A Centennial Reflection

109th Anniversary of the Battle of Lone Pine at Gallipoli

This week marks the 109th anniversary of the Battle of Lone Pine, one of the most intense engagements fought by Australians during the First World War. This battle, which took place at Gallipoli in Türkiye, stands as a testament to the bravery and resilience of the Anzacs.

The Strategic Assault

The assault at Lone Pine was originally intended as a diversionary tactic to keep Turkish reserves away from the main Allied attack to the north. The primary objective was to break out of the main Anzac perimeter and capture the strategic heights of Chunuk Bair and Hill 971. The intensity of this battle was encapsulated by Australian official war correspondent Charles Bean, who was on Gallipoli. He vividly described the moments before the assault, where excited Diggers ‘chaffed each other dryly’ like spectators at a football match:

“Some belated messenger hurried along the trench to find his platoon, and, in passing, recognised a friend. ‘Au revoir, Bill’, he nodded, ‘meet you over there’. ‘So long, Tom’, was the answer; ‘see you again in half an hour’.”

The Battle Unfolds

At 17:30 on 6 August 1915, the whistles blew, and the Anzacs went over the top towards the Turkish trenches, just a few dozen meters away. From that night and over the next several days, fierce fighting took place across a complex maze of trenches, many of which were roofed over with heavy logs. The Australians had to break through these fortifications to engage the defenders directly.

The Aftermath

When the battle finally concluded, more than 2,000 Anzacs had been killed or wounded, and almost 7,000 Turks had suffered the same fate. The Lone Pine battlefield, now the site of the largest Australian memorial at Gallipoli, is named for the solitary pine tree that stood near the Turkish trenches. While the original tree did not survive the assault, seeds from one of its pinecones were sent back to Australia and used to grow the Lone Pine within the grounds of the Australian War Memorial.

This anniversary serves as a poignant reminder of the sacrifices made during the Battle of Lone Pine and the enduring legacy of those who fought at Gallipoli.