counterattack. The sources provide 00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:18.059 the ultimate order he gave to his men that morning, 00:09:18.299 --> 00:09:20.799 and it perfectly encapsulates the severity of 00:09:20.799 --> 00:09:23.659 the situation. He told them, Men, I am not ordering 00:09:23.659 --> 00:09:27.019 you to attack. I'm ordering you to die. In the 00:09:27.019 --> 00:09:29.460 time that it takes us to die, other forces and 00:09:29.460 --> 00:09:31.700 commanders can come and take our place. I mean, 00:09:31.740 --> 00:09:34.919 wow. That is a chilling concept. Existential 00:09:34.919 --> 00:09:37.240 defense. He understood that this single morning 00:09:37.240 --> 00:09:40.299 was the hinge point of the entire campaign. That 00:09:40.299 --> 00:09:42.620 order and the willingness of the Turkish soldiers 00:09:42.620 --> 00:09:45.159 to sacrifice everything to hold the high ground, 00:09:45.820 --> 00:09:49.120 it completely blunted the fragmented ANZ -WIG 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:50.980 advance. Okay, let's slow down for a second. 00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:54.659 When we talk about grand strategies and massive 00:09:54.659 --> 00:09:56.960 troop movements... It's very easy to lose sight 00:09:56.960 --> 00:09:59.649 of the human toll. Exactly. We need to ground 00:09:59.649 --> 00:10:02.029 this narrative in what this environment actually 00:10:02.029 --> 00:10:04.029 felt like for the people trying to survive it. 00:10:04.250 --> 00:10:06.809 To help us picture the sheer terror of this landscape, 00:10:07.429 --> 00:10:10.590 our sources include the extensive diary of Private 00:10:10.590 --> 00:10:13.289 Victor Rupert Laidlaw, who served as a medic 00:10:13.289 --> 00:10:15.110 with the Second Field Ambulance. His accounts 00:10:15.110 --> 00:10:18.429 are visceral. Haunting. He wrote about sitting 00:10:18.429 --> 00:10:20.730 in the rowing boats in the pre -dawn light, hearing 00:10:20.730 --> 00:10:23.549 the massive 15 inch guns of the naval battleships 00:10:23.549 --> 00:10:25.870 offshore pounding the coastal forts. But the 00:10:25.870 --> 00:10:27.879 detail that stood out to him. The thing that 00:10:27.879 --> 00:10:30.679 signaled the true danger was the sound of the 00:10:30.679 --> 00:10:33.039 small arms fire from the cliffs. He noted that 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:35.820 the distant overlapping rifle shots sounded just 00:10:35.820 --> 00:10:39.580 like croaking frogs. It's such a surreal, almost 00:10:39.580 --> 00:10:42.399 peaceful metaphor for a sound that represented 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:45.220 mechanized death. And that brief illusion of 00:10:45.220 --> 00:10:47.700 nature shattered the moment the boats hit the 00:10:47.700 --> 00:10:50.820 shingle. Laidlaw documents the terrifying reality 00:10:50.820 --> 00:10:53.039 that the Turks were completely prepared and waiting. 00:10:53.309 --> 00:10:56.009 Many men were killed by concentrated fire before 00:10:56.009 --> 00:10:58.450 they even had a chance to swing their legs over 00:10:58.450 --> 00:11:00.549 the side of the rowing boats. Once the medical 00:11:00.549 --> 00:11:03.350 teams finally made it ashore, they faced a logistical 00:11:03.350 --> 00:11:06.129 nightmare that bordered on the impossible. I 00:11:06.129 --> 00:11:07.710 really want you to put yourself in the shoes 00:11:07.710 --> 00:11:10.669 of a field medic in this terrain. Imagine trying 00:11:10.669 --> 00:11:13.389 to maneuver a heavy canvas stretcher carrying 00:11:13.389 --> 00:11:16.889 a severely wounded man. down a nearly vertical 00:11:16.889 --> 00:11:19.809 cliff face, sliding on loose dirt with your path 00:11:19.809 --> 00:11:22.690 entirely choked by those thorny gorse bushes 00:11:22.690 --> 00:11:25.409 we mentioned earlier. And you are doing all of 00:11:25.409 --> 00:11:27.970 this while under constant invisible fire from 00:11:27.970 --> 00:11:30.210 the ridges above. Laidlaw wrote that the country 00:11:30.210 --> 00:11:33.850 was awful and mountainous and that Turkish snipers 00:11:33.850 --> 00:11:36.029 would camouflage themselves up in the sparse 00:11:36.029 --> 00:11:38.779 trees doing what he called their deathly work. 00:11:39.159 --> 00:11:41.820 The tactical situation deteriorated so badly 00:11:41.820 --> 00:11:44.580 that the medical corps had to make a deeply psychologically 00:11:44.580 --> 00:11:47.240 damaging decision. Laidlaw mentions that they 00:11:47.240 --> 00:11:49.399 eventually had to rip the Red Cross emblems off 00:11:49.399 --> 00:11:52.399 their uniforms. And paint over the crosses on 00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:55.120 their medical gear. In the laws of armed conflict, 00:11:55.419 --> 00:11:57.759 that emblem is supposed to be a universal shield. 00:11:57.950 --> 00:12:00.750 But in the absolute chaos and desperation of 00:12:00.750 --> 00:12:03.470 this environment, the bright red crosses were 00:12:03.470 --> 00:12:06.070 simply providing a high contrast aiming point 00:12:06.070 --> 00:12:08.710 for snipers in the brush. Removing that emblem 00:12:08.710 --> 00:12:11.389 is a profound stripping away of the rules of 00:12:11.389 --> 00:12:14.539 war. It reduces everything to pure survival. 00:12:14.820 --> 00:12:18.220 And as the sun arcs across the sky, the situation 00:12:18.220 --> 00:12:21.120 for the ANZACs only grows more desperate. By 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:23.759 the afternoon, Mustafa Kemal's initial counterattack 00:12:23.759 --> 00:12:26.580 has swelled into a massive coordinated operation. 00:12:26.759 --> 00:12:29.200 The Turks bring up reinforcements from the 72nd, 00:12:29.220 --> 00:12:32.419 the 27th and the 77th Infantry Regiments. We're 00:12:32.419 --> 00:12:34.720 looking at an organized assault involving between 00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:38.340 10 ,000 and 12 ,000 Turkish troops. Now fully 00:12:38.340 --> 00:12:40.500 backed by their own artillery firing down into 00:12:40.500 --> 00:12:43.000 the gullies. This overwhelming counter -attack 00:12:43.000 --> 00:12:46.039 systematically pushes the exhausted, fragmented 00:12:46.039 --> 00:12:49.399 ANZAC forces back toward the sea. All those units 00:12:49.399 --> 00:12:51.220 that had charged forward so aggressively in the 00:12:51.220 --> 00:12:53.799 morning are forced into a grueling fighting retreat. 00:12:54.059 --> 00:12:57.019 By the time the sun begins to set, the ANZACs 00:12:57.019 --> 00:13:00.039 have been boxed into a tiny, incredibly precarious 00:13:00.039 --> 00:13:02.840 beachhead. To give you a true sense of the claustrophobia 00:13:02.840 --> 00:13:05.460 of this space, the entire allied perimeter was 00:13:05.460 --> 00:13:09.200 under two miles long. And barely 790 yards deep. 00:13:09.340 --> 00:13:12.039 Less than half a mile inland. after an entire 00:13:12.039 --> 00:13:15.190 day of relentless combat. By nightfall, there 00:13:15.190 --> 00:13:18.750 were roughly 16 ,000 ANZAC -C troops ashore packed 00:13:18.750 --> 00:13:21.009 into this tiny sliver of beach and cliffside. 00:13:21.149 --> 00:13:23.830 And they are in a state of absolute command crisis. 00:13:23.990 --> 00:13:25.950 Which brings us to the critical inflection point 00:13:25.950 --> 00:13:29.990 of the entire campaign. It's 9 .15 p .m. Lieutenant 00:13:29.990 --> 00:13:32.669 General Birdwood, the ANZAC -C commander, finally 00:13:32.669 --> 00:13:35.289 goes ashore to assess the situation. He is immediately 00:13:35.289 --> 00:13:37.509 surrounded by his senior generals and brigadiers. 00:13:37.629 --> 00:13:40.070 And they are panicked. They report that the troops 00:13:40.070 --> 00:13:42.700 are thoroughly demoralized. They have been subjected 00:13:42.700 --> 00:13:45.600 to constant shrapnel fire all day. These are 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:47.679 artillery shells designed to burst in the air 00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:50.620 and rain jagged metal down on exposed infantry. 00:13:50.820 --> 00:13:53.399 The casualty count is horrific. The brigadiers 00:13:53.399 --> 00:13:55.179 firmly believe that if they are subjected to 00:13:55.179 --> 00:13:57.159 another coordinated Turkish attack in the morning, 00:13:57.460 --> 00:13:59.419 they will be driven right into the sea. They 00:13:59.419 --> 00:14:02.919 urgently beg Birdwood to order an immediate evacuation. 00:14:03.340 --> 00:14:05.419 Birdwood is looking at a potential massacre. 00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:09.120 But he refuses to make that monumental call alone. 00:14:09.460 --> 00:14:11.919 He signals his superior, General Ian Hamilton, 00:14:12.120 --> 00:14:14.519 who is safely out on the flagship. Hamilton turns 00:14:14.519 --> 00:14:17.659 to his naval commanders and asks if it is logistically 00:14:17.659 --> 00:14:21.580 possible to pull 16 ,000 men off that beach in 00:14:21.580 --> 00:14:24.799 the dark. The Navy unequivocally says no. They 00:14:24.799 --> 00:14:27.360 explain it would take days to organize. And they 00:14:27.360 --> 00:14:29.759 would lose entirely too many men trying to load 00:14:29.759 --> 00:14:32.179 them back into the wooden boats under constant 00:14:32.179 --> 00:14:34.860 artillery fire. So Hamilton is trapped by the 00:14:34.860 --> 00:14:37.440 logistics of his own flawed invasion plan. He 00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:40.059 sends a response back to Birdwood that permanently 00:14:40.059 --> 00:14:42.379 alters the course of history for everyone involved. 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:45.039 He informs the commanders on the beach that evacuation 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:48.220 is impossible. His final fateful order to the 00:14:48.220 --> 00:14:51.480 ANZAC forces is to dig yourselves right in and 00:14:51.480 --> 00:14:53.809 stick it out. Dig. Dig, dig until you are safe. 00:14:53.929 --> 00:14:56.169 Dig, dig, dig. And that is exactly what they 00:14:56.169 --> 00:14:58.809 did. What was designed in London to be a rapid 00:14:58.809 --> 00:15:01.350 mobile assault to quickly capture a peninsula 00:15:01.350 --> 00:15:04.309 instantly transformed into a brutal static war 00:15:04.309 --> 00:15:07.049 of attrition. The soldiers pulled out their entrenching 00:15:07.049 --> 00:15:09.590 tools and dug defensive lines that in some places 00:15:09.590 --> 00:15:11.889 were only yards away from the Turkish trenches. 00:15:12.190 --> 00:15:14.490 They stayed pinned on that tiny patch of land 00:15:14.490 --> 00:15:17.970 for eight grueling months before finally evacuating 00:15:17.970 --> 00:15:21.720 in December of 1915. The human cost of that stubborn 00:15:21.720 --> 00:15:24.559 refusal to yield on both sides of the line was 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:27.299 staggering. The sources lay out the grim mathematics 00:15:27.299 --> 00:15:30.159 of the campaign very clearly. On the very first 00:15:30.159 --> 00:15:33.679 day alone, over 2 ,000 Australians and New Zealanders 00:15:33.679 --> 00:15:36.220 were killed or wounded in the scrub. On the Turkish 00:15:36.220 --> 00:15:40.580 side, the 27th and 57th Infantry Regiments, the 00:15:40.580 --> 00:15:43.059 vanguard units that bore the brunt of the defensive 00:15:43.059 --> 00:15:45.899 fighting. They lost about 50 % of their combined 00:15:45.899 --> 00:15:47.820 combat strength. By the time the eight -month 00:15:47.820 --> 00:15:51.179 campaign finally ended, Over 11 ,000 Anzacese 00:15:51.179 --> 00:15:54.200 and an estimated 87 ,000 Turkish soldiers would 00:15:54.200 --> 00:15:56.820 be dead. So what does this all mean? Why do we 00:15:56.820 --> 00:15:59.440 still dissect this specific battle over a century 00:15:59.440 --> 00:16:01.980 later? The legacy of this single day is incredibly 00:16:01.980 --> 00:16:04.860 profound. April 25th became known as Anzac Day. 00:16:05.279 --> 00:16:07.700 But it is vital to emphasize that Anzac Day does 00:16:07.700 --> 00:16:10.039 not celebrate a military victory. Not at all. 00:16:10.539 --> 00:16:13.039 The Gallipoli campaign was an unmitigated strategic 00:16:13.039 --> 00:16:15.840 failure for the British Empire. The day is fundamentally 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:18.639 about commemoration. It honors the contribution, 00:16:19.100 --> 00:16:21.159 the resilience, and the immense suffering of 00:16:21.159 --> 00:16:23.480 all the Australians and New Zealanders who served 00:16:23.480 --> 00:16:26.299 and died in that conflict. And in all conflicts 00:16:26.299 --> 00:16:28.980 since. It is a day of reflection on the cost 00:16:28.980 --> 00:16:31.980 of war. It also raises a remarkable reality about 00:16:31.980 --> 00:16:35.600 reconciliation, because the legacy of April 25th 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:38.279 isn't solely held by Australia and New Zealand. 00:16:38.379 --> 00:16:40.659 It is deeply embedded in the national consciousness 00:16:40.659 --> 00:16:43.519 of Turkey as well. The modern reality of this 00:16:43.519 --> 00:16:47.139 shared history is incredibly moving. Today, tens 00:16:47.139 --> 00:16:49.279 of thousands of people, including generations 00:16:49.279 --> 00:16:51.440 of Australians and New Zealanders, travel to 00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:53.740 Turkey. They gather peacefully at Anzac Cove 00:16:53.740 --> 00:16:55.980 in the freezing dark for dawn services. They 00:16:55.980 --> 00:16:58.179 stand shoulder -to -shoulder on the exact same 00:16:58.179 --> 00:17:00.820 ground where this brutal, chaotic fighting took 00:17:00.820 --> 00:17:03.139 place. And they are welcomed there as guests. 00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:06.200 by the very nation their ancestors once invaded. 00:17:06.460 --> 00:17:08.700 It's a shared commemoration of immense loss and 00:17:08.700 --> 00:17:11.140 mutual respect. We started this deep dive looking 00:17:11.140 --> 00:17:13.859 at a deeply flawed strategic plan drawn up in 00:17:13.859 --> 00:17:17.460 London. A plan born of imperial hubris that dropped 00:17:17.460 --> 00:17:20.359 thousands of men onto the bloody, gorse -covered 00:17:20.359 --> 00:17:23.319 cliffs of Gallipoli. As we wrap up, I want to 00:17:23.319 --> 00:17:25.940 leave you with a final lingering thought that 00:17:25.940 --> 00:17:28.019 builds on everything we've unpacked today. Go 00:17:28.019 --> 00:17:31.019 for it. The failure of Gallipoli is often viewed 00:17:31.019 --> 00:17:34.079 strictly as a military disaster. But consider 00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:37.180 how this catastrophic event paradoxically forged 00:17:37.180 --> 00:17:40.559 three distinct national identities for Australia 00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:42.910 and New Zealand. The shared suffering on those 00:17:42.910 --> 00:17:47.569 cliffs became a moment where they stepped out 00:17:47.569 --> 00:17:49.509 from the shadow of the British Empire and defined 00:17:49.509 --> 00:17:51.490 their own independent character. And for the 00:17:51.490 --> 00:17:53.750 Ottoman Empire, the ferocious defense of their 00:17:53.750 --> 00:17:56.410 homeland laid the groundwork for the modern Republic 00:17:56.410 --> 00:17:58.970 of Turkey. Led by none other than Mustafa Kemal. 00:17:59.049 --> 00:18:01.769 Right. It raises a fascinating observation about 00:18:01.769 --> 00:18:05.460 the nature of history. How often in modern strategic 00:18:05.460 --> 00:18:07.980 planning, whether in boardrooms, political campaigns, 00:18:08.059 --> 00:18:10.700 or even our own personal lives, do we map out 00:18:10.700 --> 00:18:13.019 perfect scenarios that completely ignore the 00:18:13.019 --> 00:18:15.279 agency, capability, and willpower of the people 00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:17.710 on the other side? That is a profound perspective 00:18:17.710 --> 00:18:21.190 to consider. The idea that national identity 00:18:21.190 --> 00:18:23.849 can be born from the ashes of a flawed military 00:18:23.849 --> 00:18:26.369 campaign gives a completely different weight 00:18:26.369 --> 00:18:28.769 to the history of that day. It really does. Thank 00:18:28.769 --> 00:18:30.930 you so much for joining us on this deep dive. 00:18:31.150 --> 00:18:33.250 We hope it gave you a new lens through which 00:18:33.250 --> 00:18:36.509 to view a legendary chaotic moment in time. Keep 00:18:36.509 --> 00:18:38.750 questioning the history you think you know. Keep 00:18:38.750 --> 00:18:40.750 digging into the sources and we'll catch you 00:18:40.750 --> 00:18:41.950 on the next deep dive.