Shadows of ANZAC: An Intimate History of Gallipoli

(Paperback)

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On 25 April 1915, with the landing of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) below the slopes of Sari Bair on the Gallipoli peninsula, the ANZAC legend was born. Nine months later, having suffered thousands of casualties from disease, hand-to-hand fighting, bombing, sniping and forlorn charges across no mans land, the politicians and senior military commanders in London called it quits. While the Turks also suffered terribly, they at least emerged victorious. The fighting at Anzac was not restricted to the ANZACs and Turks alone. British troops also fought at Anzac from the earliest days of the invasion and large numbers of British and Indian troops were committed to the Anzac sector during the failed August offensive designed to break the stalemate. The invasion was also supported by large numbers of men often non-combatants who performed vital roles. Naval beach officers kept logistics operating in some form of orderly fashion; Indian mule handlers moved supplies of food, water and ammunition to the front lines; and medical staff and army chaplains worked on the beach, caring for the wounded and the dead. All these men were frequently under fire from the Turkish battery known as Beachy Bill. Others surveyed the narrow beachhead and bored deep holes for drinking water; signallers tried desperately to establish and maintain communications; and the gunners hunted the battlefield for suitable places to site their guns. Off the peninsula, but just as vital, were the nursing and medical staff on the hospital ships, at Lemnos, Alexandria, Cairo and Malta, and the airmen who flew above the battlefield spotting for the navy and artillery. Shadows of Anzac: An intimate history of Gallipoli tells the story of the ordinary men and women who participated in the Gallipoli campaign from April to December 1915 and gave the Anzac legend meaning. Drawing on letters, diaries and other primary and secondary sources, David Cameron provides an intimate and personal perspective of Anzac, a richly varied portrayal that describes the absurdity, monotony and often humour that sat alongside the horrors of the bitter fight to claim the peninsula.

Author Bio

David W. Cameron completed his PhD in 1995 and was subsequently awarded an Australian Research Council (ARC) Post Doctoral Fellowship at the Australian National University, followed by an ARC QEII Fellowship at the University of Sydney. He has published a number of books on Australian military history and science and over sixty research papers in internationally peer reviewed journals. David's passion for recording the overarching history of Gallipoli has resulted in six books on the subject. He is also internationally known as an expert on primate and human evolution and has a degree in both archaeology and palaeoanthropology. David was born in 1961 in Darlinghurst and grew up in Bondi before moving to Campbelltown in the early 1970s when it was still a town. He graduated with 1st Class Honours from the University of Sydney (Prehistory) in 1989 and with a PhD from the Australian National University (Palaeoanthropology) in 1995. He was formerly an Australian Research Council QEII Fellow at the Department of Anatomy & Histology at the University of Sydney. He has conducted numerous international archaeological and paleoanthropological excavations in Europe, Middle East and Asia. David is married with three children (and two dogs).