The Gallipoli campaign took place from 25 April 1915 - 9 January 1916. It was the land-based element of a strategy intended to allow Allied ships to pass through the Dardanelles, capture Constantinople (now Istanbul) and ultimately knock Ottoman Turkey out of the war. 

Discover 20 remarkable photographs from IWM's collection of the Gallipoli campaign. 

Photographs

1. Landing at Gallipoli, April 1915

British troops on the 'V' Beach during the Cape Helles landings.

British troops on the V Beach during the Cape Helles landings.

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Photographs

2. Settling on the beaches

One of the landing beaches at Gallipoli.

One of the landing beaches at Gallipoli.

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Photographs

3. Maori soldier

A Maori in the Apex trenches on 30 November 1915. The cheerfulness of the Maoris in the New Zealand contingent, despite terrible conditions, was noted by many observers.
A Maori soldier in the Apex trenches on 30 November 1915.
Image: IWM (HU 57430)

A Maori soldier stands in the Apex trenches, 30 November 1915.

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Photographs

4. Australians at Gallipoli

Infantrymen and lighthorsemen in a trench on the Gallipoli Peninsula. The lighthorseman on the left at the back who is smoking a pipe is 211 Trooper Andrew Powell Yeates, 9th Light Horse, aged 54, father to the soldier in the foreground, his son 1103 Private James August Yeates, 3rd Australian General Hospital (AGH). Both men enlisted in 1914.
© Estate of H V Woods (HU 53364)

Infantrymen and light horsemen in a trench on Walkers Ridge, Gallipoli. The light horseman smoking in the background and the soldier in the foreground were father and son, 11 Trooper Andrew Powell Yeates, 9th Light Horse, aged 54 and 1103 Private James August Yeates, 3rd Australian General Hospital (AGH).

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Photographs

5. Troops from around the world

French Senegalese troops landing: SS RIVER CLYDE in the background: Gallipoli, May 1915.
Image: IWM (Q 44324)

French Senegalese troops landing at Gallipoli, May 1915.

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Photographs

6. Indian troops and pack mule

Indian driver loading a pack mule. Gallipoli, 1915.

Indian driver loading a pack mule, Gallipoli,1915.

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Photographs

7. British traditions

Officers of the Royal Naval Division enjoying a cup of tea at Gallipoli.

Officers of the Royal Naval Division enjoying a cup of tea at Gallipoli.

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Photographs

8. Resting in the trenches

New Zealand soldiers resting in the trenches on Rhodedendron Spur, Gallipoli, a few weeks after it was taken.
New Zealand soldiers resting in the trenches on Rhodedendron Spur, Gallipoli, a few weeks after it was taken.
Image: IWM (Q 112877)

New Zealand soldiers resting in the trenches on Rhododendron Spur, Gallipoli.

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Photographs

9. Filtering water

Filtering water before it is put into covered cans.
Image: IWM (Q 13448)

Filtering water before it is put into covered cans.

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Photographs

10. Home on Anzac beach

Periscope Supply Depot Dugout "Splinter Villa" - home to two Australians on the Anzac Beach. As hopes of a quick victory faded, the congested lodgement areas created crowded and insanitary living conditions, aggravated by heat and flies as the summer advanced.
Image: IWM (Q 13797)

'Splinter Villa' - home to two Australians on Anzac Beach.

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Photographs

11. Returning from leave

Leave: New Zealanders return to Gallipoli by picket boat after a rest in Lemnos. Returning from leave was always the occasion for depression.
New Zealanders return to Gallipoli by picket boat after a rest in Lemnos.
Image: IWM (HU 53360)

New Zealanders return to Gallipoli by boat after a rest on the island of Lemnos.

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Photographs

12. A deceptive game of cricket

Leisure and entertainment at the Front: A game of cricket being played at Shell Green - the only game of cricket played on the Gallipoli peninsula. Major George Macarthur Onslow of the Light Horse, batting, is being caught out. Shells were passing overhead all the time the game was in progress. This game was an attempt to distract the Turks from the imminent departure of Allied troops. With the exception of letter writing and sea bathing, the troops at Gallipoli had virtually no opportunity for recreation.
Allied troops in the only game of cricket played on the peninsula during the campaign.
Image: IWM (HU 53370)

Allied troops in the only game of cricket played on the peninsula during the campaign. It was an attempt to distract the Turks from the imminent departure of Allied troops.

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Photographs

13. Baiting a sniper

A Royal Irish Fusilier attempts to draw the fire of a Turkish sniper to reveal the enemy position, Gallipoli, 1915.
Trench Warfare.
Image: IWM (Q 13447)

A Royal Irish Fusilier attempts to draw the fire of a Turkish sniper to reveal his position, Gallipoli 1915.

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Photographs

14. Sniper in action

Trooper A M Maxwell (afterwards Captain Maxwell, 52nd Battalion), 3rd Light Horse Regiment sniping up Dead Man's Gully from Quinn's Post, Gallipoli. Photograph taken from the entrance to the tunnel in which the soldiers slept.

Trooper A M Maxwell (afterwards Captain Maxwell, 52nd Battalion), 3rd Light Horse Regiment sniping up Dead Man's Gully from Quinn's Post, Gallipoli. Photograph taken from the entrance to the tunnel in which the soldiers slept.

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Photographs

15. Bayonet charge

Posed photograph showing Australian troops charging uphill with fixed bayonets, probably taken on Imbros or Lemnos, 17 December 1915.
Image: IWM (Q 13659)

Posed photograph showing Australian troops charging uphill with fixed bayonets, probably taken on Imbros or Lemnos, 17 December 1915.

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Photographs

16. Aiding a Wounded Prisoner

An Australian infantryman gives a drink to a wounded Turkish soldier during the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915. Achi Baba can be seen in the background.
An Australian infantryman gives a drink to a wounded Turkish soldier during the Gallipoli Campiagn, 1915.
Image: IWM (Q 13285)

An Australian infantryman gives a drink to a wounded Turkish soldier, Gallipoli 1915.

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Photographs

17. Mobile medicine

The surgeon is removing a bullet from the patient’s right arm in the operation dugout of the Field Ambulance of the 42nd (East Lancashire) Division.
Image: IWM (Q 13316)

Surgery in progress at a Casualty Clearing Station in Gallipoli. The surgeon is removing a bullet from the patient’s right arm.

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Photographs

18. Frostbite victims

Frost-bitten soldiers lying on straw in shelters constructed of biscuit boxes at a store dump at Suvla, after the frost at the end of November 1915.
Extreme weather and disease.
Image: IWM (Q 13644)

Frostbitten soldiers lying on straw in shelters constructed of biscuit boxes at a store dump at Suvla, Gallipoli, after the frost at the end of November 1915.

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Photographs

19. Evacuation

British troops and their artillery guns being evacuated from Suvla Bay on rafts in daylight, December 1915.
Image: IWM (Q 13637)

Evacuating guns and personnel from Suvla Point on rafts, December 1915.

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Photographs

20. Leaving Gallipoli

Distant view from the battleship HMS CORNWALLIS of stores burning on the beach after the evacuation of Suvla Bay, December 1915.
Image: IWM (Q 13679)

Stores burning on the beach at 5am after the evacuation at Suvla, photographed from HMS Cornwallis as it left Gallipoli.

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© IWM (Q 13823)
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