The withdrawal of Allied troops from Suvla and Anzac Cove was completed on December 20th 1915.
Almost eight months after the Gallipoli landings, the last Australian and New Zealand soldiers sailed from the cramped beachhead that had been their base for the campaign.
Anzac Cove, as the small bay became known, was among several coastal sites seized in April 1915 as part of the attempt by British, Commonwealth and French forces to take control of the Dardanelles Strait and strike a decisive blow against Turkey early in the First World War.
British troops landed at Suvla during the last major offensive in August.
Continued deadlock in the face of Ottoman resistance persuaded Britain’s War Minister, Lord Kitchener, to recommend withdrawal after a visit to Gallipoli in November, a decision endorsed by his Cabinet colleagues on December 7th.
Allied forces left Anzac Cove and Suvla in stages, with the final boatload departing in the early hours of December 20th.
A week later, the order was given to evacuate the remaining Allied positions at Helles on the southern tip of the Gallipoli peninsula.
The withdrawal was completed on January 9th 1916, ending the Gallipoli campaign and a controversial episode in the Great War.
Also in Centenary News:
Gallipoli pull-out ordered by British ministers.
August offensive starts at Gallipoli
Images © Centenary News
Posted by: Peter Alhadeff, Centenary News